Front Suspension Hard (Not spheres)

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mark g
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Front Suspension Hard (Not spheres)

Post by mark g »

Hi
My 1993 1.9d Xantia has a hard suspension since I purchased it. I recently had new rear traing arms bearings fitted and whilst that seems to have cured the rear the front is still fairly hard. I have changed the spheres to the correct 1.9d (non-turbo) ones from GSF and yet I can still feel every bump in the road. I have also changed the front suspension mount on the drivers side (amazingly the passenger side is fine (weird!)) and have also greased the front struts to try to sort it out but it's still hard. I'm looking for the "magic carpet ride" everyone is talking about, but don't know what else to do. The ride height is correct and I do have less resistance when I push down the front of the car than before the sphere change.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Mark
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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 mark g</i>

Hi
My 1993 1.9d Xantia has a hard suspension since I purchased it. I recently had new rear traing arms bearings fitted and whilst that seems to have cured the rear the front is still fairly hard. I have changed the spheres to the correct 1.9d (non-turbo) ones from GSF and yet I can still feel every bump in the road. I have also changed the front suspension mount on the drivers side (amazingly the passenger side is fine (weird!)) and have also greased the front struts to try to sort it out but it's still hard. I'm looking for the "magic carpet ride" everyone is talking about, but don't know what else to do. The ride height is correct and I do have less resistance when I push down the front of the car than before the sphere change.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Mark
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Is it a Hydractive 2 model or standard ?
Tyre pressures ok ? Flat tires can give a bouncy ride while overinflated can give a harsh ride.
Did you do a few bouts of Citrobics (Lifting the suspension right up then right down) after fitting them to squeeze out any air trapped during changing the spheres ?
What were the GSF codes of the spheres you fitted ?
Regards,
Simon
mark g
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Post by mark g »

Simon
If anything my front tyres are a little under inflated...
The code for the spheres I purchased is N45330, which are the 1.9d (non-turbo ones).
The car is a standard model, and I have done Citrobics loads.
I also have that brake pulsing effect, but it disappeared after fitting the spheres, but has now returned. However I do need new pads & discs so I'm hoping that will help the strange brake effect.
Mark
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Is the car achieveing its corect ride height? In my experience if they are a bit low the ride deteriorates badly - and on my BX TD the front height corrector is the culprit and the cure is to lubricate it thoroughly, especially the rod going into it. I find a brush is useful for getting grease onto the linkage.
Beware - and support the car properly while working on it - if it drops it will probably kill you.
Otherwise are the struts smooth when the car is raised and lowered or are they jerky and creak and groan?.
You brake problem is not normal. Is the accumulator working correctly - frequent ticking? To test run the car at normal height for a couple of minutes, turn off the engine and sit in the boot - does it sink and rise again after 30 seconds? Does the ticking reduce when the car is fully raised?
Jeremy
mark g
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Post by mark g »

Hi
Yes the ride height is definately correct.
The struts DID creak but have been greased and are now fine (nice and smooth)
The boot does rise if I sit on it when running, but doesn't if the engine is off (However I have no anti-sink valve if that affects it),and the ticking is quite frequent until up to height when it slows down.
Mark
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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 mark g</i>

Hi
Yes the ride height is definately correct.
The struts DID creak but have been greased and are now fine (nice and smooth)
The boot does rise if I sit on it when running, but doesn't if the engine is off (However I have no anti-sink valve if that affects it),and the ticking is quite frequent until up to height when it slows down.
Mark
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If running the engine to pressurize the car to normal height, then turning off the engine and sitting in the boot while its open doesnt cause the height corrector to lift your extra weight back to the normal height within 30 seconds (but does when the engine is running) then most likely the accumulator sphere is flat.
This may also cause a pulsing feeling to the brakes as the accumulator sphere also smoothes out the pumping of the hydraulic pump which feeds the front brakes as well as the suspension.
Also you didnt mention yet whether your car is hydractive 2 or not...
(if it is it will have fat 10mm hydraulic pipes going to the suspension struts instead of 2.5mm pipes, and it will have a block with a sphere on it mounted on the bottom corner of the radiator)
Regards,
Simon
mark g
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Post by mark g »

Hi
My car is not Hydractive 2, it's just standard.
How easy is it to change the Accumulator Sphere, I changed the 2 suspesion spheres easily. Will this soften the front suspension as well as fixing the brake surge?
Thanks
Mark
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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 mark g</i>

Hi
My car is not Hydractive 2, it's just standard.
How easy is it to change the Accumulator Sphere, I changed the 2 suspesion spheres easily. Will this soften the front suspension as well as fixing the brake surge?
Thanks
Mark
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Shouldn't be any harder than the suspension ones, easier in some ways because its not mounted on a flexible mounting, meaning you can get more purchase on it when trying to break the rust joint free.
Yes it should help the brake pulsing, no it wont have any significant effect on the ride softness, so you'll have to look elsewhere for that problem. Unfortunately you seem to have already covered the usual suspects so I'm not sure what is causing your ride problem, unless you can describe a bit more about in what way the ride is wrong.
Also have you driven another similar Xantia to get a comparison of ride quality ?
Regards,
Simon
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Post by wrinklet1 »

Maybe having a LHM change would help.
Also, on my old Bx, I had a similar problem and sorted it out by :-
Giving the height correctors and good soaking in gunk including ALL the linkages. Then power washing the whole area down and letting it dry out (because you will get wet through otherwise). Totally cover the height corrector with grease and all the linkages too. Have someone in the car and ask them to move the height lever back and forth whilst you doing the job, that way you can make sure you get everything coated. Spray grease can be used but not as effective as normal grease.
Paul.
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Post by bxbodger »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Also have you driven another similar Xantia to get a comparison of ride quality ?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> As Mandrake has said, can you try another one?? You may just be expecting too much of it- A Xantia like the BX before it has nowhere near the 'magic carpet ride' of older Citroens- true, its better than steel springs, but its not that big a difference anymore!!!
mark g
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Post by mark g »

Hi
I haven't tried another xantia, so I think I'll just live with the ride. Also I've purchased a new accumulator but can't get the old one off due to all the pipes around it being in the way. Therefore it's going in to my local garage tomorrow for them to do it.
Finally after trying the "sit on the boot without the engine running" trick I noticed a small hissing from somewhere but can't pinpoint it. As my car has no anti-sink valve is this just the pressure releasing?
Thanks
Mark
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Post by zzf00l »

Come on Guys, what about that little plastic clip that shoots off somewhere by the HC (non-tech person here). That gives a solid front end feel, once that was put back on all was normal on my motor and yes I even changed the front spheres with no difference.... apparently! the recovery organizations are familiar with the prob. and use a plastic tie to retain the clip and stop it flying off!
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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 zzf00l</i>

Come on Guys, what about that little plastic clip that shoots off somewhere by the HC (non-tech person here). That gives a solid front end feel, once that was put back on all was normal on my motor and yes I even changed the front spheres with no difference.... apparently! the recovery organizations are familiar with the prob. and use a plastic tie to retain the clip and stop it flying off!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If the height corrector plastic linkage comes off the ride will indeed be very hard - but the car will also be either fully up or fully down, which is a quite obvious fault condition [:D]
Anyway Mark said he'd already checked the height was ok.....so its not that...
Regards,
Simon
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Post by zzf00l »

I find that strange as my car was at the correct height also....in fact drove nearly 100 miles to 'Citroen Centre' in Oxford to get it diagnosed and a new part fitted (took 10 mins)
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Post by robsons »

This problem has just appeared on my car - Can anyone provide more details? Where I should be looking and what for etc? Piccys greatly appreciated.
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