Worse after l.h.m. change !!

patneenan · Unread post by **patneenan** » 02 Jun 2005, 13:48

I changed the L.H.M. , cleaned filters and put it all back together but it seems to be worse!
It takes just as long , if not longer, to rise to position and for the STOP light to go out.
The pressure release bolt on the front sphere was opened 1/2 a turn as said, with car on low, engine off, but I heard no hissing sound.
I had to prime the pump twice to get it up again after.
My questions are
1 . Should fluid come out of the pressure release screw or only air?
2. Why didn't it hiss? Should it?
3 What should I do now? Depressurise and re -prime?
Car is 97 ACTIVA
Help I,m stuck!!!!!!
P.s. went to gsf yesterday and they said that they don't do the n/s driveshaft only the o/f.for my car.
Is this right?

Mandrake · Unread post by **Mandrake** » 02 Jun 2005, 14:53

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by patneenan

I changed the L.H.M. , cleaned filters and put it all back together but it seems to be worse!
It takes just as long , if not longer, to rise to position and for the STOP light to go out.
The pressure release bolt on the front sphere was opened 1/2 a turn as said, with car on low, engine off, but I heard no hissing sound.
I had to prime the pump twice to get it up again after.
My questions are
1 . Should fluid come out of the pressure release screw or only air?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Nothing should "come out" of the release screw, unless you inadvertantly unscrewed it right out, which you don't want to do
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
2. Why didn't it hiss? Should it?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yes it should hiss, or I'd describe it more like a squeal. It's the sound of oil rushing through the release valve. If it's not doing it, theres probably little/no gas in the pressure regulator sphere.
If theres some, but not much gas in the pressure regulator sphere, then this can make the time it takes the car to pump up in the morning much longer - because assuming that the oil pressure leaks away over night to the point where the sphere diaphram is bottomed, the pump has to pump a much larger than normal CC volume of oil into the accumulator sphere to reach operating pressure.
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
3 What should I do now? Depressurise and re -prime?
Car is 97 ACTIVA
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Sounds like you should check your accumulator sphere. It's easy to do, follow my method in this message thread:
http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... C_ID=14251
Note: because your car includes Hydractive2 you might need to leave a door open during the engine off part of the test to keep it in soft mode during the test...
Regards,
Simon

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 02 Jun 2005, 14:55

Neither fluid or air should come out of the pressure release screw, you're should only slacken it a couple of turns and not remove it at all, the pressure release screw has a ball bearing behind it that is very easy to lose if you remove it.
There will only be a hiss when you slacken the screw if there is pressure in the accumulator. If you'd just stopped the engine, I'd expect there to be pressure there.
Citrobatics are the way forward, you may have air in the system and you need to get it out. Suspension up and down a load of times and see if it improves.

patneenan · Unread post by **patneenan** » 02 Jun 2005, 14:58

Put it through full down to full up cycle 5 or 6 times but still the same!
I only unscrewed the pressure release screw 1/2 a turn is that enough?

patneenan · Unread post by **patneenan** » 02 Jun 2005, 17:24

I have also noticed today that the car sinks straightaway after switching it off.
It didn't do it before , only a bit but now it drops quite a lot

Oscar Too · Unread post by **Oscar Too** » 02 Jun 2005, 18:27

Pat
1/2 a turn is enough - any more and you risk a small ball bearing flying out at you under pressure.
5 or 6 times isn't enough - try doing it constantly for 15 minutes. This will kick any air out of the system. Otherwise check the accumulator sphere as above.
There is a chance that the LHM change dislodged any crud that had built up, and you may have a valve or aperture blocked, affecting performance. How was the old LHM? And did you hydraflush before putting new LHM?

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 02 Jun 2005, 19:10

How did you prime the pump?
Did you use the Haynes method and remove the feed pipe from the tank? If you did that you may have introduced an air leak. Another obvious thing would be to check you have enough LHM in the tank.

patneenan · Unread post by **patneenan** » 02 Jun 2005, 21:33

Kowalski,
What other ways are there to prime the pump?
In Anders advice it says the same as the b.o.l.
Disconnect h.p. pipe and pour in lhm.
By the way new problem just emerged!
In doing the citaerobics going up from lowest setting the STOP light comes on , as it rises it goes off again.
Any idea why?
I'm just going out again to reprime the pump to see if it make s any difference

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 02 Jun 2005, 21:49

Repriming the pump isn't always necessary, it's either primed and able to pump / suck or not.
When you pulled the pipe off, you might have damaged it or not got it back on properly afterwards. If you've done either of those things, you could be getting the pump sucking air into the hydraulics, which could cause some of your problems.
You'll find out how expensive this pipe is if you've split it, the dealers want an arm and a leg for it but it can be replaced with a length of any standard oil resistant hose.

patneenan · Unread post by **patneenan** » 02 Jun 2005, 22:57

The pipe appears to be ok, I say appears ,cause it was in v good condition , no cracks or the like.
I've just gone and reprimed the pump again.
I'll just have to wait and see what happens over next few days and after more citaerobic sessions.
Thanks

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 03 Jun 2005, 01:34

what mileage has car done,if quite high and susp was lazy before fluid change you moght find pump is worn out regards malcolm

patneenan · Unread post by **patneenan** » 03 Jun 2005, 03:56

It's done 120,000.

Mandrake · Unread post by **Mandrake** » 03 Jun 2005, 04:32

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by patneenan

Kowalski,
What other ways are there to prime the pump?
In Anders advice it says the same as the b.o.l.
Disconnect h.p. pipe and pour in lhm.
By the way new problem just emerged!
In doing the citaerobics going up from lowest setting the STOP light comes on , as it rises it goes off again.
Any idea why?
I'm just going out again to reprime the pump to see if it make s any difference
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
At risk of repeating myself, have you tested the accumulator sphere yet ? You seem to have a fixation on air being in the hydraulic system, but all your symptoms point fairly clearly towards the accumulator sphere being dud as your main problem.
Please test it using the method I described earlier before panicing any further about other unlikely possibilities [:)] Personally, I highly doubt that if 5 lots of up and down exercise didn't help that continuing to do it would make any further difference. My money is on the accumulator sphere.
Regards,
Simon

patneenan · Unread post by **patneenan** » 06 Jun 2005, 21:33

Did the sitting in boot test and it didn't pass.
I guess acc sphere needs changing
Can anyone give me a detailed step by step guide to changing the acc sphere?
I checked on the search but nothing in detail came up
Is it easy to unscrew the acc sphere, as there doesn't seem to be a lot of room to get in there?
Do i need a special tool?
Thanks

ActivaV6uk · Unread post by **ActivaV6uk** » 06 Jun 2005, 21:51

Hi pat, I seem to remember that your in coventry, bring your car over to my house in redditch if you like with a new Accumulator and i will fit it for you, i'm free at the moment due to redundancy. also check the activanet forum we are talking about having a group meeting someware as I said in our las email it would be nice to have you along.
Best wishes.
Andy