I have a 1997 Xantia TD Desire estate which has just clocked up 98K miles.
The suspension is now misbehaving, taking a long time to raise at the rear when starting. Increasing the revs seems to make the process quicker but cannot be making me popular with the neighbours.
Today I cleaned out the LHM filters- nothing much found. I raised the car to high, ran it onto ramps to raise the rear & had a look round underneath - again nothing untoward found.
On putting the car back on the ground and setting the suspension back to normal driving position, the rear dropped onto the tyres and took a lot of getting up to the right height. Achieved this by raising the height again to high,then back to normal with the engine running then switched off.
What's going on? I suspect that the braking performance is also not what it once was. Does this point to the accumulator sphere? How do I tell if this or indeed any of the other spheres have gone?
Will it help to clear out the system with Hydraflush?
Is this just added in place of the LHM in the tank or does it need to be bled through the system. If so how do I go about this?
Any thoughts gratefully accepted
Xantia suspension
Moderator: RichardW
A xantia that age will have anti-sink therefore you shouldn't have to wait for it to pump up at all.
Unless you have already done so, change the accumulator and the anti-sink sphere (in the middle at the back).
Hydraflush should be bled through the brakes, but many people don't bother with this (I didn't)
The car refusing to rise at all until you've fiddled with the lever suggests that there's a problem with the rear height corrector. Does the rear self level? If not then the linkage is siezed and the clip has probably popped off.
Can't stress enough the importance of making sure you never go under the car without the suspension dropped. If it does drop it can do so very quickly and that's not the time to find out your ramps don't give you enough room.
Unless you have already done so, change the accumulator and the anti-sink sphere (in the middle at the back).
Hydraflush should be bled through the brakes, but many people don't bother with this (I didn't)
The car refusing to rise at all until you've fiddled with the lever suggests that there's a problem with the rear height corrector. Does the rear self level? If not then the linkage is siezed and the clip has probably popped off.
Can't stress enough the importance of making sure you never go under the car without the suspension dropped. If it does drop it can do so very quickly and that's not the time to find out your ramps don't give you enough room.
Ah, sorry I'm afraid I'm running on recieved advice rather than personal experience and I can't help.
The rear height corrector on mine did sieze completely and was replaced, but not by me. I'm led to believe that the height corrector is fairly easy to identify, it's fitted to the car body with a linkage going to a clip over a ball joint somewhere on the suspension,,,, could be the anti roll bar (I'm not sure).
The rear height corrector on mine did sieze completely and was replaced, but not by me. I'm led to believe that the height corrector is fairly easy to identify, it's fitted to the car body with a linkage going to a clip over a ball joint somewhere on the suspension,,,, could be the anti roll bar (I'm not sure).
I have changed the anti sink and acumulator spheres as suggested. Now running with hydraflush. Checked the linnkage and height corrector & sprayed wd 40 liberally. Today the rear had droped only a little, say the wheel arch was level with the point on the tyre where the tread begins.
Will see how it goes.
Will see how it goes.
WD40 is very good for freeing off a seized linkage, but to prevent it happening again it can be worthwhile buying a can of 'chain lube' spray grease (designed for bike chains) and spraying the linkage and the rod that runs all the way from the front to rear height correctors.
The advantage of using this stuff is that it doesn't wash off from rain water spraying under the car like WD40 often does.
When I used this to lubricate the height correctors on my car I also used the rest of the can up spraying all along the rear hydraulic pipes, which helps to prevent them from corroding.
Had a look under the car the other day and the linkage and pipes are still covered in a good layer of grease, even after a year of the car being used, whereas WD40 would be long gone by now. I haven't had any problems with the back failing to rise since then either.
Nick
The advantage of using this stuff is that it doesn't wash off from rain water spraying under the car like WD40 often does.
When I used this to lubricate the height correctors on my car I also used the rest of the can up spraying all along the rear hydraulic pipes, which helps to prevent them from corroding.
Had a look under the car the other day and the linkage and pipes are still covered in a good layer of grease, even after a year of the car being used, whereas WD40 would be long gone by now. I haven't had any problems with the back failing to rise since then either.
Nick