Harsh ride in VSX

mseymour · Unread post by **mseymour** » 03 Dec 2003, 17:34

Hi folks, the ride on my VSX estate (hydractive II) is just awful. I feel every little lump and bump in the road, it crashes over manholes and in every way isn't as good as an Astra or MKIII Golf estate.
I've just replaced all seven spheres (not including the accumulator) and it was better. The next morning it was as if I hadn't bothered to change a thing.
I've just put some Total Hydraulincage (or whatever it's called) in it and things seem to be getting worse.
As far as I can tell the hydractive jobbys are working fine and the height correctors seem to do their stuff as well. Anyone have any ideas, or do I just need to leave the flushing oil in and be patient?[:(!]

Unread post by **RichardW** » 03 Dec 2003, 17:55

1. Lots of citrobics (min to max on suspension) to make sure all air is expelled.
2. Ride height - should be about 70mm from top of front tyre to bottom edge of wing, and sills just about level on a level road.
3. Feel each corner - it should be soft and silky - any corner that is different will give you somewhere to look.
Possibles for rough ride include: Seized front struts / wishbone bushes / ball joints. Knackered rear swing arm bearings (look from rear for inward leaning wheels). As yours is hydractive there is also the possibility that it is stuck in hard mode. Tune the radio to about 600 Hz (I think) long wave and go for a drive - you should hear a buzzing that is the feed to the hydractive units, and which should stop when you turn into a corner hard.
Plenty to go at!!

AWG · Unread post by **AWG** » 03 Dec 2003, 18:08

mseymour
This looks very similar to my problem. RichardW has given a pretty good synopsis of most of the advice I got - See "Xantia suspension - ride quality" lower in this list.
Good luck!

mseymour · Unread post by **mseymour** » 03 Dec 2003, 21:12

Hmmmm. The hydractive bits seem to be fine. The computer behaves as it should and with the computer disconnected (the system is therefore in hard mode) the ride is really bad.
There's no leaning of the rear wheels, not sure how else to check the rear arm bearings.
The front struts could be knackered I suppose, but the front rises and falls smoothly.
Any good pointers for checking any other bits of the front suspension you suggested... As you may have gathered I'm no mechanic, but I'll happily sort out most things with instruction.

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 04 Dec 2003, 14:57

Are your tyre pressures too high?

Kered · Unread post by **Kered** » 04 Dec 2003, 18:35

My VSX did exactly the same. In the end I took it to a citroen dealer who tried to interrogate the suspension CPU but with no success. It turned out that a fuse was missing. I don't see how it worked OK in the past and I've had it from new.
However one thing I learned is that the light on the suspension switch doesn't illuminate with the sidelights off if there is a computer fault.
So, check the fuse.
Derek

xminee · Unread post by **xminee** » 05 Dec 2003, 14:11

What make of spheres did you fit to the car. I bought 2 amtex rear spheres and two centre spheres from a certain supplier which have only done 2000 miles in one month before becoming completely flat, has any one else had a similar bad experience of these spheres.[B)]

mseymour · Unread post by **mseymour** » 05 Dec 2003, 14:41

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

What make of spheres did you fit to the car. I bought 2 amtex rear spheres and two centre spheres from a certain supplier which have only done 2000 miles in one month before becoming completely flat, has any one else had a similar bad experience of these spheres.[B)]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I don't know what the spheres are, they were ordered from GSF, two of them are recons, which I recognise are not the best way to go, but I needed to be sure that all the spheres were good and money's tight.

AWG · Unread post by **AWG** » 10 Dec 2003, 14:37

Derek,
You wrote that the suspension CPU was interrogated. Is this the main ECU?

mseymour · Unread post by **mseymour** » 10 Dec 2003, 15:48

Just an update on this. After a bit of citaerobics the ride improved, but then deteriorated again. Now it's back to where it was before I changed the spheres.. harsh and nasty....
Any other ideas as to what might be wrong? I'm wondering if air is getting in somewhere, but no idea where... I can't find any leaks.

mseymour · Unread post by **mseymour** » 13 Dec 2003, 02:39

Just read a few other messages, I haven't done anything about bleeding the rear brakes. Is this likely to be contributing to the problems?

Unread post by **alan s** » 13 Dec 2003, 03:41

If air is getting into your system, chances are that you won't find any LHM leaks.
The hydraulics operate through a pump and as such have a side that blows (outlet) and a side that sucks (intake) but due to its construction, the outlet pressure is multiples of the vacuum of the intake; they're not proportionate to each other, hence a leak on the intake won't scream & hiss as it would on say the intake side of the engine. (Strange analogy I know, but the best I can do)
The most common place for leaks on any LHM system is at the point where the hose from the LHM tank connects to the pump and at both ends but more commonly at the tank end, due to the type of clips used and the material used for the hose. A wise precaution is to trim a very small amount off this hose, checking to be sure it is still long enough, and replacing the factory (non reuseable) hose clips with a couple of good quality jubilee clips.
it would then be good procedure to bleed the system via bleeders at the brakes as well as doing the citaerobics and releasing any air out of the return side via the 12mm bleeder on the accumulator after each alternate up/down cycle of the Citaerobics. Be sure the LHM tank is well topped up before you start.
Alan S

Kered · Unread post by **Kered** » 16 Dec 2003, 03:16

Reply to AWG
You ask which CPU was interrogated. The VSX suspension computer lives in a plastic box on the left side of the engine compartment - when viewed from the front.
Regarding air leaks. I reported about 3 months ago that the feed pipe to the pump had become unbraised and I was getting massive air leak and massive fluid leak. I used Screwfix polyurethane wood adhesive (fantastic stuff - sticks ANYTHING!)to stop the leaks and 3 months on all still OK.
Derek

Richard Gallagher · Unread post by **Richard Gallagher** » 28 Dec 2003, 01:38

Chaps, I have just replaced the hydractive spheres on my VSX estate (turbo CT) with standard ones and the ride is transformed. Before, I found it to be very harsh despite the spheres only being 6 months old, now it is silky smooth. Handling doesn't seem to suffer much as the centre sphere is locked out quite quickly due to the sofer outer spheres and roll is basically as you would expect from a 'standard' Xantia.
I did this alteration on my hatch (TD)some time ago and can whole-heartedly recommend it for the estate as well.