My new Xantia...

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philhoward

My new Xantia...

Post by philhoward »

...has a few quirkies to fix.
Its a 94M VSX TD with a mere 125k on the clock and yes it has had a cambelt at 120k (phew!)
The Stereo has no code - Is this a Citroen job or can you get the code from somewhere (internet?). 3 hour drive back last night in silence!
The Hydractive doesn't seem to switch from soft to hard...press the button and there is no difference at all in the ride quality. Tried it a few times on both motorway and round town over speed humps...The button lights up, but only with sidelights on. Don't know what mode it's stuck on but if it's hard mode, then it's not too hard at all. If it's soft mode, then what's hard mode like?
Having never tried a Hydractive before, not sure what the difference is...
Many thanks chaps
Hugo
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Post by Hugo »

Hi Phil
I too have had a VSX with the dual suspension, though mine was the 2.0 16v petrol. A word of advice, if you can, have a go in one it's acceleration is truly awsome for that type of car!
First the Stereo.
Contact your local Citroen with the chassis number and the reg number, better still, have the V5 in fornt of you when you call. They will give you the Radio code and hopefully not charge you, that is assuming of course that the previous owner can't remember it. If you're unlucky you'll find that the radio may have been replaced, and the code would therefore be different.
Otherwise, there are plenty of people in the Yellow Pages willing to decode it for you for a few quid.
Secondly, your suspension. Is there a regular clicking sound coming from the car when you are at traffic lights etc?
If the answer is yes, then your accumulator sphere (and others) may be at fault and require replacement. I had exactly the same trouble with mine, which gave me substandard suspension. In addition, with the VSX there is another sphere that regulates the dual settings, not sure where it is. This may also require replacement.
Replacing these is not difficult and they are not that expensive (under £20 each IIRC from Andyspares).
There are plenty of threads here regarding replacement and especially removing the old ones. The ones under the bonnet seem to cause the most trouble.
What worked for me and others was to use a cold chisel, first make a dent/groove in the alloy casing with the chisel, then use this to gain a purchase with the chisel. Hold the chisel pointing in the "undo" direction and "apply" hammer in a firm and controlled fasion.
I don't know about the diesel version but my petrol version required the removal of the air filter housing and associated components to gain access. Some people prefer to work from underneath the car but this was not an option for me.
Good luck
Hugo
alexx
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Post by alexx »

Phil, there were several threads concerning hydractive suspension last month or two, so take a look.
In short, difference between comfort and sport mode is most noticeable on longer road waves on a highway. In comfort mode, the car floats over the road and ignores them (like non-hydroactive one), while in sport mode this floating is considerably reduced, so the car follows the road, making the ride less comfortable. Driving through the local streets, difference between comfort and sport mode isn't very obvious.
In both modes CPU is constantly switching between soft mode, when the car is riding on 6 spheres, and hard mode, when middle spheres (responsible for floating) are disconnected. In sport mode (when the button is pressed), this switching to hard mode occures more frequently. Below about 30 km/h the car is almost constantly in soft mode.
Of course, since the car is 10 years old, there could be something wrong with hydractive system.
Download the file citroenguide.pdf (you can find the link in every 10th thread) - there's a very good description of this and other systems in the car.
philhoward

Post by philhoward »

Cheers for the pointers chaps. It seems to ride the same as the last Xantia (non-hydractive), so could be that some of the spheres are on their way out and it's doing it's job that well I can't tell any difference! I did try it on the motorway last night at 70-odd, and don't think there was any difference in ride quality.
Have already donwloaded the citroen guide.pdf, but wanted to know from VSX drivers if there actually is any discernable difference between Comfort and Sport modes.
As for the Radio code, will try the local Citroen dealer on monday by phone..and hope they don't try and charge me!
Kered
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Post by Kered »

If the button only lights with the sidelights on then this shows a hydractive computer fault. Try the fuses first off.
The best way to demonstrate the difference between the 2 settings is to swith it to "sport" and go round a roundabout at some speed. The car won't lean but if you toggle the switch half way round the roundabout then the car will immediately lean.
I had a VSX for 8 years with no switch light showing until sidelights on and it worked fine!
Derek
bernie
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Post by bernie »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by alexx</i>


Download the file citroenguide.pdf (you can find the link in every 10th thread) - there's a very good description of this and other systems in the car.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
So where is this link?
philhoward

Post by philhoward »

philhoward

Post by philhoward »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Kered</i>

If the button only lights with the sidelights on then this shows a hydractive computer fault. Try the fuses first off.
The best way to demonstrate the difference between the 2 settings is to swith it to "sport" and go round a roundabout at some speed. The car won't lean but if you toggle the switch half way round the roundabout then the car will immediately lean.
I had a VSX for 8 years with no switch light showing until sidelights on and it worked fine!
Derek
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The button lights up without sidelights when pressed, so does that mean the ECU isn't goosed? Perhaps i've got a couple of duff normal spheres being masked by the hydractive?
bernie
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Post by bernie »

Thanks Phil
Kered
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Post by Kered »

Hi Phil
The light behaviour on the hydractive switch is a diagnostic. If yours lights when pressed without the sidelights on then it's OK.
The difference between hard and soft isn't a hard or soft ride!
Do as I said and try the roundabout test.
Derek
philhoward

Post by philhoward »

Did the roudabout test last night, but didn't notice any difference! As I understand the Hydractive II, it goes into Hard mode when cornering hard anyway, or should I try it going a bit slower??!![:D]
Kered
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Post by Kered »

The test is to set the switch with the light on. Go round the roundabout at some pace [}:)], press the switch halfway round and it should suddenly lean over - as a non hydractive would have done.
At least this is what mine did (which I had from new) and I assume that this is typical of what it does. I never found any real difference in ride comfort but it cornered much flatter (and faster)with no body roll.
Hope this helps
Derek
alexx
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Post by alexx »

Phil, it goes to hard in both sport and comfort modes, but in comfort mode it will happen in sharper bends. Try different speeds. Also, try the 'radio test', mentioned in citroenguide.
philhoward

Post by philhoward »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by alexx</i>

Phil, it goes to hard in both sport and comfort modes, but in comfort mode it will happen in sharper bends. Try different speeds. Also, try the 'radio test', mentioned in citroenguide.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Have had a look through the Citroen Guide...but what's the 'Radio Test'?[?]
alexx
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Post by alexx »

Sorry, I tought it was described in the citroenguide, but it seem's it's not, but on the author's page:
http://www.tramontana.co.hu/citroen/sus ... suspn.html
Search for the section "Finding the current suspension mode". When the system is in soft mode (either comfort or sport position), a sort of buzzing can be heard on the radio. Nastasic claims this buzzing can be found at about 700 kHz (middle-wave band). A member of our local forum said that he found this at about 900 kHz, and that buzzing was present both in soft and hard mode, but in soft mode it was louder.
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