Xantia s2 HDI Exclusive Suspension

Chris570 · Post by **Chris570** » 03 Feb 2010, 17:39

Hiya, got a xantia s2 exclusive estate, suspension seems to be very hard and stiffens up when hydractive is on. I'm getting new corner spheres fitted tomorrow, hopefully that will fix it?

If you put the suspension in high it will rise but if you select medium again it won't go down until you select low then select medium. Any ideas?

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 03 Feb 2010, 18:35

Chris570 wrote:Hiya, got a xantia s2 exclusive estate, suspension seems to be very hard and stiffens up when hydractive is on. I'm getting new corner spheres fitted tomorrow, hopefully that will fix it?

If you put the suspension in high it will rise but if you select medium again it won't go down until you select low then select medium. Any ideas?

Not sure about the first question but the second is almost certainly mucky height corrector linkages. Is it on both the front and rear of the car you get this trouble or just one end?
Take a look at this for details on cleaning them.

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 03 Feb 2010, 18:37

It may very well be the case that ALL 6 spheres for the hydractive are
near flat - the corner 4 are doing the main work all of the time (even in
hydractive mode) but the real cushioning is felt by the middle spheres on
each axle being electrically switched in which in practice are what give the
car the softness of ride. What I'm saying is the middle pair could be
renewed first and you find the ride noticeably improves whereas the
corner spheres just being renewed may make little impression on the
ride as the flat middle spheres are still fitted!

You could try hydraflush to clean the hydraulic system and exercise the
height lever through the extremes as it sounds you already are. In the
end it may come down to a stiff mechanism linkage on one of the height
correctors. Needless to say, take care under any hydraulically suspensioned
Citroën as you could be flattened! Check out Jim's guide in the Stickies
section of the forum for a guide to all the key hydraulics.

Andrew

Chris570 · Post by **Chris570** » 03 Feb 2010, 18:50

Sorry forgot to mention, been told by the seller (a genuine guy) that the rear centre sphere has been done lately.

Neither the front nor the back responds when going from high to med

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 03 Feb 2010, 19:00

Check the part number usually printed on the sphere that's new to confirm
it's the right fitment; won't be tge first time the wrong one is supplied/fitted!
Corner spheres it likely is then though hydraflushing and cleaning the
LHM side of things will work wonders for the ride!! Try entering a search
in the top right dialogue of this forum with "accumulator" and "height
corrector" which will likely provide hours of reading for your reference!!

Andrew

Chris570 · Post by **Chris570** » 03 Feb 2010, 19:07

any ideas on the suspension height problem?

hopefully Pleidaes will sort the ride problem tomorrow

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 03 Feb 2010, 19:08

dogbone links popped off or broken?
Height corrector links seized?

Chris570 · Post by **Chris570** » 03 Feb 2010, 19:13

would it rise from low to med if they were broken?

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 03 Feb 2010, 19:18

Granted, if the car IS finding the heghts the anti roll bars and the links
seem to be there and trying to work. It may very well be purely down
to fine adjustment of the height selector linkage: this can sometimes get
bent out of true where the car has bottomed out or not fully lifted up to
running height when driven off a kerb etc.

Are both front and back matched in their height behavior or is one end
trying to work at correct height level?

Andrew

Chris570 · Post by **Chris570** » 03 Feb 2010, 19:22

both will rise from low to med and go from med to high, just wont go high to med.

they both do correct height though, so if people get in etc...

best example is going over a speed bump in the td at 30mph was effortless, in this one 20mph feels like the boot is crashing down

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 03 Feb 2010, 19:33

Should the rear height corrector linkage be all seized up you'll never benefit
from the suspensionoperating in it's correct attitude even with decent
spheres (middle or corner). It's likely a good careful examination of the rear
corrector, it's linkage as well as the plastic dogbone and small arm off
the anti roll bar is required and adjustment/lubrication as needed. Would
you say the ride heights looked right on the normal middle setting?

Andrew

MJM · Post by **MJM** » 04 Feb 2010, 13:18

I think I read a post from either Old Guy or Handyman explaining why you can't go from high suspension setting to medium. From memory it's not a fault, just a feature of the system.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 04 Feb 2010, 14:30

MJM wrote:I think I read a post from either Old Guy or Handyman explaining why you can't go from high suspension setting to medium. From memory it's not a fault, just a feature of the system.

I think by medium Chris is referring to normal rather than the intermediate (slightly higher than normal) setting.

Chris570 · Post by **Chris570** » 04 Feb 2010, 23:49

sorry, yep i was xac (should have stated, my bad)

visited martin at pleaides (sp) today and the rear spheres were FUBARD and the fronts were only at half pressure, he changed all 4 round and my god what a difference, rides like a citroen now

rear height correcter is the problem as the front is now playing ball.

cheers guys

Pleiades · Post by **Pleiades** » 05 Feb 2010, 00:02

It's Pleiades Chris, thats spelt Pee, el, ee, eye, ay, dee, ee, ess.

Now write it down 100 times and hand it in by Monday morning.

Glad that you had a good ride back home.

Regards
Martin

French Car Forum

Xantia s2 HDI Exclusive Suspension

Xantia s2 HDI Exclusive Suspension

Re: Xantia s2 HDI Exclusive Suspension