xantia hdi exclusive questions

[dexy350]

hi
after buying a 1999 2.0 hdi (hydroactive)i have encountered a few problems
first is the suspension the ride is very bouncy at the rear i would say the spheres are knackered which hopefully i will replace this weekend any sugestions the best way to replace these?i have bought 2 new ones
never replaced these before so this is the first time .
the reservior for the lhm fluid the gauge does not move when car is in high position ,what could be the cause of this ?car goes down and up ok
how do you know when it is full when topping up?
air bag light is on think it is on the seats any suggestions how to clear this
any advise would be gratefuly recieved
cheers
dexy

[howzat]

Re: air bag lights: Disconnect battery, wait at least 20 mins . Under each front seat you will find two plugs and sockets. separate these and squirt with switch cleaner (available from Maplin or other electronic store) then re-connect . I find that this has to be done periodically.
Re: LHM level. With suspension in high position add LHM to bring float between red rings.

[xantia_v6]

1999 2.0 hdi (hydroactive)...... suspension the ride is very bouncy at the rear...

Do you mean that it is hard and bouncy or soft and bouncy? Have you done any checks for switching between hard and soft mode?

i would say the spheres are knackered which hopefully i will replace this weekend any sugestions the best way to replace these?i have bought 2 new ones

Most of the spheres on you car (except the rear centre sphere and anti-sink sphere) will be long-life multi-layer spheres, and you are probably better off keeping them than fitting non-multilayer replacements (e.g GSF). You can tell multilayer spheres because they are either squat (like C5 spheres) or they have 3 little dimples around the filling plug.
The sphere which is most likely causing a harsh ride (but I would not describe it as bouncy) is the rear centre sphere, which I presume is not one of the two you bought?[/quote]

the reservior for the lhm fluid the gauge does not move when car is in high position ,what could be the cause of this ?

It could be that the reservior is too full, or it could be that the indicator is sticking. You should be able to free it up, you may have to take the top off the tank, but that will let you check the filters anyway.

air bag light is on think it is on the seats any suggestions how to clear this
dexy

It can be the pretensioner connectors under the seats (the orange connectors), most likely if the car has had water in the footwells. It can also be the rotary connector behind the steering wheel. I have had two fail in the last 2 months. You can't really check this without removing the steering wheel and shrouds, you need an ohmeter to test it. one end of the connector goes to the airbag, the other goes to the orange connector behind the wiper switch. Disconnect both ends, and from the airbag end poke some fine enough wire into the two socket holes. Check for continuity between these two connections. This works because the connector at the other end is designed to short the two poles together when it is disconnected.

[dexy350]

thanks for the replies.
yes it is harsh ,when i say bouncy i mean if you go over a bump the supension doent seem to be quick enough to adjust i just about go through the sunroof like been on a rollacoster .
so you seem to think its the centre sphere will have a look to see what spheres are on at the moment ,how long do these spheres last?
will have a go at clearing the air bag light only trouble is does the radio have a code if so i aint got the code so i wont be able to do it until i find the code .
i think the needle is stuck i have put 2 litres of fluid in and it aint moved
will dismantle and have a look
cheers
dexy

[xantia_v6]

yes it is harsh ,when i say bouncy i mean if you go over a bump the supension doent seem to be quick enough to adjust i just about go through the sunroof like been on a rollacoster .
so you seem to think its the centre sphere

yes a flat centre sphere will give that kind of ride, but you get the same symptoms if the hydroactive is stuck in hard mode.

how long do these spheres last?

on my 1995 VSX (not multilayer spheres), the spheres went flat between 6 and 8 years old. On my 1997 V6 the spheres were pressure checked at 7 years old, and all the multilayer spheres were in spec, but the rear centre (not multilayer) needed replacing.

will have a go at clearing the air bag light only trouble is does the radio have a code if so i aint got the code so i wont be able to do it until i find the code .

(On the mk1) the airbag light is self resetting. It goes out next time you start the car after you fix the fault

[AndersDK]

Do the Citaerobics :
Set the manual suspension lever full up & down, allowing the suspension to settle fully on each setting. Repeat approx 5 times. Have engine idle to provide hydraulic pressure from the pump. Handbrakes applied.

Air in the hydraulic oil side of the suspension system is highly unwanted. Will make for bouncy suspension and other weirdoes. The air could as well be gas escaping from a ruptured sphere. The air will be vented through the LHM reservir when doing the Citaerobics.

Then testdrive the car again. In 98% of all cases it will show an immediate improvement - or at least point to a flat sphere somewhere in the system.

[dexy350]

update
replaced the spheres ,car is running as it should ,it was one of the outer spheres replaced the anti sink and the middle sphere first, took it out for test drive still playing up ,then took the outer ones off ,car fine
just got the air bag to sort out finally got radio code