New Spheres Xantia V6

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 17 Oct 2007, 10:04

Just thought you might be interested! New spheres fitted on my 2001 V6. A little dissapointed that the ride only improved slightly, but interestingly one of the spheres (1 of 8 ) is a C5 type sphere!! Apparently Citroen used the 'run out' Xantias with bits off the forthcoming C5!!

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 17 Oct 2007, 13:29

are you sure you havent had the wrong sphere supllied/fitted, especialy as you say the ride has only improved slightly
regards malcolm

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 17 Oct 2007, 14:31

Does it mean that the C5 sphere can replace the green one ?

KP · Post by KP » 17 Oct 2007, 16:10

From what ive seen on the forum in the past you need some form of adapter for them to fit right? A fella in france does them as the Activa club over there had a get together and there is a pic of one up in the air with about 4 or 5 C5 spheres on it

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 17 Oct 2007, 19:16

citronut wrote:are you sure you havent had the wrong sphere supllied/fitted, especialy as you say the ride has only improved slightly
regards malcolm

Well Malcolm.. can't be absolutely sure but had them all changed by Westroen who seemed to know what they were about.. I have considered that perhaps I am locked into 'hard' mode!!
Oh and I didn't notice any adaptor for the C5 sphere!

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 02 May 2008, 09:34

Just an update...

Tried one of those gadgets off the internet in case it was locked into hard mode, can't say it seemed to make any difference. However, it's recently got a lot worse and occasionaly bounces like a kangaroo. So i'm now looking for a decent Citroen specialist in the Derby area.. any ideas??

Post by **CitroJim** » 02 May 2008, 12:06

f00lzz wrote: So i'm now looking for a decent Citroen specialist in the Derby area.. any ideas??

Yes, I've sent you a PM...

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 03 May 2008, 06:38

f00lzz wrote:Just an update...

Tried one of those gadgets off the internet in case it was locked into hard mode, can't say it seemed to make any difference. However, it's recently got a lot worse and occasionaly bounces like a kangaroo. So i'm now looking for a decent Citroen specialist in the Derby area.. any ideas??

Have you measured the ride height ?

Even in hard mode it shouldn't "bounce like a kangaroo" if the spheres are good, but if the ride height is unusually low (which could be intermittent if there is a height corrector problem) then yes the ride can become quite bouncy.

Regards,
Simon

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 03 May 2008, 09:29

Thanks for the replies guys.. If anything I would say that the back seems high at times.. i'm leaning towards something sticking, I have always kept things well lubricated but have noticed when performing Citrobotics that the rear is (initially) reluctant to move.. compared to my 1.9TD anyway.

My wife used the car in the week and reported 'kangarooing' and when you pulled into her parking bay on full lock there was a 'clonk'.. when she got out she says the rear was right up in the air!!

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 03 May 2008, 09:48

I recall seeing an Activa with flat grey C5 spheres on my travels about the
web but never gave it any thought until now having been told I can't easily
buy any main front spheres for mine.

Any links or sphere spec for C5's would be very welcome and helpful if I try
any mod; I know the C5 ones are very pricey!

Andrew

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 03 May 2008, 10:09

Having now plugged in my diagnostic equipment into a number of Hydractive Xantia's I'm finding that about one in four of them have fault codes recorded in the ECU which cause the ECU to go into permanent firm mode. Should this be the case then no amount of flushing, sphere changing or diode repair will remedy the fault, neither will unplugging the battery or ECU as it has a 'non-volatile' EEPROM memory.

If you suspect this to be the case, the best advice I can offer is to tune the radio to 171LW and listen to hear if the the Hydractive blocks are switching between soft and firm. In soft mode a loud buzzing (sounds like interferance) can be heard whereas when in soft mode its quiet. Bear in mind that the car will have to exceeded 5 mph at least once to activate switching, once that has been done, briefly 'flicking' the accelerator will cause the switch to occur (provided the accelerator sensor is working of course

).

IIRC C5 sphere's need an adaptor to fit them to Xantia's unless they were fitted from new.

deian · Post by **deian** » 03 May 2008, 13:57

DickieG is spot on about the fault in the hydractive computer, get that sorted first then do the bvious height checks etc. Are your tyres inflated to the right pressures?

And surprisingly you can hear the hydractive electrovalves on the LW radio, it sounds like a whiney whirring interference in soft mode (because thats when the valves are 'on') and the whirr stops in hard mode. Obviously, if there are no real changes in the radio then get the fault code reader out and reset the ecu.

A lot of sensors make it switch to from soft to hard, steering wheel location, steering wheel speed, brakes, accelerator acceleration, road speed, body roll sensor etc. Plus the sports mode switch will make it more sensitive quicker to switch to hard mode, and takes longer to get back to soft mode! So make sure that it's off so they delays are shorter before it switches from hard mode.

Never heard of the C5 spheres fitted onto a xantia, however I can't see why there is no real reason why they wouldn't physically work if they can be fitted on properly, as long as the figures (pressure, hole diamater etc) match.

My money is on the height corrector, getting the right height is essential, I once had a snapped linkage in the height corrector, and manually raised it and then pull the lever back to normal to stop it getting too high, just by chance I got the height perfect as the car had a ride like I've never seen before, and it never happened again unfortunately.

Good luck.

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 03 May 2008, 14:45

Interesting comments... although I think the soft/hard ride mode is the least of the problems at the moment. It is definately in kangaroo mode at times and I feel that as I put a lock on the steering.. turning left or right at a junction if there is some undulation in the road surface seems to make it kangaroo, otherwise 'normal' driving seems firm but stable!
Just been observing the wife reverse of the drive.. suspension 'looked' normal and as she accelerated away the rear end lowered slightly front seemed a little high and within 20yds everthing levelled off..

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 03 May 2008, 17:43

There is a C5 sphere adapter for an Activa fitment:

http://activaclubfrance.free.fr/Entreti ... 0grise.pdf
http://activaclubfrance.free.fr/Entreti ... tateur.doc

Andrew

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 03 May 2008, 20:14

andmcit wrote:There is a C5 sphere adapter for an Activa fitment:

http://activaclubfrance.free.fr/Entreti ... 0grise.pdf
http://activaclubfrance.free.fr/Entreti ... tateur.doc

Andrew

The C5 sphere fitted to my V6 was offside rear.. not one of the 'wheel' spheres! Presumeably it had an adaptor, but it was definately replaced with the 'normal' Xantia type sphere.