XANTIA REAR SUSPENSION

[nosky1954]

Hi all, recently purchased my second Xantia, long story short - rear suspension not lifting. Replaced the rear control valve ( rusted solid , dog bone broken ) with a known working one and dog bone, from 1st Xantia, suspension now up, wont go down, well did go down once and passed the front on its way up ? which works ok. any sugestions greatfully received. Regards Nosky.

[CitroJim]

It may just be a case of adjustment Nosky. Does the rear rise and fall OK on the manual height lever?

If so, then it's simply a case of adjustment. It is very critical as around 2mm of valve travel equates to the full rise and fall height of the rear suspension...

[citronut]

or the linkage is not coupled up correctly, or maybe the pipes are in the wrong ports,

regards malcolm

[RichardW]

Almost certainly the pipes are the wrong way round - it seems to be common when fitting rear height correctors - no idea why, perhaps the replacement ones have different internals...

[Old-Guy]

It may just be a case of adjustment Nosky. Does the rear rise and fall OK on the manual height lever?

If so, then it's simply a case of adjustment. It is very critical as around 2mm of valve travel equates to the full rise and fall height of the rear suspension...

I think Jim means adjustment of the position of the valve/corrector assembly rather than moving the clamp on the ARB.

[citroenxm]

ALSO be absolutley SURE the Lever arms are located absolutley SPOT ON correctly as they were before.. The lever that sits in the height corrector "Arm" has to be in place in a certain position. This will also give false position reference to the height corrector.

[nosky1954]

Hi all, thanks for the feedback, The manual control rod when in the normal position, the spring fits snuggly on the control arm and is not pulling on the spring in either direction, it does tension itself in both directions equally when in the up or down position. The suspension does not fall at all, regardless of the manual control. Having freed the control valve and re-fitted it on Xantia 1, with no dog bone it rises and falls but does not find centre. Xantia 1 is a 94, Xantia 2 is a 98 and has what looks like a pressure valve system in front of the LHM reservior, the 94 does not have ?. Even with the dog bone disconnected the 98 does not rise or fall. Is it possible the system needs to be bled from the back to the front of the system after replacing the rear valve ? Regards Nosky.

[citronut]

the suspension side of the system is virtually self bleeding, citroen use to state after opening a hydraulic circuit to let the engine idle with the bleed valve open for aprox 2 minutes, then bring the revs up to 2,500 rpm whilst shutting the bleed valve,

it sounds to me you have mixed the hydraulic pipes up which go to the H/C,

i think the pressure valve in front of the hydraulic tank is the ABS block/unit,

regards malcolm

[CitroJim]

it sounds to me you have mixed the hydraulic pipes up which go to the H/C,

Good thinking Malcolm. Their placement is counter-intuitive... I've seen it happen and the resultant head scratching that goes with it...

[nosky1954]

Hi Citronut & citrojim,
Thanks for your responses, Both valves looked the same externally, all pipework matched up without forcing unions, pipe work on both cars look the same. I will however, over the next couple of days swop the valves back to their original cars and see what happens. Thanks again for your advise.
Regards, Nosky.

[CitroJim]

It is possible the 'new' valve block is full of dirt and rubbish. It collects in height correctors. The dirt can stop them and at best make them very sluggish...

They're not hard to overhaul and clean and at zero expense too. the seals can normally be used ad-infinitum... A guide on overhauling them can be found here..

[citronut]

It is possible the 'new' valve block is full of dirt and rubbish. It collects in height correctors. The dirt can stop them and at best make them very sluggish...

Jim Nosky has said he has tried the H/C back on the car it came from which seemed to work as it should, all be it with the dogy bone not fitted,
so i dont think any sludge in the H/C will be the cause of the prob,
even though it is best to clean it out whilst off,

regards malcolm

[CitroJim]

Jim Nosky has said he has tried the H/C back on the car it came from which seemed to work as it should,

Ahh, sorry Malcolm, it was late and I missed that

[bigblackfalco]

From my previous experience of connecting the pipes round the wrong way on the rear HC, the back does nothing at all !! It just sits on the ground!

My guess is that the clamp is in the wrong position on the ARB

[citronut]

My guess is that the clamp is in the wrong position on the ARB

i don't think Nosky has altered the clamp on the anti roll bar, or at least i haven't seen it mentioned in this thread until now,

and it shouldn't be adjusted until all other avenues have been exhausted

regards malcolm