rear height adjuster woes

[weety]

just spent five hours outside in the rain (oh the joys of citroen ownership)

my r reg td xantia estate is exhibiting some unusual symptons

a few weeks ago the back started to sink to the ground when parked (but repressurised whilst driving) so i made a mental note to have a look at it when i had a chance

couple of days later the height adjuster rod snaps grounding the rear end, looking under the car the rear height adjuster looks pretty tired so i decide to change it

i got the new height adjuster rod first and decided to fit that (so that at least i could move the car around).... fitted it and now the suspension was stuck at high with no travel... wasnt to worried still struck me as a seized height adjuster

today i decided to fit the new height adjuster, i depressurised the system but the back didnt drop.... thought that was odd but assumed that the seized corrector must be holding some pressure....went under the car and changed the adjuster repressurised the system and now the back wont move (stuck on the ground)

i have done citroenaerobics been back under the car a dozen times moving the height aduster rod to see if i can get any change...but nothing....

am i missing something obvious? the accumulator sphere isnt ticking (and was recharged two years ago together with the rest of the spheres) i cant find a lhm leak anywhere and i am lost as to what to do next....

please help....

deeply puzzled (and wet) of Tunbridge Wells

[CitroJim]

Not the best day to do a job like that I did my front HC in the freezing cold

Now, if you depressurise when up on high, it won't sink. The anti-sink valve will snap shut and that's it. It'll stay up high for years.

When you say rod, do you mean the plastic link and anti-roll bar clamp or do you mean the rod from the height adjustment lever?

The rear HC is very sensitive and it takes surprisingly little movement of it to effect height corrections so if your rod is a bit bent or out of adjustment, it'll not respond as expected at all. The adjustments are critical.

Have you replaced the three pipes back in the correct places on the HC? It is possible to have the HC working backwards or not at all if they get mixed up.

I'd suspect an adjustment problem. To ensure the HC is basically working, disconnect the plastic link but leave the height lever connected. The suspension should rise when the lever is set to high and fall when set to low although in the normal ride position of the lever, results will be unpredictable. Get this bit working first and then look at the plastic link and anti-roll bar clamp and it's operating rod (the bit that terminates in a balljoint) it may be a bit bent.

Was the replacement HC a brand-new one or a second-hand one from a scrapyard? If second-hand it may be seized or otherwise duff perhaps. A new one is not necessarily good either.

If you can get underneath whilst the car is at it's lowest setting SAFELY then you can manually manipulate the HC to see how it responds. Do take care doing this though and remember that height changes don't happen instantly and results may not be quite as expected if the wheels are off the ground and unloaded. The HCs can also get fooled if the rear is supportred up on high and the front is right down low.

[weety]

Now, if you depressurise when up on high, it won't sink. The anti-sink valve will snap shut and that's it. It'll stay up high for years.

i did depressurise it with the suspension down (but the back stayed up) did puzzle me but when i depressurised it made all the right noises so i assumed the height adjuster was seized

When you say rod, do you mean the plastic link and anti-roll bar clamp or do you mean the rod from the height adjustment lever?

c link and anti roll bar clamp........

The rear HC is very sensitive and it takes surprisingly little movement of it to effect height corrections so if your rod is a bit bent or out of adjustment, it'll not respond as expected at all. The adjustments are critical.

rod shouldnt be bent (brand new a couple of weeks ago) but the adjuster was set 'by eye' so is almost certainly in the wrong place..... its just i expected one extreme of suspension on the ground...the other of suspension up high.....but all i get (no matter where i move the anti roll bar clamp) is it staying low

Have you replaced the three pipes back in the correct places on the HC? It is possible to have the HC working backwards or not at all if they get mixed up.

nope pipes are definately back in the right places

I'd suspect an adjustment problem. To ensure the HC is basically working, disconnect the plastic link but leave the height lever connected. The suspension should rise when the lever is set to high and fall when set to low although in the normal ride position of the lever, results will be unpredictable. Get this bit working first and then look at the plastic link and anti-roll bar clamp and it's operating rod (the bit that terminates in a balljoint) it may be a bit bent.

i will try this....but i thought if the plastic clip came of the adjuster (or the rod snapped) your suspension grounded itself?......when the rod broke the suspension wouldnt rise at the back at all (even on the highest setting)

Was the replacement HC a brand-new one or a second-hand one from a scrapyard? If second-hand it may be seized or otherwise duff perhaps. A new one is not necessarily good either.

brand new from GSF

If you can get underneath whilst the car is at it's lowest setting SAFELY then you can manually manipulate the HC to see how it responds. Do take care doing this though and remember that height changes don't happen instantly and results may not be quite as expected if the wheels are off the ground and unloaded. The HCs can also get fooled if the rear is supportred up on high and the front is right down low.

yeah i have the back of the car jacked up and supported on axle stands (rather not have it landing on me as i bet its a tadge heavy) so i can have an adjustment 'play' under the car tomorrow (assuming it doesnt snow)

cheers for the advice

[citronut]

you cant set any hights with the car on axle stands, as you need the car on its wheels, and i agree with Jim if the plastic link is off you will still be able to opperate the manual hight, because this is not affected by the anti roll bar which is what the plastic link conects
regards malcolm

[weety]

you cant set any hights with the car on axle stands, as you need the car on its wheels, and i agree with Jim if the plastic link is off you will still be able to opperate the manual hight, because this is not affected by the anti roll bar which is what the plastic link conects
regards malcolm

ok cheers.....back under the car for me then...... though it sounds like i have another problem as after the height adjuster rod broke the car wouldnt rise at the back when set on high (just stayed on the ground) ....

before i crawl back under the car does anyone know why that would happen (cant be a total pressure loss at the back as after i fitted a new rod the car then got stuck on high)

when i change the height in the car the long connector (dont know what its called) is attached to the height adjuster and seems to be moving (though i havent had a glamorous assistant move it with me under the car)

you cant set any hights with the car on axle stands, as you need the car on its wheels

i am resetting the rear height adjuster with the car jacked up but then lowering it to the ground before starting it up so both back wheels are resting on the ground......

cheers for the advice......its not raining i will be outside in a minute.....

[weety]

well popped the plastic connector of then started the car and it still refuses to move...did citroenaerobics and it still sits on the ground glaring at me.........

totally lost now.... but a friend is going to bring his xantia over at the weekend so i can look at his adjuster set up and see if there is anything obvious i have missed (and that i have screwed all the pipes back into the correct holes )

has anyone got a picture of a height adjuster with everything connected so i can do a quick 'spot the difference' exercise

cheers

peter

[CitroJim]

Hi Peter,

This is the HC on my 2.1TD.

Note it is upside-down due to how I held the camera



If you want more shots, let me know, that one was done very quickly between dads taxi jobs...

[citronut]

may be when the H/C ws replced it was not conected to the manual hight control corectly, as this is very fiddely
regards malcolm