Just bought my first Xantia, LHM sprayed everywhere.

[OlemTheGolem]

Hello! Just bought my first French car of any description, a 1995 xantia of unknown spec. (Has a outside temp gauge but no hydractive 2) Before test driving I tried out the suspension by lowering the car to service low position, on the way down the cap to the lhm tank flew off sending LHM raining onto bystanders and nearby garages/cars. I shut it off and it "boiled" a bit before letting off. This is the first time this car has been in service low since 2014 when it got a full service. After cleaning up the mess, I restarted and brought it up to service high and down to service low again, all good.
I still bought the car, as this gave me great bargaining advantage. ( About 400£ for a rust free one owner)


Basically my question is, is there anything to worry about for now? Everything worked fine on the 1.5 hour drive home.
Am planning to change all spheres and do a flush in the near future.

[OlemTheGolem]

The hood was indeed open when the cap blew off, that's why it went absolutely everywhere.

[xantia_v6]

From your description, I think that one of the spheres has internally ruptured, sending a big burp of nitrogen through the system. This is more likely to happen after the car has sat for a long time without being used.

You should check that the suspension still has good bounce at each corner of the car and check that the pressure regulator does not tick too often with the engine running. This should identify a faulty sphere, except for the anti-sink sphere, which cannot really be tested on the car.

[OlemTheGolem]

Hi and thanks for the answer! This was also my thoughts initially. Every corner seems to have the same amount of bounce, and it ticks about twice a minute it seems. I'll do some more experimenting in the coming weeks including new spheres as the age of the ones on there are unknown.

[white exec]

If the car has classic round (not saucer) spheres, it is probably worth replacing all of them (4 x corner, accumulator probably ok) now. Life expectancy (i.e. gas pressure) for this type of sphere is 3 years or so. At least you don't have too many to tackle.

You were unlucky to get the rainshower of LHM. At least these tanks are vented!

[OlemTheGolem]

They are all classic round and gray! Will order up parts and a sphere tool to get the job done looking forward to the French car life after 8 Swedish and German cars.

[Hell Razor5543]

You can make a reasonably decent sphere removal tool that will work with all but biblically tight spheres.

https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... hp?t=21850

[white exec]

A DIY item, similar to the Pleiades design

[myglaren]

That looks a good one Chris.

The mechanic I used to use had a gigantic pair of pincers, about five feet long, came from the docks I expect. Made the job very easy.

Like this but the 'pincer' part formed a circle slightly smaller than a green sphere.

[Mandrake]

From your description, I think that one of the spheres has internally ruptured, sending a big burp of nitrogen through the system. This is more likely to happen after the car has sat for a long time without being used.

I have my doubts about this theory.

More likely someone previous who didn't know any better topped the oil level in the reservoir tank up far too high - expecting it to be near the top when the car is in normal height, which of course it should not be.

Lower the suspension and all the excess oil returns to the tank and it will quite literally blow the cap off especially if the filler cap breather pipe is blocked with dirt...

[Stickyfinger]

Xantia caps do not "blow-off", they move out of the way and let the LHM just flood out.

("Do not"... = ....never heard about one)

[white exec]

Could be either, I guess.

[white exec]

The mechanic I used to use had a gigantic pair of pincers, about five feet long, came from the docks I expect. Made the job very easy.

Heavy duty crucible tongs, maybe?

[myglaren]

The mechanic I used to use had a gigantic pair of pincers, about five feet long, came from the docks I expect. Made the job very easy.

Heavy duty crucible tongs, maybe?

Quite possibly. They were close to the Doxford engine works and I would guess that they came from there when the works closed down.

Very similar to these but a bit more brutal

And look what came up on that image search



Could be a possibility for the spheres.
twelve quid

[white exec]

That last one would just b-e-n-d
My DIY one above was originally made with just one 8mm thick handle, but even that was too whippy to clout. Welded on an extra 8mm, and the photo shows the result. Works fine, and not too long to use in a confined space.