THOSE SPHERES......

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merlinrocket
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THOSE SPHERES......

Post by merlinrocket »

I have a 1998 Xantia 1.9 turbo diesel. About 7 months ago I had two rear spheres fitted, as the suspension was hard, and the ride bumpy. That fixed it, until recently, when the same happened. That's a ridiculously short life span for spheres. However, there's a complication, in that occasionally the fault disappears, and the ride is normal, and you can push the rear suspension up and down. If you switch the ride to high the rear will go up, but it won't come down when you switch it back, except after a while, and, generally the rear suspension won't rise at all. Also, I had a brake pipe replaced recently, and the brakes haven't been quite the same since. There's a delay when you brake, and then they grab slightly. As the systems are linked I wondered if the problem might be too. Any ideas and information would be gratefully received!
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Deanxm
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Post by Deanxm »

Hi

The brakes sound like they need bleeding badly, it should be done when the hydraulic system is opened up for work to be done, especialy if its on the actual brake circuit.
Air in the system will also cause strange rear suspension behavour.
As far as the hard ride is concerned it sounds like your xant is hydractive and the hydractive valve is not operating properly, this could be caused by a few things but are not usualy a major problem at all. If it is a hydractive xantia there should have been 3 spheres per axle serving the suspension, if only 2 were changed then its likely the most important one has been left and is still giving a harsh ride compared to what it should be.

Hope that helps, sorry its a bit rushed, dinners ready :lol:

D
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KevMayer
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Post by KevMayer »

Which model of Xantia do you have?

Is your Xantia hydractive or not?

Hydractive means it has a button for suspension 'sport' mode.
Cheers, Kev

02 plate C5 2.2 Hdi Exclusive SE (now 170k miles 03/21).

Used to have:- Xantia 1.9 TurboD SX. 1996 Blue & 1998 Silver Activa. + 1992 BX TZD Turbo.
Deanxm
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Post by Deanxm »

hopefully it is hydractive, if its not then given the symptoms it sounds very much like a case of / \ rear arm bearings.

D
XM Prestige PRV6 92
Talbot Express Autotrail Chinook 89
Mitsubishi L200 Trojan 14
Xantia Activa 95, sold (missed)

Service Citroen is awesome, it shows me pictures of all the parts i used to be able to buy............
citronut
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Post by citronut »

as D says air in the brake system, and the suspension fault could just be the hight corector linkage's partly seized,

to only long term fix for the H/C linkage's is to remove them from the car, and work them whilst applying duck oil or a good de/seizing fluid libraly, then apply loads of grease and re/fit to the car

regards malcolm
merlinrocket
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THOSE SPHERES......

Post by merlinrocket »

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. I'm bleeding the brakes tomorrow. I've always assumed that it wasn't a Hydractive, as there is no button.....but there IS a middle sphere at the rear! Does that make it Hydractive? I think I'll see how it goes after the brake bleed. Cheers all
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Post by myglaren »

That's the so-called 'anti-sink' sphere and if that is flat it could have an impact on your brakes.

A bit more difficult to remove than the others, by all accounts.
merlinrocket
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THOSE SPHERES......

Post by merlinrocket »

Well, it's not the spheres at all, but a little linkage near the middle sphere which apparently controls the height adjustment, and which has broken off from the adjusting arm. Looks as though it might be a tricky fix. Anyone know anything about it?
Thanks
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Post by myglaren »

There is a lot of info on that item on the forum.
They are simple enough to replace. The real issue is why it is broken.
This is generally down to corrosion and friction in the height corrector carriage that it links to.
You need to very thoroughly clean and lubricate all the moving parts so everything moves very freely, then replace the "dog bone"

Be aware of the very real risk of the car dropping suddenly. particularly when working on hydraulic components like the height corrector linkages.
The car must be very firmly supported before venturing underneath.

I'll try and link to a thread dealing with your problem but someone else is likely to get there before me.

There is however a very long and quite exhaustive thread on dealing with Xantia hydraulics here that is invaluable to anyone unfamiliar with them.

Edit:
Here is one! There is a more detailed one about the cleaning and refurbishment of the height corrector carriage.
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myglaren
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Post by myglaren »

Found it!
This thread by red dwarfers within this one that is similar to your symptoms.
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