Xantia anti sink (that old chesnut)

[aerodynamica]

Hi all, I replaced the spheres on the car, all 5 except the anti sink (rear brake accumulator) I noted that the car doesn't sink at all at the rear over many days but I did notice that the front sinks about 1/2 way overnight but then stays there for days - anyone know why it should do this?

The anti sink valves are doing thei job tho, with the car untouched, I put the height lever to low and it did not budge - not even after 10 minutes. I started it up and after heat up and some Citerobics, put it on low and down it went.

Could it possibly be mildly leaky front struts?

[Mandrake]

Sounds perfectly normal to me.

You can't expect there to be no sinking at all - but it should stay up off the lower bump stops for a few days. Mine generally stays at the normal height during a work day (8 hours) but over night it will drop an inch or so at both ends.

If it sinks half way over night and then stays there for days it won't be the struts leaking - its just the way the anti-sink valves work - the pressure loss that causes that initial sinking occurs BEFORE the anti-sink valve closes, but it doesn't immediately reflect a height change due to the movement friction of the struts, which tend to hold the height the same for a while for small pressure changes.

Because the movement/binding friction of the struts depends on steering wheel angle, the road surface you're parked on, whether the road is level, etc, it can lead to inconsistant sinking characteristics depending on where you park.

As long as it stays up off the bump stops and takes under 30 seconds to restore the height when you start the engine you have nothing to worry about.

Regards,
Simon

[CitroJim]

Sounds perfectly normal to me.

And to me

Both my Activa and 2.1TD sink in exactly the same way as you describe Simon and both very quickly restore themselves to normal height as soon as pressure is up.

In fact both mine, after the initial sink of anout an inch, will then remain at that height for a week or more. In fact I've never seen either sink right down to the bump-stops.

Nothing to worry about at all!

My old 1.9TD sinks right down to the bumpstops in about an hour but then that is normal too, it's a very early non-antisink model

[aerodynamica]

Ok thanks guys