Xantia OSF strut - Low.

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adzbaby
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Xantia OSF strut - Low.

Post by adzbaby »

Hi all,
My 94 1.9TD xant has develop a peculiar lean, the os strut is about 1.5" lower than the NS? When the engine is running and the hydraulic system pressurises the strut will level with the NS at the correct ride height, it just when the car is parked up (as far as I have been able to see).
I have greased the struts to see if it were the NS one sticking but alas still sitting lob sided?
Any ideas?
Adam.
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

The hydraulic system is connected left to right on a Xantia so you really shouldn't get this sort of thing happening, unless there is somthing wrong with your anti-roll bars.
Is it a VSX?
adzbaby
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Post by adzbaby »

No its a LX.
I'll have a look at the anti-roll bars tonight. Basically the gap between the wheel arch and the top of the wheel is lower on the OS.
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Clogzz
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Post by Clogzz »

Wouldn't it be the strut top about to crash through the bonnet ?
See following horror story.
http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... C_ID=14883
adzbaby
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Post by adzbaby »

Ha ha, no no, I did have a look though, just in case it was venturing through the chassis! Strut mount is fine.
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

Is the ground that it is parked on flat?
Make sure you don't have a wheel in a hole / on a lump, it would be obvious if the front was level and the rear wasn't...
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Oystercatcher
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Post by Oystercatcher »

I noticed mine had developed a list to starboard a couple of months back, about an inch in my case, front and back. I checked the front suspension, strut etc. and couldn't find anything loose/out of place. I checked the rear subframe mounts, but they looked OK. The only untoward thing I found was the offside rear bumpstop in the trailing arm had a split in it.
Now, I seem to recall someone, probably on here, saying that the C5's bumpstops were an integral part of the suspension (a bit like the old spring-assistors c*r*v*nn*rs used) and wondered if the Xant was the same?
No doubt a main stealer will want a small fortune for one and the only way you can remove one from a scrapper is to chisel it out.....
Alan
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

The bump stops aren't an integral part of the suspension on either of my two Xantae, they have two different designs of bump stop and both are clear of the arm at normal ride height. The bump stop is there to cushion the suspension travel when you hit a really big bump, its to stop things getting broken.
If your suspension was too low and you had a damaged bump stop I could see how that would make your car cock eyed, perhaps the damage to the bump stop is a symptom of your suspension running too low.
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Post by citronut »

if you car leans one side at front it could be strut not holding presure,try puling leg return pipe off start car if fluid gushes out your strut seals are kn***erd regards malcolm
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

If one strut wasn't holding pressure, since they're connected in pairs I'd expect the car to sink evenly.
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Mandrake
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Post by Mandrake »

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

Hi all,
My 94 1.9TD xant has develop a peculiar lean, the os strut is about 1.5" lower than the NS? When the engine is running and the hydraulic system pressurises the strut will level with the NS at the correct ride height, it just when the car is parked up (as far as I have been able to see).
I have greased the struts to see if it were the NS one sticking but alas still sitting lob sided?
Any ideas?
Adam.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If it's level when the suspension is at normal ride height and you can't see any rust/mounting problems with the struts, or anything wrong with the rollbar, and its only uneven when the suspension is right down, I can only think of it being the bottom limit stop that is faulty.
If you jack the car up, take the offending wheel off, and slip the strut gator down, you'll see that the lower limit stop is formed by the shoulder at the top of the strut (metal) and a round bulbuous formation of rubber at the top in the strut assembly - when the suspension is fully compressed the strut should rest on that rubber bump.
Perhaps the rubber has perished ? If so this is a bad sign as perished rubber in the strut assembly is suspected by some to be the early stages of what later ends up as total strut through the bonnet failure.
To see what the difference between the two sides is, it might be possible to support both swivel housings with jacks (with wheels removed so you can access the struts) with the strut gators down, let the suspension right down and see whether both sides are resting evenly on the rubber stops - either the rubber is damaged on one side, or the other side is sticking at a higher height and not even reaching the stop. My money is on the low side having some perished rubber.
Regards,
Simon
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Mandrake
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Post by Mandrake »

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

If one strut wasn't holding pressure, since they're connected in pairs I'd expect the car to sink evenly.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
To all those suggesting various hydraulic ailements, you did notice where he said that at normal ride height it was level, right ? [:D]
Regards,
Simon
adzbaby
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Post by adzbaby »

Thanks Guys for the suggestions.
Yep it is perfectly level when the engine is running and the system has pressurised itself. It isn't uneven when the suspension is right down, it lists when I turn the engine off and the car loses pressure and sinks.
I am right in thinking that with the suspension at its lowest, if there was a problem with the rubber then it would be lower then also? I have a look at the lower limit stops and see if there is any difference between the two sides.
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Kowalski
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Ex 97 Xantia 1.9TD SX 144k
Ex 94 Xantia Dimension 1.9TD 199k

Post by Kowalski »

That would suggest to me that something suspension wise was sticking, do your struts creak at all?
If you have a sticky strut, when the car slowly sinks (which it shouldn't really do) with the engine off, 3 corners would be able to sink whilst the forth stuck. I'm not sure how you'd go about fixing that, perhaps greasing your front struts may help.
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Oystercatcher
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Post by Oystercatcher »

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

The bump stops aren't an integral part of the suspension on either of my two Xantae, they have two different designs of bump stop and both are clear of the arm at normal ride height.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
OK, I guess it's not that then.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The bump stop is there to cushion the suspension travel when you hit a really big bump, its to stop things getting broken.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Yep, that's my understanding of a bump stop too [:)]
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">If your suspension was too low and you had a damaged bump stop I could see how that would make your car cock eyed, perhaps the damage to the bump stop is a symptom of your suspension running too low.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Nope, ride height's fine. I actually measured it tonight, the O/S is about 18mm low with the car at normal height. If I drop it right down, the O/S rear is about 5mm low (The damaged bump stop effect). With the suspension fully up, the car sits level.
Tired anti-roll bar?
Alan
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