All Things V6...

[DHallworth]

LOL!

Good job it's under lock and key then

Still waiting for the brake pipe to arrive. Unfortunately it's still in Germany... hopefully it'll be here soon.

David.

[Stickyfinger]

Two words



BOLT CUTTERS

[DHallworth]

Well, last week I finally managed to find the holy grail!!





I was talking to LCS in Louth about the sphere recharging valves they were selling. I said to him "I don't suppose you've got a pressure tester do you?" When I was speaking to him he said that they didn't. 5 minutes later the phone rang and he said he'd got one. It was brand new and had never even had a drop of oil in it!

It turned up last week but I didn't have a chance to get near it until today. They're very simple really, but it's great to finally have one. I almost felt bad filling it with oil really

The sphere I've got on it at the moment is just one of many that was in a pile I had. The tester stops reading at 45 bar, I've no idea what it should be on that sphere, however, it's got 45 stamped onto the side of the sphere so I can only assume that this one is very good.

Paired with the sphere recharger that I won on eBay for a tenner last year, I'm all geared up and ready to go now!!



Well, now that I've got 38 valves for it I'm all geared up and ready to go

Is there a chart available that shows what pressure should be in each sphere by any chance?

David.

[Mandrake]

Well, last week I finally managed to find the holy grail!!

Well jealous David! That is a very tidy little unit indeed.

The sphere I've got on it at the moment is just one of many that was in a pile I had. The tester stops reading at 45 bar, I've no idea what it should be on that sphere, however, it's got 45 stamped onto the side of the sphere so I can only assume that this one is very good.

The normal way to measure sphere pressure is to pump the oil pressure up past the expected reading by about 10 bars or so, then open the bleed screw on the tester slightly so that the pressure only drops slowly. When the indicated oil pressure reaches the gas pressure in the sphere the diaphragm will touch the bottom of the sphere and the pressure will instantly drop to zero as there is no more compliance left in the sphere. The pressure reading just before it dropped to zero is the gas pressure. If you bleed it too quickly or try to take the reading during the pumping up phase there will be some degree of error in the reading.

[CitroJim]

That sphere tester is magical David An excellent find and acquisition!

[superloopy]

Snap!!

[emoji1] [emoji1] [emoji1]

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[Mandrake]

Is there a chart available that shows what pressure should be in each sphere by any chance?

For what car ? The new CX ? Assuming the spheres currently on the car are correct the pressure will be stamped on the sphere.

Also I believe you have a genuine Citroen service manual for the CX ? I'm sure the pressures will be listed there... Just make sure it explicitly lists the Series 2 Turbo as the Turbo spheres are different to all other CX's and Series 1 and Series 2 also differ from each other.

[Mandrake]

Just looked through that Series 2 CX manual I downloaded and found the following:

The engine code for the Turbo petrol is M25/662, used to reference the correct spheres, which are:

Accumulator sphere - 62 bars, 400cc sphere. (Same as all other Citroens)
Front brake accumulator - 62 bars, 400cc sphere. (Identical sphere to an accumulator sphere)
Front suspension - 75 bars, 500cc sphere, 1.65mm damper bypass hole
Rear suspension - 40 bars, 500cc sphere, 1.25mm damper bypass hole

As you can see CX's use quite large spheres compared to later models, the only sphere on a Xantia that is 500cc is the front hydractive regulator sphere - and only OEM citroen ones are 500cc, third party ones are 450cc...The larger volume spheres are to accommodate the fact that the CX has a lot longer suspension travel than later models like the Xantia. From memory I think the front suspension has nearly 50% more travel than a Xantia and the rear maybe an extra 30%...

Interesting thing is that these figures are exactly the same sphere pressures and bypass holes that I remember my standard CX had on it - I always thought they were different on the Turbo, but perhaps the leaf valves differ despite having the same bypass holes.

The roll bar is significantly different though - 25mm vs 23mm on the earlier non turbo models so it may roll (slightly ) less... BTW if you find the ride a bit too soft and rollypolly in the corners its relatively easy to tweak the bypass hole diameter on the spheres for a little bit firmer damping - on my CX we reduced the front bypass holes from 1.65mm to 1.4mm which removed the "floatiness" and improved the handling response significantly, but still kept a really nice, cushioned ride. I can show you an easy way to do this that can be undone again if necessary.

Hope that helps David.

[DHallworth]

Argh... My CX brake pipe is sitting at the Parcel Farce National Hub where it's been for 2 days!!

Just get the bloody thing on a van and get it delivered FFS. It's the last part of the puzzle and it's really annoying me now!

David.

[DHallworth]

Well, the CX is finished. Actually, it still needs a small cigarette packet sized patch welding on underneath it but that's getting done next week hopefully. Once that's done she's MOT ready.

It's had all the rear pipes replaced, all the front to back pipes replaced, the front brake caliper pipe replaced (finally arrived today), oil and filter changed, fuel filter changed, gearbox oil changed, and the plugs have been replaced too.

I drained the fuel out tonight and put 20 litres of V-Power into it as well. She's running beautifully.

Hopefully it won't be long now until she's MOT'd and on the road. The only thing that might affect my 1st July goal is the welding man as I don't really fancy doing that myself.

The rear brake caliper bleed nipples have been squashed in the past so they're not round any more. I managed to get them to open and close but I'm not happy leaving them like that as I might not next time. Does anyone know if they're just standard bleed nipples on the back calipers?

David.

[Stickyfinger]

Get them off and weld a nut on them David

[CitroJim]

Excellent news David

Looking forward to good news in the MoT front

Then you can enjoy it!

[Mandrake]

Well, the CX is finished. Actually, it still needs a small cigarette packet sized patch welding on underneath it but that's getting done next week hopefully. Once that's done she's MOT ready.

Getting close!

It's had all the rear pipes replaced, all the front to back pipes replaced, the front brake caliper pipe replaced (finally arrived today), oil and filter changed, fuel filter changed, gearbox oil changed, and the plugs have been replaced too.

I drained the fuel out tonight and put 20 litres of V-Power into it as well. She's running beautifully.

That's a good point - do we know what octane fuel it needs ? Did it come with an owners manual ?

Hopefully it won't be long now until she's MOT'd and on the road. The only thing that might affect my 1st July goal is the welding man as I don't really fancy doing that myself.

The rear brake caliper bleed nipples have been squashed in the past so they're not round any more. I managed to get them to open and close but I'm not happy leaving them like that as I might not next time. Does anyone know if they're just standard bleed nipples on the back calipers?

I don't know for certain but I think they're just standard Citroen bleed nipples common to LHM models, with the same thread as the hydraulic unions. So you'd probably find a spare one from a Xantia etc would fit...

[Hell Razor5543]

IIRC the bleed nipples for the Xantia rear brakes are now NFP.

[CitroJim]

IIRC the bleed nipples for the Xantia rear brakes are now NFP.

They can be made on a lathe without too much difficulty if needs must...

Should be possible to recover some from scrap callipers though...