Xantia LHM leak near front height corrector

[magictorch]

Please can someone give me advice on the 'usual suspects' to look out for when trying to track down an LHM leak from near the front height corrector?

Cheers
Jamie

[Xantidote]

The experts will give you more detailed advice, but my first thought is that it's not too far from the brake doseur valve, located higher up, on the engine compartment side of the bulkhead. A bit awkward to get at, but this could be the culprit. If I recall correctly from other posts, there's a rubber pipe return from it to the reservoir, and this can eventually give up & leak

[CitroJim]

Yep, and also there's a leakage return pipe on the height corrector itself that can play up. Also, the leakage return pipe ends up in a 'Y' junction a little further along. It's all soft plastic push-fit stuff and therefore ever so easy for it to accidentally come apart...

Even if it's the height corrector itself leaking it's not a biggie to sort it. The biggest biggie is getting at it...

[magictorch]

Tell me about it! Using axel stands or small ramps its a royal struggle getting under there to figure out where its goo'ing from.

[CitroJim]

Tell me about it!

Oh yes, fun it is. I recall one memorable front HC replacement was done in the dead of winter lying on concrete outdoors with the temperature hovering around -5 degrees... It was not funny...

[magictorch]

Are both front and back correctors identical?

How can I tell if it is an anti-roll one?

The car is a 1996 1.9 TDLX

[VertVega]

... LHM leak from near the front height corrector?

My guess would be steering rack pinion valve leak I might be wrong

[magictorch]

Is that steering pinion valve repairable?

[VertVega]

Yes it is repairable Pinion valve repair kit can be bought separately which has the necessary seals.

IF it's the source of the problem then have a look at this link from Japan which is written for a BX.
In the link you can also see a pic of the repair kit bag contents.

---> (BX) Pinion Valve Repair

It is almost the same in Xantia.
But first identify the source of leak before buying parts.

[magictorch]

I can see that owning a Xantia is going to learn me in the ways of engineering!

[Old-Guy]

IF the leak is definitely from the pinion valve region, check that the gland nuts that hold the pipes into the pinion valve body are tight. I had a bad leak there that turned out to be nothing worse than a slightly loose gland nut causing LHM to spray out all over the place thoroughly confusing the issue.

[magictorch]

Evening all,

I finally managed to get underneath and have another good look at where the LHM leak is coming from. Firstly my rocker cover gasket change did not stop all the oil leaks. So that another one to find!

Secondly it would appear that the offside boot on the steering column has come off!


Is there a special clip to hold this onto the column?

In the second image you can see the LHM below and above. How is LHM escaping from inside that boot?

[CitroJim]

The steering rack pinion valve (the bit the steering column attaches to) is leaking internally into the rack.

There is no clip on the fat end of the gaiter, just a stiff rubber band. I suspect enough LHM has got in to pop it off under weight/pressure.

The gaiter will pop back on.

Have a word with Pleiades about a pinion valve overhaul...

[andmcit]

Watch the pipe connections onto the pinion or swapping the rack whole as these
can differ to the pipe work feeding then plumbed into the car. Changing the
complete rack isn't too horrific and is DIY'able even during a mini monsoon where
I had to change one on mine!

[magictorch]

Ok that cheers me up. There is hope for my old girl after all. Any instructions on how to swap one of these out?