xantia td rear height corrector help please update

[email protected] · Unread post by **[email protected]** » 21 Apr 2005, 23:23

Hi guys
im going to replace the rear height corrector on my 1.9 td xantia this weekend so id just like to know if there,s any special adjustments on refitting and what they are roughly and how to do it im very good with cars so replacing it will not pose a problem to me.

oilyspanner · Unread post by **oilyspanner** » 21 Apr 2005, 23:39

The whole thing is attached to a steel plate thing, just take your time and remember which pipe goes where.
Stewart

[email protected] · Unread post by **[email protected]** » 22 Apr 2005, 03:18

Hi
Thanks stewart so all i have to do is just replace the unit that don,t sound so bad mine is knackerd so ive been told. whats happening is that when you drive the car the back end goes down if you put the car on the high setting it stays up and stays there all night even after ive set it back to the lowest setting it just does not go down at all then if i restart the car and mess about with the lever it goes down to its normal ride height until i drive it then it goes down agian, hope you understand all that!. anyway my Citroen specilist was going to do it for me but he said he,d have to reset the ride height when he replaced the height corrector so this is,nt true. then perhaps he,s trying to have one over on me.
pete................

NiSk · Unread post by **NiSk** » 22 Apr 2005, 12:23

If your car has an anti-sink valve, the ride height will only drop from a higher level with the engine running! Make sure you really have a fault before parting with your money!
//NiSk

Unread post by **RichardW** » 22 Apr 2005, 12:43

You will have to reset the ride height, as the new corrector may have a different netural position. Be vary careful about where you put the pipes - many folk mix up the feed and return pipes when changing these. Before changing it, I would make sure the linkage and spring is fully freed off (plenty of Plus gas, then up and down a lot of times, followed by a good greasing).

Unread post by **martyhopkirk** » 22 Apr 2005, 13:57

Pete - this whole opperation is covered in depth with photos in this months Car Mechanics magazine. It looks reasonably straightforward - though I have yet to tackle one!

[email protected] · Unread post by **[email protected]** » 23 Apr 2005, 19:15

thanks guys
urgent
Well on looking under the car ive found out that the plastic balljoint has come off also there is nothing there to clip it back onto, by the way it has anti sink! anyway i looked at my other xantia which has no anti sink and the balljoint is cliped onto a rod! that rod is missing on the car in question where does it go onto or do i have to replace the whole unit linkages aswell.
pete.......................

paranoid · Unread post by **paranoid** » 23 Apr 2005, 23:51

Workmates when his popped off, the collar that goes around the roll bar had slid over to the side of the car didn't spot it till he'd got a new one[:I]

[email protected] · Unread post by **[email protected]** » 24 Apr 2005, 01:54

Thanks paranoid and guys for your responces
So this rod with the balljoint on the end is supposed to be attached the coller on the antiroll bar so it,s obviusly broken off from there can this coller be taken off without disturbing the anti roll bar if so how? and marty i think car machanics this month refers to the sphere,s not the height corrector valve and linkage thanks anyway
pete...............

[email protected] · Unread post by **[email protected]** » 25 Apr 2005, 03:42

thanks superloopy
oh right ill rush out and buy a copy tommorow.
thanks agian superloopy and to you marty sorry about that
pete........................

[email protected] · Unread post by **[email protected]** » 26 Apr 2005, 01:58

Hi agian guys
On replacing the height corrector today i noticed that i have a lhm leak at the base of the antisink sphere does this mean its due for replacment becouse if it is id might as well change that as well. is there the same problem with that like there is in changing the rear spheres or is it more stright forward could someone let me know.
pete.........

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 26 Apr 2005, 03:56

The leak does only indicate you have a failing seal - does not say anything on the sphere condition.
Try first nip up the pipe union which goes straight in to the rear of the sphere.
This special pipe fitting also calls for removing the pipe uninon and pipe - before you move (turn) the sphere.
You must have engine running and set height to lowest to discharge the antisink sphere. Meaning you set suspension to high, jack the car, then lower the suspension.

[email protected] · Unread post by **[email protected]** » 26 Apr 2005, 22:36

hi thank you anders
thanks for the info, ill try nipping up the pipe im a bit concerned about it becouse the car is due for its mot shortly and i dont want it to fail on something silly like this and i know want you mean about the suspension height control high, jack the car, then lower the suspension. easy to understand
thanks agian pete.................................

[email protected] · Unread post by **[email protected]** » 27 Apr 2005, 03:05

update
ive fitted my new height corrector and something weird is happening when i put the suspension height control high the back goes down and the front go,s up now if do the oppesite the back goes up and the front go,s down what have i done wrong i tried to reverse the pipes (got showered in lhm!) but the pipes only want to go the way i put them on first so thats obivously the right way round and now the back refuses to lift at all.
help sombody whats gone wrong
pete

Mandrake · Unread post by **Mandrake** » 30 Apr 2005, 14:48

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

update
ive fitted my new height corrector and something weird is happening when i put the suspension height control high the back goes down and the front go,s up now if do the oppesite the back goes up and the front go,s down what have i done wrong i tried to reverse the pipes (got showered in lhm!) but the pipes only want to go the way i put them i first so thats obivously the right way round and now the back refuses to lift at all.
help sombody whats gone wrong
pete
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Are you absolutely *SURE* you havn't mixed up the HP inlet and overflow pipes on the height corrector ?
Having the manual height control lever working opposite to what it should is a sure sign they are reversed, unless you somehow managed to reverse the action of the mechanical override linkage, which I wouldn't have thought was physically possible.
When you say it refuses to lift at all, do you mean in the "normal" lever setting, or in all settings ? If it only refuses to lift in the normal position, that is consistant with pipe reversal, as when the height corrector "thinks" the car is too low it will be opening the overflow return instead of the HP inlet and the car will stay low.
You have positive feedback instead of negative feedback, which will cause the height to latch up in the fully up or down position.
(If you force the height up by setting the height lever to down, it will stay up after returning the lever to the normal position)
Is it possible that your new height corrector is a different revision which has the pipe port locations in a slightly different position, making you think you have the pipes in the right holes when you dont ?
I can't say that I've noticed any difference between height correctors even across different models, such as GS, CX, Xantia etc, but its not beyond reason that there may be small variations and revisions to the design as time goes on.
If you're totally confused, you could try removing the height corrector and simply blowing through the holes with the control shaft in different positions, to verify which is the common hole (which goes to the suspension cylinders, and is usually further away from the other two holes) and which of the other two holes open to the common hole when you push the ball linkage one way or the other.
Once you have this noted down, before refiting the height corrector, have a look at the movement of the manual override linkage where it connects to the height corrector. Start with the manual height control in the normal position, then get someone to move it to the UP position while you watch the movement of the linkage to see which way it tries to push the height corrector linkage.
Note down which direction the height corrector will be pushed when the lever is set to UP, and refering to what you found out from the blow through test, you should now be able to confirm with 100% certainty which port must go to the HP supply inlet, as it will be the port that opens when the height corrector is pushed in that direction.
Now refit the height corrector and connect the pipes properly.
Have you losened the height corrector clamp on the rollbar at any point ? If so, it may be so far out of adjustment that the car will stay down, and in the extreme case it may even stop the manual height lever from working.
Also if the height corrector body is bolted in a slightly different longitudinal position, even by 1mm, it will be equivalent to the height corrector rollbar clamp being out of adjustment, and will also affect the manual height level adjustment a bit too. (Mainly the 3/4 height setting)
If you think this might have happened, you need to adjust it. You MUST put the car on stands or use a pit so that when the suspension is RIGHT DOWN you will not get crushed or be in any danger.
Set the height lever to normal, run the car, and assuming the height stays down at the back and there are no leaks, losen the bolt on the height corrector clamp on the roll bar.
Now set the height lever to UP, and see if the car will now rise right up, and then set it to down and see if it will go right down.
If it does this, you must have the pipes connected the right way around [:)]
At this point the normal height setting wont be working, but either use the manual height lever (by nudging it a bit forward or backward as necessary, then returning it to the middle) or push the height control linkage GENTLY with a screwdriver to tweak the height of the car up or down to the correct mid height.
Depending on the access you may be able to directly press one side of the height corrector drum then the other with your thumb to activate it. (Not sure about the Xantia, but you can do this in the GS)
I don't know where to measure the height on the Xantia in particular, so you might need to refer to a manual or info on this board somewhere. Remember to bounce the suspension slightly by hand before taking the height measurement so that the height will be accurate, and there is not a small error due to friction in the suspension bearings.
When you've got it right carefully tighten the clamp bolt. This works best if you apply the torque with the spanner at right angles to the rollbar, otherwise the torque of the spanner is enough to twist the height control linkage and alter the height.
After its tight, sit on the back, make sure the height is corrected, get off, make sure it corrects the other way, and measure the height again. It should be within 10mm of your previous measurement. If not, you might need to have another attempt, it can sometimes be fiddly.
Done!
Good luck, and be careful with that high pressure oil [;)] At no time should you have oil squirting out when removing pipes if you've depressurized the system properly, but if you have mixed up the common port on the height corrector with the overflow port it may not be possible to depressurize the suspension properly. (Hopefully not the case)
Regards,
Simon