Easy hard front suspension fix (Hydractive)

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
rory_perrett
Posts: 715
Joined: 05 Nov 2001, 19:18
Location: Leeds, Yorkshire
My Cars: Xantia Exclusive 110Hdi Estate 1999
x 1

Easy hard front suspension fix (Hydractive)

Post by rory_perrett »

Sorry this isn’t going to help those guys suffering hard front suspension on non hydractive Xantias.

Car went very bouncy on the front end earlier this week. Unlike last time when it was an ecu failure the back stayed soft.
Lexia confirmed that the ecu was switching both front and back to soft.

Both front corners were hard so thinking it could be a failed valve or a ruptured centre sphere. Then I had a thought, pulled the multiplug off the ecu, gave it a quick squirt of contact cleaner and replaced.

Suspension back in working order. :)

Now we like those sort of fixes don't we! :lol:
User avatar
CitroJim
A very naughty boy
Posts: 49532
Joined: 30 Apr 2005, 23:33
Location: Paggers
My Cars: Bluebell the AX, Polly the C3 Picasso, Pix the Nissan Pixo, Propel the duathlon bike, TCR Pro the road bike and Fuji the TT bike...
x 6163
Contact:

Re: Easy hard front suspension fix (Hydractive)

Post by CitroJim »

Don't you just love nice easy ones like that Rory :-D

They so rarely happen to me. I always get the complicated ones :twisted:

Have you done the Hydractive diode mod?
Jim

Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
User avatar
Mandrake
Posts: 8615
Joined: 10 Apr 2005, 17:23
Location: North Lanarkshire, UK
My Cars:
x 664

Re: Easy hard front suspension fix (Hydractive)

Post by Mandrake »

Fingers crossed that you've found it, but I have a suspicion that that squirt of contact cleaner won't be the last you'll see of that problem rory. :(

If there is enough of a fault with the wiring (high resistance) to prevent the electrovalve energising properly the ECU should (usually does) pick up the lack of current and goes into a failsafe mode where it switches both electrovalves into hard mode.

This will cause the rear of the car to also go hard. The fact that the rear didn't go hard and the Lexia didn't report a fault suggests that you might have an intermittent version of the faulty diode issue, as a faulty back EMF diode usually isn't detected by the ECU.

The front electrovalve on my previous Xantia had a dry joint on the diode within the moulded coil packaging that was causing the connection to the diode to go high resistance when the engine bay heated up. This was causing the electrovalve to intermittently fail to operate while driving when the car was hot but it usually passed the bounce test when stationary! It took me a long time to pin this intermittent fault down and prove it conclusively.

If you haven't done it, definitely do the diode mod, if only for insurance and peace of mind...
Simon

1997 Xantia S1 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive in Silex Grey
2016 Nissan Leaf Tekna 30kWh in White

2011 Peugeot Ion Full Electric in Silver
1977 G Special 1129cc LHD
1978 CX 2400
1997 Xantia S1 2.0i Auto VSX
1998 Xantia S2 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive
rory_perrett
Posts: 715
Joined: 05 Nov 2001, 19:18
Location: Leeds, Yorkshire
My Cars: Xantia Exclusive 110Hdi Estate 1999
x 1

Re: Easy hard front suspension fix (Hydractive)

Post by rory_perrett »

Thanks guys - yes I know its probably not the end of it, but I'll take the fix for now.

I have done the diode mod, did it in my previous Xantia when the ones on the car seemed to have failed. Did this one straight away when I got it as I had some diodes left over.
taffy
Posts: 1018
Joined: 08 Oct 2012, 00:35
Location: swindon
My Cars:
x 1

Re: Easy hard front suspension fix (Hydractive)

Post by taffy »

What's this diode mod and where is The hydro ecu?
99 silver 2.1td exclusive xantia
99 red 2.0 hdi exclusive xantia..
00 black 2.0 hdi exclusive xantia
99 blue 2.0 hdi exclusive xantia
06 silver 1.6 hdi vtr c5
57 blue C4 GP 1.6hdi exclusive
08 black C4 GP 2.0hdi vtr
Post Reply