Bleeding Hydraulic System

[Toby_HDi]

Am I right in thinking that this can be done by having the engine running and slightly loosening the screw on the pressure regulator or am I completely wrong and this a no no.

Thanks

[red_dwarfers]

Most of the hydraulic system is self bleeding (done by doing Citrobics), apart from the brakes. Which must have some kind of bleed valve on each wheel hub.

The pressure regulator screw is just for depressurising the the accumulator sphere i think.

[Old-Guy]

Toby

Red_Dwarfers is correct - apart from the brakes, the hydraulic system is self bleeding; any air (or gas from a blown sphere) can be removed by a session of Citarobics.

Citarobics: with the engine running, move the height lever to the rear-most position (service high) and wait for the car to stop rising. Opne the bonnet and check that the orange hydraulic reservoir float is between the two marks - if not, slowly top-up with LHM until the float is a little below the top mark.
DO NOT USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN FRESH L.H.M.! If you do, the car is beyond economic repair!
Move the lever to the forward-most position (service low) and wait for the car to stop sinking. Move the lever to service high and wait for the car to rise fully. Move to SL, etc.etc. Repaeat the complete cycle at least 4 or 5 times. At the final SH position check LHM level before moving lever to Normal position.

The sticky "Spheres, Hydraflush and Brake Bleeding" explains exactly how to bleed the brakes.

More to the point, what makes you think the hydraulic system needs bleeding?

Guy

[Toby_HDi]

Yep, I know about that thread. Came about through my pestering Jim for advice (Sorry Jim! :lol)

I have done plenty of Citaerobics. What concerns me is I cannot get the intermediate height setting. It either stays in the normal position or goes all the way up to high. I don't think it's a height corrector problem either as they have been sorted.

Other thing is, even after a sphere change etc the back is still sinking on switching the engine off. That makes me think that there is possibly a leak too.

[Xaccers]

Cassy has the same sinking at the rear, was ok just after I replaced a leaking caliper but it's come back.
Dex was the same until Jim got hold of him and found the pipe into one of the rear calipers needed nipping up a bit tighter.

Cassy's not losing any LHM, so its either a tiny leak that's just letting the pressure out, or a slightly bigger leak that's returning to the resevoir.
I've just replaced her rear spheres as the back had gotten quite bouncy, yet although the ride is now much better, the rear still sinks.
I just haven't had the time or good weather to get underneath and hunt it down.

[deian]

Toby
Move the lever to the forward-most position (service low) and wait for the car to stop sinking. Move the lever to service high and wait for the car to rise fully.

Just to make a small if not 'personal' correction to that technique.... when moving the lever to lower the car to it's lowest position and waiting it to lower and then moving it back up won't quite do.

As the car is lowering and AFTER it has lowered 'wait' a bit, look inside the LHM tank with a torch, the LHM tank will continue to fill up as 'most' of the LHM is still forced back to the tank, this could take a minute or two AFTER the car has fully lowered.

Don't rely on the orange float on top of the LHM, they can become clogged with dirt, the foolproof way to check the LHM level is to actually look down, only then you can verify the float is actually floating and not stuck. Remember the LHM level needs to be between the two marks with the car on it's HIGHEST setting.

Even then, when the level has come to it's maximum, you could do well to wait for the bubbles or froth to dissipate so you don't suck it back into the system.

When I bled mine, I took a great deal of time and effort to try to do it well.

On top of that, I persoanlly DID open the bleed valve when the car was on it lowest and when the LHM had settled, maybe there is air in that circuit that could be moved around the system (if the acc.sphere is leaking)...

The only dead ends are the brake calipers which are easily bled, a LOT easier than conventional brakes. But technically, if there is air down the brake line it should stay there as it can't come back, your brakes should be delayed if there is air down those line.

Toby, when you sorted the height corrector, how do you know you have set it to be at the right height with the lever on normal. I did the mistake or setting it to be high on the highest setting, but because the hc mechanism doesn't work in a linear way, I spent a long time sorting it out on my own car when the clip broke. Yours may be a different problem/symptom of course.

Good luck.