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xactiva
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Anyone got a "fix" for a low pressure leak?

Post by xactiva »

My activa has a special strut on the front.[:)]
it has a rubber, low pressure, return pipe coming from it.[;)]
this pipe is weeping LHM fluid out at quite a rate through a small split.[:(]
The new ram costs £230 and will take 6 weeks to arrive from france.[V]
So has anyone got a suggestion to stopping this weep, albeit temporarily until the new ram arrives.[?]
ghostrider
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Anyone got a

Post by ghostrider »

Can you get the thing to stop weeping if you jack it up and depressurise it? if you can I've had some success with supergluing splits together after cleaning with solvent, other solutions I've used with some success are to cut the pipe and join it with short pieces of the plastic return pipe that places like Pleiades sell. Another source of plastic pipe is to go to a pneumatic supplier they usually have a range of nylon pipe in loads of different sizes. I've also used rubber pipe whose ID is the same as the damaged pipes OD, slit it and glue on with superglue
Pete
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Last edited by ghostrider on 22 Feb 2011, 05:40, edited 1 time in total.
blueboy2001
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Post by blueboy2001 »

If the return hose is leaking, why replace the ram?
xactiva
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Post by xactiva »

The leak is actually in a rubber? sleeve/moulding thing that wraps around the ram at its centre and then curves to form the socket that the return piping "plugs" into.
Very sadly, it is not available separately and is considered part of the ram assembly.
As to depressuring the system, i'm not sure that this would make much difference as it is in a non-pressurised part of the hydraulic system. Even so it weeps out so fast that you cannot dry it with kitchen roll... as soon as you pull it away, it's already wet again. I think I will be forced to remove it completely to drain it off then try.
superglueing sounds good but what solvent did you use?
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

First let me say that I know nothing about xantia Activa's. The construction sounds much like that used by citroen ofr BX front strut leakage return pipes. The strut simply has a hole in its outer casing and a rubber collector is clamped to it. the collector has 2 pipes leading from it, one for air and one for oil and the idea is that the oil is pumped back by the operation of a ball valve near the regulator.
the reason I mention this is that the collector bit is readily available and cheap and you might be able to use it to temporarily solve your problem, plugging the spare pipe.
Incidentally when the struts get worn the flow is too much for the collector system and it blows the collector off - sound familiar?
I've tried to find a picture of it but can't. Imagine a square box about 25mm long, 20 mm wide, no top, sides about 4mm, those on narrow sides curved to fit 50 mm diameter strut. 2 hoses coming out of one narrow end.
jeremy
tomsheppard
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Post by tomsheppard »

I am sure that if the return to the reservoir is not excessive,(that is the strut is worn out,) then the BX return hose part may well be identical. It is certainly worth a fiver to get one from GSF and have a look.
tomsheppard
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Post by tomsheppard »

I strongly suspect that the BX part is useable and as it only costs a fiver from GSF I would order one up and have a look.
xactiva
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Post by xactiva »

sounds like a job for wednesday!!!
thanks everyone. i'll let you know how it goes.
clivetheitman
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Post by clivetheitman »

I have managed to stop my front strut rubber hoses leaking by appling a generous coating of rubber solution from a bike repair kit and then double wrapping with soft flexible sticky pvc tape (electrical insulating tape). wind the tape in one direction on the first wrap and then wind in the opposite direction on the second wrap so to overlay the layers. this is only a get you home / short term fix as the pipe could well split elsewhere and you could find you loose all your LMP in a less than ideal location.
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