xantia ride height

corsehf · Post by **corsehf** » 13 Mar 2008, 08:13

The ride height on my Xantia 2.1TD at normal looks ridiculously high compared to other cars around. The rear does not look to bad but the front is way too high.
According to the Haynes manual, it's easy to check the road height of the car but says that you need to take the car to a dealer for adjustment.
Are there any instructions on how to check and adjust correctly???

Post by **CitroJim** » 13 Mar 2008, 08:42

Hi and welcome to the forum

I very much suspect the high stance is caused by either the height corrector linkages being seized up or the plastic link clip between the height corrector and the anti-roll bar being either broken or popped off it's balljoints.

It is easy to test, firstly set the suspension on high and allow it to settle. Does the front rise up a bit more? Now set the height to normal and the front and rear should fall to normal height. If the front stays up that is a sure sign of height corrector problems. Similarly if the suspension is set to low and then brought up to normal and the front does not lift unless the height lever is set to high.

Another test is to set the height to normal, open the bonnet and sit on the slam panel. The front should go down under your weight and then after 20 to 30s rise up a little to compensate for the change in weight. Likewise when you get off, the car should rise further and then drop back again.

As I say, check your plastic linkage. You'll need to get right under the car as the height correcor is buried in the very rear of the front subframe.

BE SURE TO VERY SECURELY SUPPORT THE CAR BEFORE VENTURING UNDER. Hydraulic Citroens can be very dangerous when investigating height correctors as there is an ever-present risk of them suddenly falling and crushing you. Use good axle stands or a ramp and ensure all is totally 100% secure before venturing under.

weety · Post by **weety** » 15 Mar 2008, 18:52

i agree its likely to be a seized height adjuster (£96... wince)..... however (without wishing to start an argument) i have always found that if the plastic clip 'pops of' or the metal rod breaks (from the rear height adjuster rod) the rear suspension sinks to the ground and refuses to move (its a job getting jacks under as well)

does your suspension feel smooth at the back? if the height corrector was totally seized you would have very little/no supension movement at the back (and a very rough journey)

i must emphasise as well make sure the car is well supported (and not just jacked up on one side).... the car can instantly sink to the ground when you are working on the rear corrector (someone in australia died like this a coupl of years ago)

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Mar 2008, 19:19

Another nasty trick the front height corrector can throw at you is the ball falling off the height corrector mechanism

That happened on my Activa and it gave the symptom that the front stayed at maxium height

You can often free off the height corrector mechanism and if the ball has fallen off, you can make one good one from an otherwise scrap one. If you know the hydraulic part of the corrector is good, this can easily be transferred to a serviceable mechanism.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 16 Mar 2008, 14:16

You can check the height quite easily by looking under the car. If the height is correct, the drive shafts should be parallel to the road as should the rear suspension arms.

The height correctors will often respond to several appliations of WD40 if they are stuck.

corsehf · Post by **corsehf** » 27 Mar 2008, 18:40

further to my original post, the car has now started to jump around whilst sat in traffic! If i am sat in the car at a set of traffic lights, the front will drop to its lowest point and then return to its normal height every so often, the rear does something similar although not as noticable.
Is this related to the original post???

busastars · Post by **busastars** » 28 Mar 2008, 01:39

Dont want to start another thread but would like to add to this one.

My suspension is all working fine, feals nice, not to bouncy or to firm, handles well. But I did replace the rear hight corrector a few weeks ago, since then the rear is a little to high, I would say about 2-3 inches at a gess.

Is there any way of lowering the rear appart from slackening of the ball joint on the torsion arm and turning it slightly? I just dont fancy doing it this way.

Thanks

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 28 Mar 2008, 09:57

busastars wrote:
Is there any way of lowering the rear appart from slackening of the ball joint on the torsion arm and turning it slightly? I just dont fancy doing it this way.

I presume you mean the clamp on the anti-roll bar ?

No there is no other way, thats the way it's adjusted - why don't you fancy doing it that way ? It's a piece of cake, but remember to use ramps/pit/hoist to gain access so you don't squash yourself while playing with it...

I find a way that works quite well for the rear height adjustment if the suspension is nice and soft is loosen the clamp, then while you're underneath simply push or pull the height of the car physically via the stabalizer crossbeam on the suspension chassis to effect a height change manually then nip the clamp up again with a spanner with the other hand, when you let go of the suspension the height will change but then correct itself again. Measure the height and repeat if necessary.

You'll get the best accuracy with the spanner sticking out at right angles from the anti-roll bar as you nip the clamp tight, if its in line with it instead, it will tend to twist the clamp position slightly out of place.

Regards,
Simon

corsehf · Post by **corsehf** » 31 Mar 2008, 18:23

OK, i have spent the weekend trying to see whats what, i have taken measurements and dimensions from the various components (as per Haynes Manual) and my car comes out at being just over an inch too high at the front, like i said earlier, it looks ridiculously high - almost as if the engine was missing!!!
Is there an easy way to reduce this height to what it should be???

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 02 Apr 2008, 06:45

The front height is more difficult to adjust, because the access is limited - the height corrector is back behind the motor near the middle lower suspension chassis.

This is a job that can only really be done over a pit or on a hoist - as long as you have that, its relatively easy - same as adjusting the rear height.

Slacken the clamp on the rollbar (make sure you get the right one - there are TWO on a Hydractive model, the middle one is the correct one) and adjust the height of the car you can do that several ways, one is to operate the height control lever inside the car to lift or lower the car, (can take a bit of trial and error) and then when the height is correct, tighten the clamp again.

Regards,
Simon