Normal Spheres on a Hydractive Car?

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Post by CitroJim »

xantia_v6 wrote: Oh no!! a disagreement on FCF!!! :shock:
:lol: :lol: Not at all :D This is what a good forum is all about! It's not an argument but a proper discussion and debate

I never looked at it like that and what you say makes very good sense. I once heard from somewhere that a lot of XMs have this fast ticking problem and the word then was that it is of little concern so long as everything works properly.

It's just me, mindful of the havoc a flat accumulator can cause but you're quite right that there are no shocks in the system as long as the accumulator is healthy. To drive my V6 with this fault apparant, you'd never know about it. Only the rather frenzied cycling of the regulator gives it away.

That said, I dislike a fast tick rate intensely and want it to be right...
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Post by steelcityuk »

I'm non too keen on a fast cycling regulator because I think along the lines of what if the pump pipe was to shear or such? With that much leakage you haven't got long before you lose pressure. Maybe I'm being paranoid but it did happen to my brother in his BX on the M5 on a bank holiday weekend. The garage that did the head gasket on his car didn't secure the pipe correctly - so much for being a Citroen specialist.

It's hard to hear the cycle time on the XM due to all the hissing from the FDV...

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Post by Peter.N. »

Hi Steve

The only HP pipe failures I have had are with a flat Accu sphere, two of mine cycle about every 5 -6 seconds and have been doing so for many miles, the green one for about 80,000. I have only ever had two pumps fail in about 25 years and over half a million miles of hydropnumatic ownership, so I wouldn't worry to much if I were you.

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Post by steelcityuk »

Hi Peter,

I just like to be on the safe side if possible, more so in this day and age of blame culture, if something does go wrong I don't want to give the insurance company any excuses. But I see your point all things considered it works well.

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Post by Peter.N. »

Fair enough Steve, familiarity and contempt I suppose. :)
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Post by Mandrake »

xantia_v6 wrote:Jim, I have to disagree with your prognosis that a 20 second tick rate will stress the hydraulic system. :!: Oh no!! a disagreement on FCF!!! :shock:
:lol:
This is a different situation to a fast tick caused by a flat accumulator sphere, where due to the time taken by the regulator to react, there will be sharp spikes and dips in the system pressure.

In your case, with a good accumulator, the system pressure variation should be minimal, with no component seeing abnormal pressures, just the regulator going through a few more switching cycles.
I agree too Jim - apart from the regulator having to switch more often (which over a period of years may wear it out a bit faster) the system is under no more stress.

My Xantia went for a couple of years or more with cycle times ranging from 10-20 seconds due to a leaky electrovalve but with a good accumulator sphere and no ill effects.

If the leakage was severe the pump may struggle to top up the pressure in a timely fashion each cycle, but if the leakage is a lot less than the pumping capacity of the pump (which it will be) the only thing you would really notice is a longer time to pump up in the morning, and maybe the imfamous "groan" when getting out of the car due to the system pressure dropping off rapidly after the engine is switched off.

Although I could never prove it for certain I think on my car that the front electrovalve leakage may have played a role in the front suspension being intermitantly stiff (when it shouldn't be) but that is only going to hurt your behind, not the suspension :lol:

If the time until you get the new electrovalves is only a few weeks and the car seems to be riding ok, I honestly wouldn't worry about it and would continue to drive as is.

If it's not riding well and it could be some time before you replace them then I see no reason why you couldn't remove the hydractive fuse and fit normal corner spheres.

In theory the ride should be slightly worse in this state than a non-hydractive car, because the left/right flow (which softens pitching motions in the roll axis) will be blocked off by the permanently hard mode hydractive block.

So you may find on uneven surfaces the car pitches on the roll axis a bit more, (more like a sprung car) but the handling should be perfectly safe, and the ride acceptable.

Regards,
Simon
Last edited by Mandrake on 27 Aug 2009, 13:38, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by steelcityuk »

Hi Simon,

So you made it over OK then?

Steve.
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Post by CitroJim »

I made a surprising discovery this evening :o

The car already has non-hydractive corner spheres fitted to it and they're pretty new as well.

Someone confirm that GSF N45332 are non-hydractive fronts and N45366 are non-hydractive rears please, just in case I've gone mad..

The ride in hard mode is hard, even with these non-hydractive corners. About as hard as an Activa in soft mode :lol: But nowhere near as soft as a non-hydractive car...

I cabn say one thing though Peter, in soft mode it is absolutely beautiful whith that sphere combination.

All I know is, I MISS soft mode already and will do as you suggest Simon and continue running in soft mode until the new electrovalves arrive, despite the tick rate.

I'm addicted to the magic carpet ride :D
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Post by DickieG »

CitroJim wrote:Someone confirm that GSF N45332 are non-hydractive fronts and N45366 are non-hydractive rears please, just in case I've gone mad..
Yep non Hydractive front and rear, not sure about the mad bit though,,,,,,V6 auto gearbox raises a question over that one :lol:
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Post by CitroJim »

DickieG wrote:not sure about the mad bit though,,,,,,V6 auto gearbox raises a question over that one :lol:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Umm, well, yes. You have a point there Richard... :)
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Post by xantia_v6 »

CitroJim wrote: The ride in hard mode is hard, even with these non-hydractive corners. About as hard as an Activa in soft mode :lol: But nowhere near as soft as a non-hydractive car...
Do hydroactive struts/rams have the same piston diameter as non-hydroactive?
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