Citroen C5 x7 spheres

[msionut28]

Great, really useful info. Appreciate that!

I admire your optimism, though, you'd think every Citroen workshop has them, but I highly doubt that's the case in Romania. I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with the suspension for the past 3 months, took it to Citroen workshops, local Citroen Dealership, no one could tell me specifically up to this point, so I suspect the issue might be related to the spheres, as the car has done roughly 285.000 km/ 177.000 miles, 2011 reg and they've never been touched.

Thanks a lot and sorry everyone else if I drifted the topic far from the main subject intended!

[cit-rotti]

You can build such a tester yourself using old Citroen parts.

For those interested, this can be found in the links from the German Citroen forum.
If necessary, set the language with Google Chrome or translate it in another way.

Greetings Wolfgang

https://www.andre-citroen-club.de/forum ... ln-messen/

https://www.andre-citroen-club.de/forum ... derkugeln/

https://www.andre-citroen-club.de/forum ... er%C3%A4t/

[CitroJim]

Sorry, how would you check the spheres pressure? I suspect mine needs changing, as the ride is quite stiff.

There is a tester to check the tare pressure of a spring ball.

Every Citroen workshop has one and it works for both older LHM balls and newer LDS balls because the thread is identical. Many hobby mechanics have built such a device themselves.

To do this, the ball must be removed - screwed into the ball tester - and tested with oil pressure (regardless of whether LHM or LDS.

Greetings Wolfgang

Absolutely The sphere tester I built many years ago, and still earning its living, is perfectly happy testing C5 spheres... I used it to test some C5 spheres installed on a Xantia only this week.

I take it the C5 'Mushrooms' don't have the three spikes to deliberately pierce the diaphragm when they get too low as was the case with late Xantia round spheres? That certainly hindered regassing them...

[Stickyfinger]

Sorry, how would you check the spheres pressure? I suspect mine needs changing, as the ride is quite stiff.

There is a tester to check the tare pressure of a spring ball.

Every Citroen workshop has one and it works for both older LHM balls and newer LDS balls because the thread is identical. Many hobby mechanics have built such a device themselves.

To do this, the ball must be removed - screwed into the ball tester - and tested with oil pressure (regardless of whether LHM or LDS.

Greetings Wolfgang

Absolutely The sphere tester I built many years ago, and still earning its living, is perfectly happy testing C5 spheres... I used it to test some C5 spheres installed on a Xantia only this week.

I take it the C5 'Mushrooms' don't have the three spikes to deliberately pierce the diaphragm when they get too low as was the case with late Xantia round spheres? That certainly hindered regassing them...

I understand there IS a spike in the flay greys Jim......also no "Plug"....the "fill hole" is welded and needs machine work, drill and threading to accept a valve for recharge.Jim

[cit-rotti]

There is a tester to check the tare pressure of a spring ball.

Every Citroen workshop has one and it works for both older LHM balls and newer LDS balls because the thread is identical. Many hobby mechanics have built such a device themselves.

To do this, the ball must be removed - screwed into the ball tester - and tested with oil pressure (regardless of whether LHM or LDS.

Greetings Wolfgang

Absolutely The sphere tester I built many years ago, and still earning its living, is perfectly happy testing C5 spheres... I used it to test some C5 spheres installed on a Xantia only this week.

I take it the C5 'Mushrooms' don't have the three spikes to deliberately pierce the diaphragm when they get too low as was the case with late Xantia round spheres? That certainly hindered regassing them...

I understand there IS a spike in the flay greys Jim......also no "Plug"....the "fill hole" is welded and needs machine work, drill and threading to accept a valve for recharge.Jim

This is not about testing balls with a damaged diaphragm, but about testing balls that still have a residual pressure in order to determine whether this pressure is still sufficient for proper spring behaviour.

If the pressure falls below the tolerance limit, "new spring balls" are normally required - the only alternative is to have them refilled by experts.

This destruction mechanism also exists in the new series (spring ball for C5/C6). In this case, there is no longer any counterpressure/spring property and the spring ball is filled with LDS.

This is immediately noticeable when removing the spring ball, because the LDS fluid runs out of the ball and is only refilled when checking with the appropriate device. Back pressure only builds up when the ball is full.

With an intact spring ball, the pressure rises very quickly and then initially remains at the taring pressure. This is the pressure that still prevails in the spring ball. If the pressure is then increased further, it slowly rises because the gas in the spring ball is compressed and the pressure on the oil side and the gas side are always identical.

Greetings Wolfgang

[CitroJim]

A shame to hear they're still spiked

[Jay-Bruce]

I don't think many people would feel comfortable about machining a hole into a pressurised vessel...

[Stickyfinger]

I don't think many people would feel comfortable about machining a hole into a pressurised vessel...

I would think the safe way would be to pre drill it (behind a screen !) before machine work.

[Kees]

When you start using a small center drill, nothing will happen, because when you reach the compression, it's a tiny hole.
It start sissing, then just wait a while and go on.

[GiveMeABreak]

Absolutely The sphere tester I built many years ago, and still earning its living, is perfectly happy testing C5 spheres... I used it to test some C5 spheres installed on a Xantia only this week.

I take it the C5 'Mushrooms' don't have the three spikes to deliberately pierce the diaphragm when they get too low as was the case with late Xantia round spheres? That certainly hindered regassing them...

A diagram here Jim of an X7 Sphere if you want to see the Spike:

viewtopic.php?p=631220#p631220

[CitroJim]

A diagram here Jim of an X7 Sphere if you want to see the Spike:

viewtopic.php?p=631220#p631220

Thanks Marc

That brings me to another question. How do you machine in a recharging valve without the spike puncturing the diaphragm?

[xantia_v6]

That brings me to another question. How do you machine in a recharging valve without the spike puncturing the diaphragm?

Don't apply any pressure to the other side of the diaphragm!

[CitroJim]

That brings me to another question. How do you machine in a recharging valve without the spike puncturing the diaphragm?

Don't apply any pressure to the other side of the diaphragm!

That makes sense Mike! Thanks

[Kees]

@citroJIM:
When you machine the sphere, the diagram is always at the bottom, near the damper, so you don't have to worry about punching the diagram.
As you can see from the picture's of me, i have experience about it.
Greetings,
Kees.

[CitroJim]

@citroJIM:
When you machine the sphere, the diagram is always at the bottom, near the damper, so you don't have to worry about punching the diagram.

Sorry, silly me... I should have realised... I blame my age!