Lhm leak at rear.

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Brigsygtt
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009, 18:19
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Lhm leak at rear.

Unread post by Brigsygtt »

Having problems with Jennies activa & after some advice.

There is a puddle of lhm on the rear offside after the car has been turned off. The leak is dripping off the strut/subframe area..

It looked like the strut was leaking & i changed it for a good 2nd hand unit last weekend which seemed to cure it! anyway it seems to be leaking worse than ever now after a couple of days leak free.

Had a quick look today & it doesnt appear to leak when running, the leakoff pipe/breather are still in place on strut. If the door is open & the hydractive valve? is buzzing it doesnt seem to leak, but starts dripping after valve stops buzzing/door closed.

I have checked the activa ram & it seems to be ok, has the usual damp spot but not too bad.

Is this pointing to one of the valves? i know it all sounds a bit vague in description but i have described it as best as poss.

There is lhm everywhere after a 'douche' vert on sunday & need to get it all degreased to find the source. Hopefully its not going to be too bad a job to fix :shock:
97 Xantia 1.9 td lx with a/c (Daily, 172K, FOR SALE)
98 Xantia Hdi Lx with a/c (105k)
97 Renault Extra (c1j turbo 230+hp, 12.88@106)
91 Renault 5 Gt turbo (68k minter)
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Dommo
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Unread post by Dommo »

That sounds similar to the problem I had.

There are electrovalves which cause the buzzing sound, and when the buzzing stops the valves are 'off' and in hard mode, and this blocks the flow of LHM through themselves. This is why the LHM stops dripping.

It's a sure sign that one of your electrovalves is leaking though, it sounds like your hydractive one, it's slightly towards the offside, whereas the Activa specific one is slap bang in the middle - the Activa one is the one I had problems with.

There's a big thread on here where I replace the electrovalve on my Activa, showing a stripped down valve so you can easily see what leaks, I'll find it and post it here.

It's certainly an awkward job but far from impossible, and definately worth replacing even if you want to sell the car.


http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... sc&start=0

About 1/3 of the way down page 8 is where I stripped down an Activa and Hydractive electrovalve, you can see on the bottom left of the first picture the leaking part of the electrovalve, and above it is what one should look like.
RichardW
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Unread post by RichardW »

Have a look at DickieG's blog - about about half way down this page

Sounds pretty similar.....
Richard W
Brigsygtt
Posts: 289
Joined: 12 Jan 2009, 18:19
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Unread post by Brigsygtt »

Aye its a similar problem, had it on ramps today & lhm is running down the black pipe to the strut boot. Cheers for the replys :)

The black pipe is either split where it goes through the subframe or the leak is running off the subframe & finding its way out the hole. The subframe will need to be dropped to diagnose, access is shocking with all the activa stuff :(
97 Xantia 1.9 td lx with a/c (Daily, 172K, FOR SALE)
98 Xantia Hdi Lx with a/c (105k)
97 Renault Extra (c1j turbo 230+hp, 12.88@106)
91 Renault 5 Gt turbo (68k minter)
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Dommo
(Donor 2025)
Posts: 1208
Joined: 11 Apr 2009, 09:43
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Unread post by Dommo »

Brigsygtt wrote:The black pipe is either split where it goes through the subframe or the leak is running off the subframe & finding its way out the hole. The subframe will need to be dropped to diagnose, access is shocking with all the activa stuff :(
Don't we know it!

Removal of the spare wheel carrier makes a lot more room in there.