Xantia Activa Mk 1 Rear Suspension Height

wainy · Post by **wainy** » 26 Mar 2009, 15:03

Hi, had this car for about 5 months and all has been AOK, even sailing through new MOT. However, since yesterday I now have a problem with the rear suspension and could do with advice!

It will jack up to high and sink to low but nothing in between. If it is low and I move the lever to normal the front rises but the rear stays low. If it is high and I move the level to normal, the front drops but the rear stays high. If the car is low and the lever moved to high until the car starts to raise and the lever then moved to normal (while the care is rising), the rear will keep going to high and vice versa......... you get the picture.......... bizarre!

Front is working fine and prior to yesterday there were no issues with hard ride etc.

I can get round it temporarily by doing what I've said above but moving the lever past normal until the car stops jacking/sinking and then moving it IMMEDIATELY to normal. It will then stay at that height for a while but gradually sinks. This is obviously not right though!

Any ideas??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 26 Mar 2009, 15:30

Hi welcome to the forum, check out the Activa section at the foot of the
index page of this whole forum.

Your height problem sounds very much like a usual Xantia issue not just
unique to the Activa. Basically the adjustment valve attached to the rear
anti roll bar that appropriates the correct pressure and height to the
suspension isn't working correctly. The valve called a height corrector sits
in a bracket that has a linkage attached to the height adjustment lever
you're moving through the different height settings. The linkage can get
stiff and seized up if left untouched for a,long time without regular
lubrication or deliberate cycling of the vehicle's height to prevent such
a problem occurring.

If the linkage cannot be moved smoothly it will need intervention which
must be carried out extremely carefully as the whole car body can sink to
the floor with barely cm to spare so not a clever place to be lying should it
do so - this suspension system has killed the unwary and unprepared so
treat it with caution and some respect. If correctly supported on ramps
you will be able to work completely safely on the suspension.

The fix involves manually 'helping' the linkage on the height corrector and
spraying lubrication grease such as bike chain oil. If you look in the search
facility at the top of every forum page try "rear height corrector" and "rear
roll bar link" and also check out the fixed sticky threads on the Citroen page
"Spheres, Hydraflush and Brake Bleeding" and while there read about
another Xantia failure - rusting strut tops = prevention is better than cure.

Happy Activa'ing!!
Andrew

wainy · Post by **wainy** » 26 Mar 2009, 16:27

Just been thinking about symptoms and realised its not quite true to say that there hadn't been any issues with the rear suspension!

For a few weeks, after starting the car in the morning it has felt as if it is bouncy at the rear for the first half mile or so. It would then suddenly drop by what felt like a couple of inches at the rear and the ride would be smooth for the rest of the journey. This didn't happen every day and wasn't related to any moving of the height adjustment lever as it has stayed pretty resolutely in normal setting while I've had the car.

Is this behaviour consistent with problems with the height corrector linkage? As I said the drop at the rear was sudden, NOT gradual like when you move the lever between settings.

addo · Post by **addo** » 26 Mar 2009, 20:59

I'd also be checking accumulator sphere pressure. If it's flattish, then this might cause an erratic response...

Old-Guy · Post by **Old-Guy** » 27 Mar 2009, 17:57

The symptoms you describe, include the habit of sitting high first thing in the morning, point to the rear height corrector mechanism getting very stiff and then the plastic 'dog-bone' link between the roll-bar and the corrector mechanism failing. Basically, the corrector mechanism is no longer connected to the vehicle height which is why you get high or low (override positions from the lever) without any modulation from the vehicle ride height.

Lots of posts here on this subject, including photos, diagrams and part numbers.

Please be very careful when working underneath. If the car isn't on ramps and it drops suddenly to LOW with you underneath - quite likely when attempting to fix height-control problems, your chances of living to tell the story are LOW.