Rear height corrector technicalities.

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mbunting
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Joined: 21 Dec 2001, 15:19
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Rear height corrector technicalities.

Post by mbunting »

Well, the projects for this wee included changing the front pads, inspecting the rears, changing the lhm, and investigating a problem with the rear corrector.
Basically, the car will rise and fall depending on the load in the boot / towbar, but it will not respond to the movement of the lever from the car.
I've checked the link from the lever, and it is connected to one of the spring prongs.
As I understand from looking at it ( the haynes manual is c**p ), the spring that the linkage is connected to is housed in a rectangular bracket, which is pivoted, and has a prong at the top, which rotates and pushes against one of two 'pins' sticking out of a mechanism above it all ( with the pipes ).
After much wire brushing and wd40, the linkage will now pull the spring, which will sometime move slightly, and sometimes take the bracket with it, when i say slightly, it rotates by approx 2 degrees.
The problems as I see them are..
1) the spring / lever linkage is stiff.
2) the spring now rotates within the rectangular cage - instead of rotating the cage ???
3) the rectangular cage ( which appears to be designed to trigger the corrector 'prongs' ) does not move much, and will only move with the persuasion of a hammer, despite liberal wire-brushing and wd40.
Can anyone tell me if what I'm saying makes and sense, there doesn't seem to be a way of removing the rectangular enclosure and spring on thier own.
Any thoughts / similar experiences ?
PS. When I persuade the enclosure to move with the hammer, the car will rise and fall ( over a pit <g> ).
Regards.
Mat.
alan s
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Post by alan s »

Matt,
Sounds as though you're pointing in the right direction. Sticky H/C's aren't a problem here in Oz mainly due to us not having salty snow (or unsalty rain for that matter) to drive in.
My thoughts are that patience and plenty of cleaning will help. Sometimes in cases like this, ordinary engine oil or engine oil diluted with kerosene will not only penetrate but will lubricate as well. WD can sometimes get in but is too weak to really get through a thick crust of corrosion. Personally I think you may eventually have to pull some of these bits off the car to get them free.
If it's any help, go to this link and scroll down to the bottom and you'll find a photo of a height corrector and linkages. Check to see how it compares with yours in case yours have been bent or deformed during the time they were seized. Also look at the rest of this link as it refers to fitting grease nipples to the rear arm bearings and is a more topical modification for your driving conditions than mine.
http://www.aussiefrogs.com/snippets/grease.htm
Alan S
Dave Bamber
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Post by Dave Bamber »

Matt
On my BX, the front height corrector had seized on a pivot point near the corrector. The bush it sits in had seized on the rod. The bush is brass but the rod is steel, so the rod had rusted and seized the lot solid. Cleaned off the rust, lots of copper grease, sorted.
mbunting
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Joined: 21 Dec 2001, 15:19
Location: United Kingdom
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Post by mbunting »

Thanks folks, thought I was on the right lines.
Imagine if this was the new C5, would be be talking about blown transistors and relays instead of rust <g>...
( I know which I'd be better at diagnosing ! )
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