2004 2.0l HDI C5 Estate VTR suspension Help please

[howiedean]

Hi,

My C5 is now coming up to 100,000 miles and I'm after some information on some issues/maintenance that should be tackled soon.

The suspension feels odd, its not massively bouncy/hard although it no longer glides over the bumps like a hydraulic car should. I'm not sure if the height might be slightly too high or if it is in the early stages of the spheres loosing pressure?

The drop links need to be replaced, where do most people buy replacement drop links from as I don’t want to replace them again?

Does anyone have an idiots guide (pics of bleed screws) to LDS replacement and does LDS need to be replaced?

If I look at getting spheres replaced does anyone have an idiots guide to this task?

I've tackled LHM/sphere replacements on the various Xantia's I've owned previously although I don’t have a Lexia for de-pressurization for these tasks.

Any help would be gratefully recieved!

Regards,

Howie

[howiedean]

The car has just rolled passed 100,000 miles today and I thought I'd have a look at the car today. The height is about 8cm from the top of the tyre to the wheel arch, that's front and back.
I've WD40'd the height sensor and the ride height is exactly the same, oh and I've added a couple of photo's.





Does the ride height sound about right?

Many thanks.

Howie

[daviemck2006]

I have just measured the ride height of my 2007 saloon sitting on the drive, been shut down for about 2 hours. It has 18" alloys on at the moment wearing 225/40x18 tyres, which are not much difference rolling radius to my standard 216/55x16 wheel/tyres. It measures 9cm front and 7 rear. That would probably change when the car gets started, but not by much, so I would think yours is about right.

[Peter.N.]

I would suspect your spheres are failing although they normally last a lot longer than the old type, I changed mine at about 190k They are not to difficult to change, you have to bleed off the fluid front and back but if you collect it carefully and keep it clean you can use it again. You will need a different sphere removal tool for these spheres as they are a different shape and you cant grip hem with a chain wrench. I bought a purpose made tool from a chap that makes them on ebay for not to much money and it works a treat, never got spheres off so easily.

Try bouncing each corner in case you have one that has failed, you should get about 4"-5" movement at the rear and 2"-3" at the front, the only other thing that can affect the rear is failure of the radius arm bearings, although at that mileage I doubt it.

Peter

[SaabC5]

10 years old and 100k on the clock means a timing belt change is due.

[howiedean]

Thanks for that info gents, I had the timing belt/water pump and pulley changed whilst I was in the States a year or so ago.
Peter, I'm reasonably confident in changing the spheres although I'm not sure where the bleed nipples are?
I like the Youtube guide for replacing Xantia spheres, one for a C5 would be good.

[Peter.N.]

The Hains book is pretty good. The bleed nipple for the front is on the drivers side bulkhead just to the left of the engine, the rear one is much easier to see and get at, just follow the pipe from the sphere. Clean the nipple and attach a length of clean pipe and collect the fluid in a clean container, just slacken the bleed screws and wait until it stops flowing. Once you have fitted them switch on and they will pump up, top up the reservoir either with what you removed or some new fluid.

Peter

[triumphtoledo]

Car Mechanics magazine covered both LHM and LDS changes around a year ago.
R

[howiedean]

Car Mechanics magazine covered both LHM and LDS changes around a year ago.
R

Cheers for that I'll try and get a copy.
Peter thanks for your gen also.....
I've just bought a sphere removal tool from E-bay and I'm looking at buying some sheres very soon.

Regards,

Howie

[daviemck2006]

I'll be watching how you get on with spheres getting changed. My car had done 111000 miles and doesn't feel as smooth on the road as my previous one was.

[howiedean]

Gents,

I've ordered some spheres from GSF today although they did not have any in stock. Does anyone know if the following GSF numbers are correct for a H3 Estate model?

453PC0350 - REAR - 44 BAR
453PC0430 - FRONT - 57 BAR (I'm not convinced that this is the correct one)

The guy at GSF seemed to spend ages checking their computer system for the spheres for my car and they dont seem to match the numbers that come up when I search the GSF site.....

Regards,

Howie

[waynedance]

Thinking of changing my spheres and getting from the sphere shop as suggested on here.

[daviemck2006]

Does the c5 only have 4 spheres? That's the vtr one with o ly 2 buttons for up and down. I am wondering if I'm thinking this car is a bit firmer on the road but to the fact my last 2.2 had the sport button for the suspension also and because I only used it when towing.

[Peter.N.]

My first car was a 2.2 with hydractive and I fancy it did give a better ride than my non hydractive 2.0. especially as it was on the original spheres and I replaced mine, I did however find that the radius arm bearings had seized up, replacing them made a tremendous difference.

Peter

[howiedean]

I've just completed the sphere change using the procedure that Peter described previously. Whilst changing the rear spheres I didnt need to release any pressure as the Sphere could be turned by hand. This job was made much easier as I purchased the sphere removal tool from E-bay.
The ride quality is much improved now although the drop links still need to be replaced (I bought some Meyle ones as not worth getting cheap ones that last 12 months).

Regards,