Anti sink sphere connection

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 21 Jun 2005, 04:42

I want to change the anti sink sphere on the back of the Xantia as it's the only one that hasn't been done. My question is this. Is there a little rubber seal thing on the pipe union as there is on the rear brake callipers, and if so is it the same size? I'd like to put a new one on if indeed there is one in there, but there seems to be three different sizes available. I could get one when I buy the sphere if I knew the size.

JohnD · Unread post by **JohnD** » 21 Jun 2005, 23:19

As far as I remember the union on the anti-sink sphere screws into the sphere without any rubber seal. If you haven't removed one before, hold the union with a spanner as you turn the sphere. Not to do so will b****r up the pipe.

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 21 Jun 2005, 23:50

Would be a 3.5mm pipe seal if any. Few pence each. Buy & stock a couple for peace of mind.
Seal is named by outer pipe dimension it fits on i.e. 3.5 - 4.5 - 6.3 mm.

nick · Unread post by **nick** » 21 Jun 2005, 23:52

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

As far as I remember the union on the anti-sink sphere screws into the sphere without any rubber seal.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The plot thickens! Thats been my experience too - no seal on the pipe. I assumed it should have had a seal but it was missing on my car;
http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... C_ID=14381
The one on my car was a swine to get to seal properly, it did eventually but needed to be very tight.

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 22 Jun 2005, 01:28

I'm sure that when I took that sphere off the '94 Xantia it had the rubber seal. I don't really want to take the pipe off again to check because last time I twisted the pipe.

JohnT · Unread post by **JohnT** » 22 Jun 2005, 03:45

It does have a rubber seal ( on mine a 1995 Xantia ) and you are quite right it is easy to release the sphere without realising the damn thing has a feed pipe to the rear of the sphere! It is a 9m spanner required? Please do not make the same mistake I made as the rubber was stuck in the old sphere so I did not see it missing, so the system leaked. Re fitted the rubber sleeve and all OK.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 22 Jun 2005, 03:51

Where does one obtain replacement rubber seals. My local dealer swore blind they are unavailable as a separate item and are only supplied with new pipes. I'm sure they are talking cobblers but they were adamant and the on-line parts lists I looked at with them did not show them...

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 22 Jun 2005, 04:05

My local dealer stocks the rubber seals, but they're aren't cheap 39p or so each. Personally I think thats expensive for a piece cut off the end of a rubber hose.

JohnT · Unread post by **JohnT** » 22 Jun 2005, 04:05

Citrojim....I still make my point above. All this rubber does is to act as a sealant to the supply of the fluid. If your dealer can not identify this on the parts catalogue this is quite interesting if it is not supposed to be there? So do I have a piece of rubber I inherited from a previous owner? who played around with this car? That now bothers me. Other connnections of this system do have the same piece of rubber.

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 22 Jun 2005, 05:05

GSF numbers are N65998, N65999 and N65996 for the three different sizes. Think I'll just get one of each then I'm bound to get the right size.

DoubleChevron · Unread post by **DoubleChevron** » 22 Jun 2005, 05:41

I've been working on Citroens for 16years (since I was about 15years old). I've never replaced a pipe seal... If I drop/loose a seal I just grab another out of one of the wrecks.
Has anyone ever had a seal leak that wasn't due to a damaged line or the pipe being cross threaded ??.
seeya,
Shane L.

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 23 Jun 2005, 03:23

So, I just changed the anti sink sphere and can confirm that the rubber seal is the 4.5mm one. And it did stay in the sphere when it was removed.