Which sphere and where to get them...

[Northern_Mike]

Before taking the old spheres off wad a load of paper towel in the area. When you take off the old spheres you will get some LHM dribble out (although a ruptured sphere can spray it out!). A normal sphere holds about an egg cup of LHM.

When I took the front ones of what is now Mungkie's Activa when it was in my care, they were both ruptured and LHM went everywhere. It was quite a mess.

[Hell Razor5543]

It looks like Gracies' anti sink sphere had ruptured, and shredded the pipe seal doing so. That area was wet with LHM, so much so that when I popped over to DickieG last Saturday she dribbled on his driveway. When I replaced all the spheres today none of them jetted, but bleeding the rear brakes put me in mind of Coca Cola!

[sparksie]

Before taking the old spheres off wad a load of paper towel in the area. When you take off the old spheres you will get some LHM dribble out (although a ruptured sphere can spray it out!). A normal sphere holds about an egg cup of LHM.

Oh dear.
I'm pretty certain mine has ruptured, so I guess I must expect a fountain.
Had a lovely day outside in the sun, drinking tea, listening to the radio and changing the timing belt, water pump, idler and tensioner, with no interference from anybody.
Back to mayhem in the morning, though.
As an aside, I've seen "de-pressurising" the system mentioned in a lot of threads. What is this, please?
I would have though setting the suspension to Service Low was all that's needed to leave the hydraulic load off the sphere.
Is there a procedure for de-pressurising, then?

[Hell Razor5543]

De-pressurising is very simple. First, before doing anything, pop open the bonnet and have a good look at the pressure regulator. It is normally low down on the front of the engine, with the accumulator sphere screwed onto it. You will see a 12mm bolt on the front of it (and, IIRC, even when it is done up tight the head is not up against the regulator body). This is the pressure release bolt. DON'T UNDO IT YET, AND DO NOT EVER COMPLETELY UNDO IT!!!. It holds a small ball bearing in a cup, so undoing that bolt will allow the bearing to escape! Leave the bonnet up.

With the engine running put the height lever into service low. Let her bottom out. Now loosen off the pressure release bolt by about a turn. You should hear a whistling noise, which changes as the pressure drops. You can now turn off the engine. I tend to leave it for another 10 minutes to make sure there is no pressure in the system. You can now replace the spheres. Do up the pressure bolt, start her up, and then do a Citrobics session for at least 15 minutes. Don't forget to bleed the brakes (both fore and aft) after the Citrobics, as air will have got into the system, and although the suspension and steering circulate, the brakes don't.

Citrobics, by the way, is aerobics for green blooded Citroens. What you do is cycle the suspension between service high and service low, with a couple of minutes at each point, to allow any air in the suspension to get back to the reservoir and escape, and to keep the suspension moving freely (it is recommended to do a Citrobics session every month or so).

[sparksie]

Well, spheres finally arrived just before closing this evening.
Couldn't resist having a go, outside the house, after dinner.
The dud one was pretty damn tight, as expected by some. It certainly exceeded the torque I could have applied with a filter wrench!
I got it loose using a 24" Stillson wrench.
I decided, having read it on here somewhere, not to bother with the depressurising routine. I popped a stand under the jacking point and set the suspension to minimum. With the wheel dangling clear of the ground, I felt there could be no pressure in the sphere/hydraulics, a feeling quickly vindicated when the Stillson did the needful
I reckon I lost about a tablespoon full of fluid. The old sphere was a lot heavier than the new one, probably because it was full of oil.
The new one spun up hand tight in seconds. easiest spring and shock absorber replacement I've ever done.
After a Citaerobics session, in the course of which the "STOP" light came on and went off a few times, and a quick bleed of the brakes, I went for a test run
She's back to how she used to be, with no feedback from gravel and holes in the road and even quite big bumps scarcely registering through the wheel.
RESULT!
Following this I decided to stop at replacing only the failed sphere. I'll carry thespare new one around with me, along with my 24" Stillson, as insurance against future failures.
The bleeding preduced only black fluid and a small bit of foam, so could probably just have been ignored, but at least, now I know everything is all good in the suspension and braking dept.s
Thanks for all the pointers, guys. It's great to have her back to normal, even if it was a difficult journey.

[Northern_Mike]

.
The bleeding preduced only black fluid and a small bit of foam, so could probably just have been ignored

Erm, the fluid is supposed to be green. If it's coming out black and foamy, it's utterly filthy and worn out, and you need to change it! You generally need to bleed about 1/2 pint from each rear brake and slightly less from each front one in my experience to get fresh fluid through once you've drained the LHM tank, cleaned it out, cleaned the filters and refilled with new LHM. When I last did my Activa, it came out like manky bitter, brown and foamy, utterly filthy.

[sparksie]

Hi Mike
Yes, but you missed the most important word in my sentence... "small".
What came behind it looked like it had just come from the bottle!
I think it goes black where it's trapped in the caliper. The black came first, then, when I'd almost given up on finding ANY air in the system, I got a tiny bit of foam. Even the word foam exaggerates what I got, which was like a thumbnail sized patch of white in the green, that took a while to float to the surface and longer still to disappear.
Now I have a container which could easily be taken for new LHM, if the dark sediment in the bottom was removed. I'm tempted to let it settle for a few days and suck out the crud, though I probably won't bother. She never uses any, so carrying used stuff around in the boot is not necessary.
Even the dribble that was creeping out of the ruptured sphere hasn't made a noticeable difference to the level in the reservoir, which is still just above the max, following my accidental overfill soon after I got her.
Just looking forward to putting some miles on the odometer now...

[myglaren]

Now I have a container which could easily be taken for new LHM, if the dark sediment in the bottom was removed. I'm tempted to let it settle for a few days and suck out the crud, though I probably won't bother. She never uses any, so carrying used stuff around in the boot is not necessary.

After extensive testing Jim has certified this product as excellent hair conditioner

[Northern_Mike]

I have also found it a great hair conditioner, I find it works best when blasted out of the rear balance sphere into your hair at high pressure.

I'm just a grumpy Northern git.

[Northern_Mike]

Hi Mike
Yes, but you missed the most important word in my sentence... "small".
What came behind it looked like it had just come from the bottle!

Sorry Sparksie, my fault. I read it as though you'd just bled out a bit of cruddy old fluid and left it at that as you didn't mention the fresh green behind it

You never know what people do... so I thought id I'd pipe up.

FWIW I never carry LHM. It's futile. If the car is leaking, it'll pee a litre out in a few minutes, so recovery is the only option.


I'm just a grumpy Northern git.

[Hell Razor5543]

I would be inclined to swap the other sphere anyway, even if the old one has not failed. The car would be better balanced, and the new sphere should only be used on the front strut. IIRC the front spheres I got were 55bar, the rear were 30bar, and the accumulator sphere was 62bar. I cannot remember what the anti sink sphere was, but it is not relevant here as it is plumbed in differently.

[sparksie]

I would be inclined to swap the other sphere anyway, even if the old one has not failed. The car would be better balanced, and the new sphere should only be used on the front strut. IIRC the front spheres I got were 55bar, the rear were 30bar, and the accumulator sphere was 62bar. I cannot remember what the anti sink sphere was, but it is not relevant here as it is plumbed in differently.

Hi
Yes, that was my intention, but now I'm not so sure.
They look suspiciously new, making me think the one that failed may have been faulty. I have no way, for now, of checking the pressure, nor topping it up, if low. With all the Citroen kit I'm accumulationg, I may rectify this. We'll see...
I always replace springs/dampers as an axle set, so may still do this, but I like the idea of having a spare in the boot and would rather it wasn't piddling green slime on our holiday luggage, so will be leaving it until we get back... unless it fails first!

[Northern_Mike]

The ones under the bonnet always look new because theyre hidden from road muck. I'd not bother changing it myself mind

I'm just a grumpy Northern git.