Hard hydractive soften by new battery.

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JohnCKL
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Hard hydractive soften by new battery.

Post by JohnCKL »

The topic explains it. Just changed to a new DIN66 battery for my Xantia 1.9TD and the hydractive softened up. Just before the old battery died out, the suspension was quite hard, front and back. Can feel the sharp bumps and holes where the car goes thumping. Checked all 8 spheres and refilled where necessary but still same results until battery changed. Try a new battery and see if it works if you have the same problem.
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Post by bernie »

What's a DIN66 battery?
406 V6
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Post by 406 V6 »

Probably the format of the battery...
John, put this topic on the "Handy Hints & Tips" forum [;)]
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Post by JohnCKL »

Over here the standard battery for European cars are using DIN55 (Deutsche Institute Normality, something like that). DIN66 is a stronger battery. Jap cars use different standard batteries.
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Post by Peter.N. »

Why?
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Post by zzf00l »

Is it something to do with the action of disconnecting the battery will 're-set' the ECU???
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Post by Peter.N. »

I hadn't thought of that. I was thinging' what possible effect could the battery have on the ride?' Thanks.
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Post by 406 V6 »

A weak battery sometimes won't be able to correctly (dis)engage the HA solenoids.
There was something about that recently here about this subject with photographs and diodes on the mix[:P]
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Post by JohnT »

If a battery has enough power in it to turn an engine enough to start it surely it could manage the system? I take Francisco's point but I still do not see how a new battery will effect the suspension? Perhaps the ECU was reset in the change over, could that be?
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Post by Peter.N. »

When the engine is running 14 volts are present on the system regardless of the condition of the battery. But strange things do happen.
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Post by JohnCKL »

The change of a new battery didn't softened up the hydractive entirely. Because the old battery was at the end of its life, my suspension got worse and worse with a lot of hard thumping. So when a new battery was installed, the suspension seemed softened up quite a bit or should I say back to normal but still can be improved. Sharp holes and bumps are still thumping the car. I don't think the ECU was at fault cos I went to have it tested and reset before the change of battery and yet it got worse and worse. I think 406 is correct about the HA solenoids. This is possibly one of the reasons the hydractive is hard. Next thing I got to look at are perhaps the height correctors. Maybe a good clean would soften up the suspension more.
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Post by Mandrake »

<i>Originally posted by JohnCKL</i>

The change of a new battery didn't softened up the hydractive entirely. Because the old battery was at the end of its life, my suspension got worse and worse with a lot of hard thumping. So when a new battery was installed, the suspension seemed softened up quite a bit or should I say back to normal but still can be improved. Sharp holes and bumps are still thumping the car. I don't think the ECU was at fault cos I went to have it tested and reset before the change of battery and yet it got worse and worse. I think 406 is correct about the HA solenoids. This is possibly one of the reasons the hydractive is hard. Next thing I got to look at are perhaps the height correctors. Maybe a good clean would soften up the suspension more.
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Cleaning the height corrector won't make the ride any softer, unless it is not maintaining the height correctly. Check the ride height is correct based on the ground clearance measurements (see a recent thread of mine) and also measure the front and rear height changes when an asistant gets on and off the car, and if the height corrects in about 10 seconds and comes back to within 10 mm of the correct height in both directions then there is nothing wrong with the height corrector.
Most likely cause of a harsh ride is a flat or faulty centre hydractive sphere, as it effectively puts the car in hard mode all the time. Try doing a bounce test at front and rear in both soft mode (engine idling) and hard mode. (engine and ingnition off and all doors closed for at least 30 seconds)
There should be a very obvious difference in the stiffness, if the soft mode is not much softer and easier to press down, replace the centre hydractive sphere for that end.
If the bounce test seems ok and yet the ride is still harsh over sharp bumps even in the "normal" mode (HA2 button off) then you may have the same problem as me - everything measures and tests ok but the ride is still unacceptably harsh at the front over sharp bumps and holes, and sometimes varies from good to poor.
My current suspicion is worn front suspension struts (the actual slide bushes) causing excessive friction and binding of the suspension movement under some conditions such as acceleration and cornering.
If you try the strut greasing trick and the ride immediately becomes a lot smoother, you know its strut friction that is causing the harsh ride, however if the ride slowly deteriorates again over a few weeks (as mine did) then its likely that the bushes are actually worn and have excessive slack rather than it just being short on grease. [V]
Still havn't decided what to do about mine yet, as I'm still checking and testing every other possibility before concluding it is the struts... [}:)]
Regards,
Simon
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Post by JohnCKL »

OK, will check it out. I've already had the center sphere checked and the pressure is OK but the ticking is still too quick. The hydractive spheres also checked and refilled. The rear bounce is OK in soft mode altho the spheres are different type, they belong to XM hydractive. The front are Xantia hydractives but feels too firm even when pressed in soft mode. It could be the struts but they're very expensive to replace new. Have greased struts but no noticeable difference. The height seems OK, levelling takes less than 10 sec. Maybe I will change the fronts to non-hydractive which are softer, the pinhole is twice the size of the hydractive (0.7mm).
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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 JohnCKL</i>

OK, will check it out. I've already had the center sphere checked and the pressure is OK but the ticking is still too quick.
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Ok. By centre spheres I was refering to the hydractive ones, not the accumulator. Sorry for not being clearer.
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The hydractive spheres also checked and refilled. The rear bounce is OK in soft mode altho the spheres are different type, they belong to XM hydractive. The front are Xantia hydractives but feels too firm even when pressed in soft mode.
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So is there a change at all between the soft and hard mode at the front ? On mine in hard mode the front is very hard, my weight will only push it down about 20mm, in soft mode it is at least 3 times softer. The softness in soft mode is a combination of the corner and centre spheres, but is predominately controlled by the centre sphere.
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It could be the struts but they're very expensive to replace new.
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Thats what I'm afraid of [:(] A lot of money only to find it may not be the problem after all. Does anyone know roughly how expensive they are ? I didnt see them listed on the GSF catalogue.
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Have greased struts but no noticeable difference.
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Ok thats interesting, because the greasing of mine, temporarily at least, definately solved my harsh ride problems...
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The height seems OK, levelling takes less than 10 sec.
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So most likely nothing wrong with the height correctors.
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Maybe I will change the fronts to non-hydractive which are softer, the pinhole is twice the size of the hydractive (0.7mm).
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Hmm, I'm not sure thats a good idea, it would make the ride in the "hard" mode as soft as the normal model, but the ride in the "soft" mode would then be far too soft and underdamped. By all means try it if you have a pair of spheres already sitting around, but I would suggest against buying spheres just to try this...
Regards,
Simon
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Post by Rostami »

Hi to all,
Getting back to the battery issue if you allow me...
I do not believe that the replacement of the battery alone can make any difference. If the old battery was able to start the engine, as suggested here by JohnT, it can for sure energize a solenoid. Also keep in mind that the solenoid was made for auto application, hence it will energize at as low voltages as 11V or even lower.
What I do believe in is that you probably have a faulty ground connection from the battery to the bay or somewhere else and that with the battery replacement the connection "became better".
As also said here, if the alternator assures a good 14-14.5V output voltage, all electrics in the car should work fine, unless they are faulty.
What I suggest is that you measure the voltage drop across the HA solenoid(s) and conslude on wether there is a potential power supply problem or not (seems that you don´t have a problem any more...)
If you dont believe-me, put back the old battery and I am sure that the solenoid will work well :)
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