Once Again I Own A Xantia

[admiral51]

Better late than never but as promised pictures
She has now had all new spheres, complete LHM ( black stuff ) removed and Hydraflush replaced.
Also treated her to a new set of boots all round and gave her a quick clean up.

She does scrub up well

[Stickyfinger]

Nice

RIDE the Moose !

[admiral51]

Nice

RIDE the Moose !

Thanks Sticky there is life in the old girl yet

[admiral51]

Just an update on the raising and lowering issue.
It would appear that my old brain had forgotten something simple and after a good nights sleep the old brain remembered

I was going from high to low and back again without stopping in between at normal
After doing Citroebics correctly it was better, rose quicker although rear end was still slow compared to the front.
Bled the brakes as per the correct procedure and the only crud to appear was from the front offside, very frothy and yellowy black. Due to the condition of the Black LHM i bled 1.5 litres out of both rears and 1 litre out of both fronts, not much change out of 2 x 5 litre cans of Hydra Flush

Whilst underneath changing the Anti Sink i did give the rear height corrector a good lubrication, and after the brake bleeding she is now raising and lower a lot better but will only improve with more citroebics and letting the Hydra Flush do its job, but at present she raises from low to normal both ends at the same time

And on a plus side the front discs and pads are good, as are the rears although the rears are showing signs of the caliper bracket corrosion so have wire brushed the bolts and lubricated them in anticipation of a job in the near future.
For the first time in my ownership with engine off and i sit on the inner boot lid she sinks and then rises to normal height, when i get up she rises and then sinks back down to normal so fingers crossed my spannering has done some good

[white exec]

If the LHM was decidedly black, leave the flush in there for the full 5000 km. It takes a while to really do its work.
Yellow-frothy is just aerated fluid; should bleed out ok.
There should be no problem going from Lowest to Highest without pausing at Normal.
Both ends rising "more or less together" is a good sign of things freeing up.

[admiral51]

Thanks for the advice Chris, have a look a page back to see the coke bottles of what i took out and what LHM should be
5k miles seems a tad long but happy to take advice from those that know better than me.
I think the high/low etc was maybe the old fluid being that bad and the spheres being so old

Colin

[white exec]

My mistake - wrong units . . . Instructions say 1500-5000km, so 3000 miles, or around 4 months of average road use.
Just looked again at your samples: hell, that's dirty!

When you come to switch back to LHM, just bleed out (RR, RL, FR, FL) until clean LHM emerges. Usually about 1–1½L at RR, and maybe ¼?½L at the other wheels.

[admiral51]

I am convinced the ride height at the front is wrong, the photos are at an angle but to me the rear is pretty close but the front i think is about 1" to high, have thought it was not right from when i got it but looking at the pics i am even more convinced.

Years back CitroJim gave me advice on the getting the ride height somewhere close by if i remember correctly setting the car on high with the engine running ( over a pit that i had access to ) and loosening a bolt on the rear height corrector and letting it settle to its lowest position. This is where i get confused as i think he said set the in car lever to low and then do the bolt back up but not 70% sure. Think it was then with engine still running set lever to normal and car should be pretty close to normal ride height but is front and rear ride height controlled by rear corrector alone or have i got it totally wrong, as i think i can get access to the pit if needed

[admiral51]

My mistake - wrong units . . . Instructions say 1500-5000km, so 3000 miles, or around 4 months of average road use.
Just looked again at your samples: hell, that's dirty!

I do 400 miles a week so will give it 6 weeks and then change it and no worries thank you for the clarification

[myglaren]

Front and rear ride height independent.

If I recall correctly you do need a pit, and do a set of citroebics, let the car settle at normal height then push down and lift up the end you are adjusting, let it settle again then mark the clamp and arb so you have a reference and can put it back if it all goes horribly wrong, loosen the clamp bolt for the corrector enough for the clamp to be moved slightly but with resistance. Move the clamp very slightly - a millimeter can make a fair difference.

Tighten the bolt and do the citroebics and lift/drop again then check the height and repeat until correct.

[admiral51]

Thanks for all the advice i have now been doing the Citrobics everyday when i get to work and when i get home from work.
The old brain seems to recall the lay mans way to check the correct height is 2 fingers at the rear and 3 fingers at the front clearance from top of tyre to wheel arch, and the front is maybe just a tad over 3 fingers and the rear bang on 2 fingers .
Will keep an eye on it but think it is pretty close so can probably live with that and the more Citrobics the more she moves up and down as one, still a little slow on rear movement but low to high is pretty much both ends same time, will need to keep lubricating rear corrector and keep up with the citrobics:)

[aerodynamica]

Nice motor! going by the photos I'd say the heights look about right - the front wheelarch gap is bigger than the rear.

[admiral51]

Yes i concur that maybe the ride height is pretty close, the photos were taken on my driveway and it is on a slope so makes the front look even higher than it really is, i will try and take a few pics of it on level ground just for comparison.

For the first time since the day we bought it the good lady drove it over the weekend now that i have done what was needed to make it safe for a flat or stop type of driver
She actually said can we get another one to replace the C4

I said yes but need to put the bathroom refurb on hold if that is what she wants, and she is wavering on what to do, a Xantia is a much better proposition than a complete bathroom refurb

Yeah i know the refurb would only be put on hold but after 10 years another year will not hurt right

[xantia_v6]

Measure the height of a Xantia with the engine running, as the action of the anti-sink valves can cause the height to be wrong after the engine is switched off.

[Skull]

Better late than never but as promised pictures

How time flies Looks nice bodywork thanks to Spanish climate