Hydraflush

[froggy]

Hi, Iam about to change the front three spheres on my series 1 Xantia. I also want to hydraflush at the same time . My question is : rather than taking out the tank to drain and clean, what if I used an hand operated pump to syphone out the hydraulic fluid, rather than taking out the tank, any thoughts ayone? cheers Terry .

[Xantidote]

Hmmm - interesting question - I wonder what the experts will say.

I flushed my S1 Xantia 3 years ago, syphoning out most of the reservoir's contents, before removing reservoir for a thorough clean (and I still spilt some LHM - glad I'd put newspapers and lots of rags over the top of the gearbox/bell housing) . Until you see the bottom of the reservoir, you won't know what debris lies there. Certainly I found a fine debris of brass coloured particles on removal. Unsure now if this was in bottom of reservoir or one of the filters. Be careful/gentle when you clean the filters.

If you are going to the trouble of using hydraflush, seems a pity not to remove reservoir and give it a thorough clean?

I disconnected some of the rubber pipes feeding in/out of the reservoir, and a very useful tip I picked up from the Forum was to have the bottom half of a 4 pint milk container ready for lowering the pipes into. It certainly helped reduce spillage.

Not the best time of year to do the job. Think I'd do the spheres now, and leave the hydraflush until it's spring time, and rather warmer

[CitroJim]

I've done they syphon method once and ended up with a mouthful of LHM. It tastes horrible

Personally, these days I always disconnect all the pipes from the reservoir, lift out the head and then carefully lift out the full reservoir. It can be done without any spillage at all. Whilst the reservoir is off, allow the pipes to drain and drip into a suitable bowl.

The it's a nice, easy job to really clean everything, including the filter screens.

The clips on the pipes can be reused infinitely. Best to invest in the proper tool for unclipping and reclipping them. Halfrauds sell them...

[froggy]

Thanks Jim, does the tool that undoes the pipe clips have a name? thanks again Terry .

[CitroJim]

Thanks Jim, does the tool that undoes the pipe clips have a name? thanks again Terry .

I've no idea Terry, All I know is it's a Laser Tool and it looks like this...



Halfrauds do/used to stock them. It was about two years ago now I got mine. To me it's an indispensable tool...