the ride on my 1996 Xantia 1.9 td is starting to become a little hard so a thought i might treat it to some new spheres.
the accumulator sphere only clicks approx once every minute when ticking over and the car does not sink when left standing overnight.
so am i right in thinking i only need to replace the four wheel spheres, or is it best to replace all of them.
my other question is which spheres to go for , recon, new or genuine Citroen, i'm hoping to keep this car for a good few years yet so i would rather fit ones that will last longer
cheers
which spheres
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JohnD
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No! you only need change those which need it. On my previous Citroen, a BXTZD I always had the spheres recharged on the vehicle, so even at seven years old, it still had its original spheres. When they were pressure tested, it seemed as though the fronts lasted two years while the rears went three. Of course, if you intend to regas they need to be done before they are flat. I only stopped having them recharged because of a sudden increase in price. In view of the comparatively low price of spheres from A/S, is it worth going for anything less than new?
Dave,
FYI, Spheres regassed should be first pressure tested then regassed with a new "O" ring fitted at the charging nipple bung or in the case as John speaks of, a charging valve fitted.
Recon spheres are usually treated as above but with the addition of a coat of pine green enamel. I have heard of some using a laproscope to do a visual internal inspection; this seems to also be more window dressing than practical use.
Genuine parts are possibly the best but of course they are also the dearest by far.
Non genuine can come in about a half a dozen differing brands. It would seem that whilst many have a good run with these, some appear to have not been so lucky. How much of this is genuine is hard to gauge as one person can tell you that brand "a" is the best & brand "b" the worst & the next person will give you an opposite opinion; bit like blondes vs brunettes, tories vs socialists & catholic vs anglican; a case of to each his own. What suits one person may not suit another. I think luck, batches & age of stock all play a role in this. Genuines are possibly more quality consistent.
A sphere regas can cost out here A$15 from a car club up to A$99 by a rip off car repairer in Sydney. The cost of a 200lb bottle of nitro is about A$50 and would regas hundreds of spheres so draw your own conclusions on the expensive re-gas job even though labour I realise has to be accounted for.
Personally, as John suggests, the cheaper non genuine spheres are as good an option you can get & facing facts realistically, these come with a warranty (2 years from memory) which has to give you some peace of mind as regards quality, & any company not producing a reasonably reliable product would not be still in business. If genuine ones last say 5 years & these say 3 as a hypothetical, and the price of the genuines are 3 times the price of the others, then you're still in front.
I've used many non-genuine over the years mainly due to the exhorbitant prices (A$275 for an accumulator sphere as an example) over here & I really haven't had any problems of great note.
Alan S
FYI, Spheres regassed should be first pressure tested then regassed with a new "O" ring fitted at the charging nipple bung or in the case as John speaks of, a charging valve fitted.
Recon spheres are usually treated as above but with the addition of a coat of pine green enamel. I have heard of some using a laproscope to do a visual internal inspection; this seems to also be more window dressing than practical use.
Genuine parts are possibly the best but of course they are also the dearest by far.
Non genuine can come in about a half a dozen differing brands. It would seem that whilst many have a good run with these, some appear to have not been so lucky. How much of this is genuine is hard to gauge as one person can tell you that brand "a" is the best & brand "b" the worst & the next person will give you an opposite opinion; bit like blondes vs brunettes, tories vs socialists & catholic vs anglican; a case of to each his own. What suits one person may not suit another. I think luck, batches & age of stock all play a role in this. Genuines are possibly more quality consistent.
A sphere regas can cost out here A$15 from a car club up to A$99 by a rip off car repairer in Sydney. The cost of a 200lb bottle of nitro is about A$50 and would regas hundreds of spheres so draw your own conclusions on the expensive re-gas job even though labour I realise has to be accounted for.
Personally, as John suggests, the cheaper non genuine spheres are as good an option you can get & facing facts realistically, these come with a warranty (2 years from memory) which has to give you some peace of mind as regards quality, & any company not producing a reasonably reliable product would not be still in business. If genuine ones last say 5 years & these say 3 as a hypothetical, and the price of the genuines are 3 times the price of the others, then you're still in front.
I've used many non-genuine over the years mainly due to the exhorbitant prices (A$275 for an accumulator sphere as an example) over here & I really haven't had any problems of great note.
Alan S