hydraulic suspension advice needed

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neilsxm
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Joined: 05 Jan 2004, 05:19
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hydraulic suspension advice needed

Post by neilsxm »

hi all,
had a good xmas and recovered from the new year[xx(]
I was wondering if any of you have had similar problems to this or just have a good understanding of xm hydraulic suspension,
i've looked over the forum and tried almost all of previously mentioned advice for similar problems to no avail
right to the problems before you all fall asleep[|)]
when i bought the car recently the acculator was ticking about every second or so,the front suspension was high(even though the lever was at normal 1 up from bottom)also the rear was high,reset the heights.
since the rear hasn't had any probs all works as it should,
but the front seems to stick,i.e when you press on it,it seems to stick,stick ,stick drop so i thought hc don't ask why just did took off cleaned,checked refitted reset height also while i was under the car took off pressure reg and acc changed sphere stripped and cleaned reg drained hyd system and filled with flushing fluid now the problems are different when you press on the front it's like bounce,bounce,bounce,hard then repeats itself also when i'm doing citarobics with the car from top to bottom is ok but from bottom to top rear lifts first then front lifts alot faster than rear then drops bounces then carries on lifting i thought this was the centre sphere so changed that no difference also shhhcccum noise is really quite no really quite unless you are under the front of the car you cannot hear it also had the front spheres checked there ok
so now i've bored you all to death [:0]
i'll ask very nicely can you help me PLEASE
---cheers neil---
p.s are the comfort sphere blocks rebuildable?? as i 'm going to try this next unless you know different[:)]
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Sure we can help Neil [:)]
- but I'm having a hard time dissicating your text writing - it's not easy to read what's the problem and what's wrong [:D]
Even though you have a later generation hydraulic suspension system - try have a peep on this :
http://citroenz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=340
This should at least trace down any basic problem in the main hydraulic circuit.
Then back to your odd soft/hard suspension problem :
have you read this thread ? :
http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... IC_ID=5116
- noting that Xantia hydractive suspension is the same as found on the XM.
neilsxm
Posts: 54
Joined: 05 Jan 2004, 05:19
Location:
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Post by neilsxm »

sorry about message just trying to get everything down
the biggest problem now is, when i'm doing citarobics when the car lifts the front drops then pumps itself back up and when it pumps up it's jerky but just on the front the rear is ok
my thoughts are as it pumps the centre sphere is closed, then it opens to equalize pressure and that is whats causing it to drop (changed centre sphere)
i think the jerky movement is possably the front struts are worn as the car has 164000 miles on it back
by the way it is also the later type hydraulic system 6+2 pump
read the posts all the spheres are right ones i think but if you have the correct numbers for a 1996 xm 2.5 td vsx estate so i can double check that would be nice[:D]
---cheers neil---
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AndersDK
Posts: 6060
Joined: 21 Feb 2003, 04:56
Location: Denmark
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Post by AndersDK »

The suspension should be in soft mode when engine is first started and system pumps up - which means the center sphere is connected.
What MAY be the confusion here - is the jerky front rising - indicative of worn front struts. If the struts are that worn to cause jerky rising - they are also prone to leak out into their leak-off hoses seen in the wheelarches. This can exactly cause the sudden drop & the frequent ticking from the main system.
A sure test is to simply unplug these hoses in the wheelarches - and observe for any flow from these hoses. There should absolutely NOT be any flow from these hoses - as they are ONLY leak-off hoses for the small seepage past the internal O-rings - to keep them lubed. This small seepage should only give an occasional drop from these hoses - but some frequent dripping may still be accepted within functional limits.
- that would be my first test - to go for a simple & easy overlooked problem.
The hydractive suspension system is no mystery. It behaves exactly like the old systems when suspension deliberately is set to lowest height - therefore I suggest you perform the test outlined in the link above to trace any basic problems.
neilsxm
Posts: 54
Joined: 05 Jan 2004, 05:19
Location:
My Cars:

Post by neilsxm »

ello,
thanx for advice and took the pipes of the front struts o/s(drivers)side no drips but on the n/s (passenger)side there were no drips from the strut but the steel pipe it connects to lhm was running out all the time is this normal?
went to scrap yard today found a 97' 2.1td thats going to donate its suspension tomorrow pump,accumulator,centre sphere block,height corrector,brake vavles,front struts for £100
so armed with all these spares i will just keep swaping till i find the problem and hopefully have a better understanding of citroen hydraulics
---cheers neil---
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