Xantia Spheres & Suspention

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harryjoe
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Xantia Spheres & Suspention

Post by harryjoe »

Hello to all !
Iv'e just reciently purchased a 1998 Xantia 1.8i 16 v Lx, after being put off a several years ago with a previous Xantia, ( suspension problems )!, iv'e giving it another go, as i love these cars, anyway lets get to the point,.
The car has just got a yrs mot, with new spheres fitted on the front corners, meanwhile over the last 2 weeks iv'e noticed the rear seams to be getting very boucey, i am awear that this proberly means replacement of the rear corner sphere's, but which one is the anti sink ? front middle or rear middle ?, cause she sometimes sinks after start up when warm, and comes up after about 20 seconds, also there is a ticking niose from the front every 10 seconds or so ,is this normal ? apart from that bargin car 1 owner from new 78000 mile full history, £600.00 BARGIN, i think ! Lovely car .
Any advice would be great

Thanks
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Post by CitroJim »

Hi Harryjoe and welcome to both the forum and Xantia ownership again!

The antisink sphere is the rear middle but it is terribly mis-named. It has nothing whatever to do with the the car sinking; it is in fact a second accumulator to provide a reserve of pressure for the rear brakes when the anti sink valve is closed at the rear - hence the name I suppose but it is terribly confusing.

The cause of the sink after startup may be the main accumulator being flat.

The easy way to test the accumulator is to listen for a regluar tick sound from the pressure regulator (the block just behind the accumulator sphere attached to the gearbox). The tick should occur at no more than 30 second intervals. If it ticks much more frequently than this, the accumulator is flat. The tick sound comes from the regulator cutting in and out to maintain a fixed system pressure, much like a thermostat.

Another quick test is to switch off, quickly open the boot and sit on the boot lip so the rear sinks a little under your weight. If the accumulator is good, it will hold enough reserve pressure to correct the fall in height. A really good one may be able to do two height corrections before it is exhausted.

The bouncy rear is invariably the corner spheres a little flat or stiffness in the height corrector mechanism. Is the ride height roughly correct?

If you change the rear spheres, there is a "sticky" at the top of this forum explaining how to do it. The rears need to be removed in a particular non-intuitive way but all is explained.
Jim

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Xamtia

Post by harryjoe »

Hi Jim,
Many thanks for the inforamtion, it's been a while since i had one of these , and i must admit is was put off by my first experiance, but love these cars,
ok the ride height looks fine, with car pretty much level, it's just a little bouncy with no real softness when you bounce me back of the car , front is lovely n soft, iv'e just ordered new spheres for rear corners from gsf,
The accumultor in the middle at front , is that an ordinary sphere to purchase like the others , or a special one ?, and is it easy to fit, ?,
Many Thanks


Nigel
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Post by harryjoe »

Oh forgot to mention, !!! the ticking from the front sometimesit ticks every 5 seconds or so , then at other times every 10-15 seconds, not 30 seconds like you say !
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Post by harryjoe »

I'm about to buy ,a 1989 diesel bx , been sitting in a barn for 9 yrs, got it started the other day after a bit of turning over connected to a forklift battery, ! i can see myself on here a lot
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Post by deian »

harryjoe wrote:i can see myself on here a lot
Me too... lol, it's a nice place to be to learn about your citroens, £600 sounds a bargain yes, i paid 575 for mine and it's a '95 1.9td vsx with 145k on it

the accumulator sphere is different, but there is only one type of accumulator sphere to have so just ask for an accumulator for a xantia and you won't go wrong, the difference is mainly that it doesn't have a damping hole in it, i need to change mine too, mine is like yours, not so healthy.

not changing it will either eventually wear out the seals on the regulator, or if your auxiliary belt snaps leave u stranded with no reserve of brake pressure (as the aux belt turns the hydraulic pump).
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Post by CitroJim »

That's excellent :D Well, no doubting the main accumulator (front, middle) is well past it's best if she's ticking like a clock :lol:

Weak rear corner spheres can also cause the rear end sinks as well so doing those three spheres should fix all your problems in one fell swoop :D

Great news on the BX :D The diesel engine is wonderful and the hydraulics are a little simpler (none of this anti-sink nonsense) but agaist that they have an octopus that likes to leak and is a devil to replace and a thing called a Flow Distribution Valve (FDV) that proportions hydraulic pressure between the power steering and brakes/suspension. Watch also that BXs like to rust out their hydraulic pipes; something the Xantia is not so prone to do.

For the in-depth BX stuff, visit our sister forum, the BX Club, link here. You will receive a very warm welcome there, especially as you are rescuing a BX :D

Just don't let on you have a Xantia as well :lol: :lol:
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Post by citroenxm »

Jim

Anti sink IT VERY REMOVABLE you know! Its NOT electronic but two small mechanical valves working off pressure releaf!

If you have TWO K joints to go DIRECTLY in place of the anti sink valves, and a Flow divider FROM AN XM, and an early pump, the supply pipe work is complete changeable and you CAN change an anti sink BACK to a sinker, I Actually have enough here to do it!! :wink:

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Post by harryjoe »

yes i believe this is a mk 2, there is also a mk 1 next to it in the same barn , it's al little worse for ware , but will get thisa one going first ! yes i understand the bx / xantia thing, i can well inagine , thiis bx does have a leak somwhere at the rear , but i managed to drive it up the lane ( bout 1/2 mile, before it gave up with lack of fluid, but great little car.
been looking at your old xantia activa, Garath's got , look the dogs b*******s, i need a little piant work done on the xantia in the spring, just a few minor scatches, as you can expect from an 80 yr old previous owner !!! lol, mine's that metalic crimsone they call it , nice colour, can't wait to give it the good once over. as for the BX (dare i say it ) ! thats dark metalic grey, got to get it from Crowbourgh to Eastbourne n i can get started on it !

God i'm gabbling on.......

Anyway i will get the accumultor sphere, then hopfully sorted

Thanks Jim,
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Post by harryjoe »

Hi Dei, yes great place totaly agree, love looking at photo's of members cars, Is there a name for becoming a french anorak !!! lol, cause i think i'm becoming one, my wife is very concerned,
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Post by CitroJim »

harryjoe wrote:Is there a name for becoming a french anorak !!! lol, cause i think i'm becoming one, my wife is very concerned,
No, it's a generally nameless condition Nigel but very addictive :lol: Citroenitis might be a good name for it and it looks like you have a confirmed case of it :)

Just tell the wife it's better than going down the pub every night; at least she knows where you are and what you're up to :lol:

You're in good company here :wink:
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Post by citronut »

it could be called green blooditis, because once it gets under your skin theres no going back,

if you need a trailer to recover the BX TRIDENT TRAILERS of tunbridgewells hire them out at a very good rate, i hired a supperb hydralic tilt bed from them about three years ago, to fetch my D special from Nottingham, cost me 56 quid from friday afternoon to monday morrning,

the MK1 BX amber front indicators, the MK 2 has white front indicators lenses,

do you know what year/reg letter the MK1 is,

ps.
if you ever need your XANT hitched up to a LEXIA for a diagnostic check over, i own one and dont charge much and im in St Leonards on sea,

also have some BX bits and pieces, including two brand new OE saloon/hatch rear exhaust box's


regards malcolm
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Post by xmexclusive »

Hi Jim

I can explain why the extra sphere got called "Anti-sink".
No one in their right mind would use the official Citroen terminology which is 'SC/MAC sphere'.

I quote from XM 430-00/3 entitled "Suspension - constant ride height keeping Citroen system"

They called the system "SC/MAC"

The 'SC/MAC' (Citroen system allowing maintenance of a constant ground clearance) limits the sinking of the suspension when the vehicle is stationary, with engine off.
When the vehicle is at rest for a long time, the suspension undergoes a loss of pressure:
- at the front, from the height corrector
- at the rear, from the height corrector and the brake control valve.
With the 'SC/MAC' device, when the system pressure becomes inferior to that of the suspension circuits, the suspensions are isolated from the rest of hydraulic circuit, thus limiting the settling of the vehicle.
...
The rear suspension circuit is equiped with:
- a 'SC/MAC' valve
- a 'SC/MAC' sphere
....

I cannot imagine that many people, even Citroen, over here called it either SC/MAC system or Constant ride height keeping system.
So someone would have said it was the Anti-sink system and it said it all so that name stuck.

John
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Post by CitroJim »

Thanks John :D Brilliant!

Just as the Activa system is technically known as SC/CAR. Not very snappy at all...
Jim

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Post by harryjoe »

Thanks Malcom, i may take you up on that check up!, just down the road from me then, i could be interested in some parts for the BX in the spring, will get it back to not so sunny Eastbourne soon , then i can spend many hours scratching my head over it , could be bald by the summer lol, as for the mk1, i am back at work on monday, i will then get in the barn and sus out the reg, i know for a fact it does have orange indicator lenses, and the tipically Citroen wierd but classic dash, with the glass magifiery thing in the middle.
It has suffered to the hands of a family of mice i think that have made a very nice and warm home in the front seat, but apart from that seams quite straight, and in the same colour as the mk2 metalic grey

On Jims advice , i have orderd new spheres for mine, and an acumulator one for the front from gsf, just got to sus it out and try and fit them lol!!!
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