Gareth, both height correctors are now overhauled...
But, and this is a big but, unless your hydraulic unions on the existing height correctors are easily undoable then I'm running away, fast...
Why? Read on but be warned the following tale is a harrowing one. Don't read on if you are of an nervous disposition...
My Activa has been suffering an ever-increasingly lazy rear height corrector and yesterday I decided to bit the bullet and sort it. I thought I'd slip the corrector off and give it an overhaul. Easy, hour's work and job's a good 'un...
Err, no...
One union undid Ok but the others were stuck absolutely fast and despite a good flare nut spanner the unions rounded. Small Stillsons would not budge them either. I was stuck..
A call to Pleiades for advice brought forth the best course was to cut the pipes, attack the recalcitrant unions on the bench and make up new pipes. That was finme for the short pipe to the anti-sink valve but one of the pipes disappeared off into the depths of the subframe. The answer was to cut it, flare it and use a barrel connector on it.
I took a run over to Pleiades and borrowed their flaring tool and raced back and did the job. In cutting one pipe I found it had a steel wire inside it which made it interesting. I'm not sure of the function of this wire but it must be some sort of flow restrictor.
Pipes cut and the height corrector finally came free. To undo the unions I had to squash them in a vice and turn the height corrector body to undo them. They were so tight it took all My strength...
Here's one being undone!
After that, I stripped the corrector and found it was moderately dirty inside. Despite very clean LHM and having been flushed in the past, the height correctors seem to be dirt traps and nothing except a strip and clean will remove it. The dirt blocks the graduated hole in the damping chamber which causes the corrector to be slow to respond and unable to respond to small changes in height.
Having cleaned the height corrector I then flared the cut pipe ready for a barrel connector. Here's the tool ready to make a flare:
Finally, with new pipes made up in kunifer, this was the result. You can see the barrel connector...
And the result?
A lovely sensitive and responsive height corrector that has transformed the rear-end of the car and made it ride better. Just a small change in height now makes it correct very rapidly and the "sit in the boot" test now works perfectly whereas it never did before.
It was worth doing but a nightmare of epic proportions. Gareth, I'm sure this is what yours needs but unless your unions will undo, be afraid, very afraid. I've no desire to go there again!
One place I have to go though right now is back to Pleiades to return the flaring tool!
And lastly, in this catalogue of woe, my rear ram is weeping again
I have a another ram on the bench now with a broken spigot for refurbishment and fitting whilst I plan another word with our main dealer over a ram that's failed in less then a year...
The, when that's done, I have new disks, pads, rad and cambelt/waterpump to fit...
I wonder just want sort of a battle those jobs will result in
One of lesser resolve could end up hating an Activa quite easily and it's a good job they redeem themselves by being a wonderful drive..