strut tops corrosion

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Allanxantia
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strut tops corrosion

Post by Allanxantia »

My Xantia started making horrible noises and the steering jams. I reckon it is dead! The OSF strut top os corroded all the way round. The MOT and tax are up this month, a sign I think! Is it an easy fix?
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Sounds like a closer inspection to make a list of repairs is worth doing. *Before* you start throwing money at it :idea:
Anders (DK) - '90 BX16Image
jgra1
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Post by jgra1 »

I brought and fitted 2 tops secondhand but perfect condition. Think I payed about £30-40 for them

the hardest part of that job is getting the strut back into to mount for the sphere, on your own,covered in lhm, with it collapsing as you blindly lift it into the hole...

another person would make this easier..

otherwise a straightforward job :)

good luck
andmcit
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Post by andmcit »

Yep, did the job just this friday gone and it took me half an hour - no exaggeration!

The secret is to have the whole front of the car in the air supported by jack/stands/breeze block pier etc and upon fully de-pressurising the system let the wheels drop down as far as the wishbones want to go with the weight hanging on them.

Undo the high pressure feed, it's retaining bracket with it's 10mm bolt and then the sphere. The only real tricky part is getting the threaded top of the strut's insert piston off the tapered shoulder of the strut top. I leave it with the large nut unthreaded but on just enough to be finger tight, position another identical nut inside the 24mm socket and give the whole socket/end a good hard welly. Don't laugh, but a Cx lower wishbone is hard, heavy and wieldy enough to do the job better than a hammer!! :wink:

The centre strut has a hex allan key centre and a big 24mm spanner may still be needed to stop the whole centre strut turning when you take off the nut, but I prefer to do this to loosening method than direct force to protect the thread; I found out the hard way when removing a strut in a breakers...

I'ts just a guess, but the bellows gaiter is probably already at half mast as the strut top loses it's shape and the rather fiddly rim lip wont hold the gaiter anymore so you wont need to undo it...

With a long 3/8 drive extension or similar screwdriver etc push the whole inner piston downwards into the main strut body and then let the wheel and strut's top swing outwards from the wheelarch to clear the underside of the strut top. Undo the 4 13mm bolts and drop the strut top through into the wheelarch.

Getting it together needs a bit of a fiddle gently coercing the inner strut out of the main ram and fed upwards through the replacement strut top. If you get the car's wheel at the right height and angle, the weight wont drag on the strut and you only have to feed the rather slippery inner strut upwards until just enough thread is showing to catch and do the nut up. Game over!!

Have fun

Andrew
Allanxantia
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Post by Allanxantia »

Am I right in saying that the strut top plate is a seperate part? If I could buy it seperately I may have a go at fixing it, but I reckon I would do this just to move the car on. I am fed up with it!
andmcit
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Post by andmcit »

Hi Allan, it does sound from the steering noises that there's more to it than the rusty strut top mind. When the top fails you're GOING TO KNOW as the bonnet gets a 'bit' rearranged by the vertical projectile that's been launched into it!

The top of the strut's turret is the whole domed top that has the cast black sphere mounting on top of it - what effectively happens is the metal ring collar holding it onto the wheelarch mounting rusts and tears apart allowing the centre to extend up without being held.

The actual strut top turret is 90quid all in new from Citroen.

Out of interest, what model/spec is the Xantia?

Andrew
Allanxantia
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Post by Allanxantia »

The strut top has actually started to split with corrosion along the front, so I caught it just in time. It is a 93 1.9 DLX so even a £90 repair with 6 weeks MOT, I will need to do more investigation! I may have a look at a couple of scrappies on Saturday. Meanwhile there is a 97 ZX diesel at the local auction tonight, so we shall see what happens
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Post by john alexander »

Hi dead easy , recently done mine , make sure that you pull the strut out far enough on the nearside to pull the driveshaft out the gearbox ,covering the street with oil . then take care to rip the gaiter when you put it back in. admire your handiwork as a member of your family calls "TAXI FOR A FA***. regards john.
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