Speedo and cruise control, airbag light and alarm probs

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Post by Xaccers »

This thread covers how to make a sphere removal tool
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Post by xantia sx auto »

will have a read up on how to change it and hopefully it won't spurt all the fluid out!! i have an oil filter removal tool that will hopefully work!!!
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Post by xantia sx auto »

Hi just been reading jims superb supersticky

if i put front on ramps to do the accumulator do i need to have the car on high or low before undoing the 12mm thingy half a turn???
i would have thought there is less pressure on the down side so hopefully less mess! think i'll leave the anti sink one and see if the rear breaks fail mot but they seem to work so will leave that as it sounds tricky!

has anyone tried the lizarte spheres on ebay? does it look any good?
item no 310214715947

or i have a camberly auto factors near me do they do them and how much?

bit worried about someone giving me the wrong part, how do i know what i get is right and that they don't palm me off with a front or rear one!!!

Is my car this hydro thingy or just standard? it's 2000 sx auto w reg
I think i'm right in saying the a/s sphere should have a threaded hole in the sphere for a pipe so io know that one will be easy to tell but hope i won't be doing that one cos i like my 9 mill spanner as it is!!!
but if i have to do it will the 4.5 mill thread tube washer thingy come with it or not and if not where do i get that or is mine a 3.5!! ahhhh i dunno!!!

speedo is still really annoying me, god knows what wires i need to wiggle and i can't do it while driving!!!

airbag light is still on! passanger seat wires been connected up but drivers has commector still but there are a load of wires under both seats that just go to a black plug that dosn't plug anywhere!! whaaaaaaaat!

she drives ok though just want to get this accumulator done as i'm worried with fast ticks it might bugger something up?

Cheers citroheads

Richie B
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Post by xantia sx auto »

oh and also, how much fluid will i lose doing the accumulator will i need more than a litre or so to be safe and top up???
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Post by CitroJim »

xantia sx auto wrote:oh and also, how much fluid will i lose doing the accumulator will i need more than a litre or so to be safe and top up???
You'll loose a bit, the quantity depending on how flat or ruptured the sphere is.

I'd say the amount you'll loose will range from 10 to about 300mL. Aim for about 100mL and you'll not be far off...
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Post by Xaccers »

Order the parts (spheres and pipe seal) form GSF

To do the accumulator, unless you can get to it from above, get the car up on high.
Put axle stands under the jacking points at the front. You'll probably only need the stands to be on the lowest or 1st setting up, we're going to seesaw the car to get you plenty of room underneath.
The jacking point is a strengthened section about 3 inches long with tabs hanging down at each end of it. Get the axle stand on the curved bit between the tabs.
Never jack on the sill, it will bend, so be careful where the axle stands are when you've finished and bring the car down from high! :D
If you need to raise the car up a bit higher to get it on the axle stands, use a trolley jack on the subframe just behind the wheels, there's a large nut that I try to get in the cup of the jack when I do it.

So, car's up on axle stands, engine running, set the height to the lowest.
Watch in amazement as the back drops and the front of the car lifts up giving plenty of room underneath.
Leave the engine running to give it a chance to properly settle and return as much LHM as possible to the resevoir.
Open the 12mm bleed screw 1/4 - 1/2 a turn so that it whistles to depressurise.
Turn the engine off, remove sphere (they are bloody tight to get turning so good luck with your oil filter tool), remove old o-ring if it hasn't come out of the socket with the sphere, cover new o-ring in fresh LHM and fit it to the socket, then screw in the new sphere finger tight.
Start the engine, nip up the 12mm bleed screw.
Wait for the STOP light to go out, set the car on high.
Remove axle stands and make sure they're clear of the car sills/open doors.
Check LHM level and top up.
That's the accumulator done.

For the a/s, set the axle stands at the rear jacking points, set car on low, depressurise etc.
Get under the back of the car with a 9mm flare spanner.
Behind the a/s sphere is the pipe, fit the flare spanner to the nut.
Use your sphere tool to remove the a/s sphere, the bracket around the pipe will hold the spanner and nut in place, and you'll screw the sphere off the pipe.
Fit a new seal to the end of the pipe, with the o-ring on the sphere's thread this time (there's no recess for it in the sphere socket) to help prevent the sphere rusting to the car, screw the sphere in just enough to hold it in place.
Screw the pipe nut into the back of the sphere just enough to get it going, and fit the flare spanner again.
Now screwing in the sphere will screw in the pipe nut too.
Nip up the nut the rest of the way.
Clean up the rear hight corrector linkages and spray with grease.
Repressurise the system, get the car off axle stands, top up the LHM.
Then do citrobics.
Car's up on high now, set it on low, let the car sink right down, leave it there for a couple of minutes, then go back up on high for a couple of minutes, repeat this while you're drinking a well earnt cup of tea.

Thought I'd also mention when you depresurise the system, the nitrogen balloons in the spheres should expell all the LHM in them.
However, as they degrade and loose pressure, it becomes harder for them to overcome the "depressurised" pressure in the system, which is still several times that of the atmosphere.
Now, when you take off such a sphere, where it's nearly totally flat, you releave the pressure and the balloon expands, and you get a douche verte.
Don't worry, LHM makes a great hair conditioner!
If the balloon has ruptured, then the sphere just fills with LHM, and will empty if turned hole down.
Accumulator and a/s spheres have large holes, so a douche vert isn't that likely, but if they've ruptured then expect a fair bit of LHM to run out of them if you turn them up.

Oh and check the colour of the LHM that comes out.
Good fresh LHM is bright green.
As it ages it goes yellow and then a brown/red.
If it's yellow/brown/red, then it's in need of a change, a filter clean (with petrol and a cheap toothbrush with only bristles, none of that rubber gum stuff), and hydrorincage (hydroflush cleaning fluid)
Last edited by Xaccers on 21 Apr 2010, 21:26, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by xantia sx auto »

oh great so not too much then i still have half a litre of lhm so that should be ok
went to citcon earlier and they wanted £102 for one!!! noooooo thanks i think i'll try the fleabay one!! does it look ok to you?
so up on ramps with setting lowest is what i should do???

had some funny goings on today, i put the car down yesterday so i could wash the roof easier but thismorning i put it to normal but it did not rise when started so i put it on highest and eventually it rose up, then put it back to normal and it went down,
then went shopping with car full of people, and when i went back to the car I thought it had been cured as it was still up, but higher than usual (suppose all the weight did that)
but when i started to go i had no breaks till i pressed hard and it stopped dead!!
Do you rekon this is all due to a bad acctuator?
will try and get it done but i'm not paying 102 quid! local mf want 32+vat still seems a bit deer! so may try ebay if it seems ok to you???
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Post by xantia sx auto »

I mean accumulator!! why i say acctuator is beyond me!!!
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Post by xantia_v6 »

Get your accumulator from GSF, add in an anti-sink sphere (it is probably also flat), then add in a couple of filters or a set of bright headlamp bulbs, and you are over the threshold for free postage
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Post by xantia sx auto »

thanks for that xac very useful,
So ramps are no good???
and do you only do them finger tight or do you tighten them after with a tool?
hope i can get it undone ok
There isn't a gsf very close to me and they charge too much for delivery that's why i considered the ebay one and it also has a 2 year guarentee and the seller has brilliant feedback
it's item number
310214715947
have a look and see if it's any good then i can buy it and hopefully it'll be here soon

cheers
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Post by xantia sx auto »

xantia_v6 wrote:Get your accumulator from GSF, add in an anti-sink sphere (it is probably also flat), then add in a couple of filters or a set of bright headlamp bulbs, and you are over the threshold for free postage
Don't really fancy doing the anti sink one!!! I heard it's nothing to do with stopping the car sinking and is just for rear breaks and they work ok so was just gonna try the accumulator as it looks easier!!!

if i do get the anti sink where do i get the little pipe seal thing from as citroen dealers didn't know anything at all, he didn't even know what a sphere was!!
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Post by CitroJim »

xantia sx auto wrote: if i do get the anti sink where do i get the little pipe seal thing from as citroen dealers didn't know anything at all, he didn't even know what a sphere was!!
Your old friend GSF...


453PC0470 PIPE SEAL 4.5MM LHM TYPE 4.5MM PIPE SEAL BX;XM;XANTIA;CX;GSA LHM 0.65


Citroen dealers are beginning to forget the old hydraulic models now... They've been out of production for ten years now and that's a long time in dealer years...

Sadly, few too know how to repair them either...
Jim

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Post by Xaccers »

GSF have a store over in Pompy, off Eastern Road by St Marys.

Running with any flat spheres is a bad idea, as jim said they absorb pressure spikes.
The A/S is a safety item and after the front corner spheres, probably the easiest to change.
It may have nothing to do with stopping the car sinking, but it does have something to do with stopping the car!
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Post by xantia sx auto »

I thought citroens still did hydraulics as i saw one on topgear, don't tell me they've gone back to leaf springs!!!!!???
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Post by Xaccers »

xantia sx auto wrote:thanks for that xac very useful,
So ramps are no good???
and do you only do them finger tight or do you tighten them after with a tool?
hope i can get it undone ok
There isn't a gsf very close to me and they charge too much for delivery that's why i considered the ebay one and it also has a 2 year guarentee and the seller has brilliant feedback
it's item number
310214715947
have a look and see if it's any good then i can buy it and hopefully it'll be here soon

cheers
If you've got secured ramps and you're ok driving up on them, then they're fine, but I find axle stands easier and safer.
Remember the car can do the lifting for you, something to remember should you ever have to change a wheel:
Set car on high, put jack up to jacking point by flat tyre, slacken wheel bolts, set car on low, watch in amazment as wheel is lifted up for you to remove and replace. Point and laugh at people who have to get hot and sweaty jacking their cars up all the way :D

Only do the spheres up finger tight.
If your tool fails, use a cold chisel on the weld around the sphere.
1.9TD+ SX Xantia Estate (Cassy) running on 100% veg
1.9TD SX Xantia Hatchback (Jenny) running on 100% veg for sale
Laguna II 2.0dCi Privilege (Monty)

DIY sphere tool
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