XANTIA REAR SUSPENSION

[johnnyp1978]

PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME
I have a 98 1.9TD Xantia and have had to resort to you guys out there to help me!!. The rear suspension three weeks ago gave way but the front rises like a good one but the rear will not rise at all manually at the lever or underneath at the height adjuster. I replaced the height adjuster and the spheres but to no avail. i disconnected the pipes (while engine running to see if there was pressure but NO it trickled out like a tap with a worn washer). The pump cant be suspect cause the front rises the dosier valve aint got to do with it surely cause i did that. And also the front height adjuster i have replaced also.

Can someone out there help me in recovery of my Xantia or i am going to scrap it because i have, at this point lost all sense of patience.

Was a quite proud owner of a 98 1.9TD Xantia until NOW

[mezuk04]

Hey johnny, nice to see you.

Chaps what do we think, i personally think it has to be the rear plastic clip 'thingy me' bob'

I wonder how many cookies i get if everyone agrees

[dnsey]

Have you tried pushing directly on the height corrector (CAR WELL SUPPORTED!)?
Are you sure that the H/C is connected the right way round (it's easy to get it wrong)?

[johnnyp1978]

Hey johnny, nice to see you.

Chaps what do we think, i personally think it has to be the rear plastic clip 'thingy me' bob'

I wonder how many cookies i get if everyone agrees

Hi thanks for the recommendation will try it out get back to you when i have time cheers for the tips bud

johnnyp

[johnnyp1978]

Have you tried pushing directly on the height corrector (CAR WELL SUPPORTED!)?
Are you sure that the H/C is connected the right way round (it's easy to get it wrong)?

Hey Bud,

Surely with the height corrector disconnected with the engine still running (pump activated) that the fluid would be flying out , but to no avail.

Any advise much appreciated bud

Johnny

[jeremy]

So to recap rear of car doesn't rise - and there's no feed to the height corrector when the feed pipe is removed.

Interesting - never heard of that one!

Does the warning light go out? - the reason i ask is that there is a safety valve which will limit the supply to the front brakes and suspension first and the rear second. The light goes out when it opens.

If that's ok - have any of the pipes been crushed. This is probably unlikely as they are mostly in places where they are unlikely to be hit - but still worth a check.

The next component is the anti-sink valve and I wonder if that is your problem. The strange thing is that I've never seen anyone on here with problems with them apart from leakages.

Information on its workings (and the rest of your citroen for that matter) can be found in the technical guide referred to on this page

http://www.tramontana.co.hu/citroen/guide.html

[AndersDK]

Sounds to me that the piping somehow has been mixed up. It is rather easy to do.

On the HC itself there are 2 ports adjacent to each other. One will be pressure feed, the other will be pressure return. Right next to these 2 ports - mid located - is the leak-off rubber hose.
The single port with no neighbour connections, is the suspension cylinders connection.

IMPORTANT NOTE : if the wheels are hanging free down (car jacked up) - you can NOT make the HC open for the pressure to the suspension cylinders. This is because the linkage is signalling the HC, that the wheels is at their farthest position FROM the chassis - i.e. resembles the highest suspension height setting if car was on its wheels.
The solution is to press up one of the wheels into the wheelarch. But CAREFUL
Once the supension pressure starts building up - the wheel is pressed down - trying to take up the weight of the car

[Mandrake]

i disconnected the pipes (while engine running to see if there was pressure but NO it trickled out like a tap with a worn washer).

Did you ever hear the one about the man who went looking for a gas leak with a match ?

Without wanting to upset you, disconnecting one of the high pressure pipes on purpose while it is supposed to be pressurized is a very foolhardy thing to do. High pressure hydraulics can be very dangerous if handled unsafely.

Imagine a fine jet water blaster pointing at you (for example at your eye) with 2400psi available from the accumulator and you get the idea...

As to your actual problem, most likely it could only be the pipes to the height corrector mixed up as Anders suggests, or a faulty Anti-sink valve.

Regards,
Simon

[johnnyp1978]

Hi Chaps,
the problem is still here even after replacing the anti-sink valve and a few t-junctions. Also flushed the system out and yet to no avail. This car is shortly going to the scrap yard cause i really have lost all hope in the bloody thing.

Any suggestions right now would be good but probably already done it/ replaced it.

Cheers JohnnyP

[dnsey]

You'll need to approach this logically.
Look at a diagram of the hydraulics, and make sure that you're familiar with how the suspension works. Then, starting at the height corrector and working backwards, do the following.
Depressurise the system, slacken the input union to the corrector somewhat (don't remove it), then start the engine and repressurise, watching (from a distance) for leakage at the union. If there's none, depressurise again, re-make the joint, and try the next union 'towards the pump'. Eventually, you'll find a point where there's pressure, which will point out the faulty component. Sounds long-winded, but it won't take long and will result in a firm diagnosis.
Don't undo any unions without depressurising, and be prepared to replace the disturbed seals when the job's finished (probably won't be necessary though).
Of course, if you have access to a suitable pressure gauge and tees, it's much easier....

[AndersDK]

Johnny -

What was done exactly prior to diagnosing the rear would not raise ?
- its very important you remember exactly which jobs you did on the system just prior to the fault occurred.

Its no help just going along the line of replacing parts - as these would be fitted the same way as the original ones - still introducing problems.

The fact that you took a union apart with system pressurised - and was not injuried - tells me something is entirely wrong in the pipe connections. You definately have mixed up something along the line ...