Which is the correct sphere?

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isisalar
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Which is the correct sphere?

Post by isisalar »

Working my way through the new HDI, I recently changed the accumulator sphere which was ticking @14 secs now fine. The car was sitting a bit low so had it adjusted yesterday at a Citroen indy.
They said the sphere I had fitted was larger than necessary, and I should also look to change the other accumulator sphere lower down the engine which is part of the suspension set up. They thought that the one fitted was the correct one for the suspension and a smaller (corner size) accumulator should go on the upper mount.
I've just been in touch with GSF where I got the sphere and they said they only list one front centre sphere part no 453PC0260 which is what was supplied to me.
This 4th front sphere is a new one on me and quite possibly this is the reason why my previous VSX drove like a go cart with very stiff anti roll bars.
Are these two spheres interchangeable? Can anyone throw any light on the subject?
Kind regards
Paul
J reg 1.9d auto BX first Citroen
M reg 1.9d auto Xantia lx
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CitroJim
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Re: Which is the correct sphere?

Post by CitroJim »

Paul, the main accumulator attached to the gearbox should be a 62bar/400cc sphere and is common right across everything..

The lower sphere he mentioned, almost under the radiator is the hydractive centre sphere for the front suspension and this one controls ride softness in soft mode. they do have a habit of either being absolutely perfect or ruptured...

This sphere is an accumulator-type (i.e. not internal damping elements) but is 70bar/500cc or 75bar/450cc if it has a multi-layer diaphragm...

If it's flat or ruptured the front will feel incredibly stiff...

There's a hydractive centre at the rear too and again if that's flat it can make the rear very hard...

Here's a list of hydractive sphere specifications
Jim

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DickieG
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Re: Which is the correct sphere?

Post by DickieG »

You've more than likely got a 500cm sphere on there whereas I believe later Xantia's were originally specified with a 450cm, I'd be very surprised if you could notice any difference between the two, I've run Hydractive Xantia's with the larger (500cm) centre sphere for years without an issue, I wouldn't worry about it Paul. I believe GSF normally supply the 500 sphere for this purpose as a matter of course.
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isisalar
Posts: 662
Joined: 27 Apr 2008, 14:16
Location: london UK
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Re: Which is the correct sphere?

Post by isisalar »

Thanks for that guys. So as a suspension sphere the gsf one is as close to the spec as makes no difference, and as the main accumulator sphere it has a larger capacity and higher pressure than spec but this is irrelevant as the pressure regulator does exactly that, I guess it will tick less often than spec but is this a bad thing?
Kind regards
Paul
J reg 1.9d auto BX first Citroen
M reg 1.9d auto Xantia lx
N reg 1.9 td Xantia VSX Estate
T reg 2.0HDI Xantia Exclusive Estate Present car
M reg 106 diesel red
L reg 106 diesel white
02 Saxo 1.1i desire wife's present car(sadly now very ill cambelt gone- Doh)
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