Bumpy Ride Xantia - expensive fix?

hilldweller · Post by **hilldweller** » 04 Aug 2010, 18:33

Hi All

My R-plate Xantia 1.9TD estate which I use for commuting has started giving me a jittery ride. I did some citrobics earlier and noticed that the rear suspension neither sinks nor lifts when I fiddle with the height adjuster.

Anyone think they know what this could be and whether it's expensive to repair? Unfortunately the car may have to go if it's too pricey

Thanks for your advice

John

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 04 Aug 2010, 20:36

so has the rear end gone fully up or all the way down, if so its the dogy bone plastic link between the rear anti roll bar and hight corrector has poped of, the only long term fix is remove the rear hight corrector bracket/mount, work and lube the two turrets on the bracket/mount till they are so free to move the almost swing forward and back just by moveing the bracket/mount in your hand,

its best to fit a new link only a couple of quid from dealer

regards malcolm

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 05 Aug 2010, 15:13

On a more detailed explanation, the Dog bone controls the "Regulated Automatic height" this is shown when the car gradually sinks from normal height after a drive...

However, if the height does not responde to the lever in the car then - as citronut has said - the height controller Mechanisem LEVERS have siezed..

The height controller lever in the car is connected via a Spring C type clip which is designed to smooth out the lever control to the height corrector... so in effect whats happening is the rods under the car are pushing the "Spring" but as the lever is siezed they are not moving and telling the height corrector what to do...

My small point is fitting JUST the Dog Bone clip will not solve the problem, it may help keep the car at the right height, but as above the mechanisem that the height corrector SITS on needs removeing and the two levers freeing up... you can try this in situ

MAKE SURE THE CAR IS ON STANDS OR HIGH RAMPS!!!!!! BEOFRE YOU GO UNDER

Use some good freeing lubricant, WD40, is too slow at the job... work the levers and free them up!!

This is all it is, you should not need to buy any parts, except the 6 quid "Dog Bone" clip...

Paul

hilldweller · Post by **hilldweller** » 05 Aug 2010, 21:20

Thanks chaps, you were right. Cost me £15 to get it fixed.

Post by **CitroJim** » 05 Aug 2010, 21:39

hilldweller wrote:Thanks chaps, you were right. Cost me £15 to get it fixed.

That's good news

What cost you £15?

hilldweller · Post by **hilldweller** » 06 Aug 2010, 19:37

Well the £15 was to have the clip put on but it's since fell off again. I'm selling the car as the fix is too pricey, will post a separate thread for that but if anyone is interested here are the details:

R-plate (98) Xantia Estate 1.9TD

I'm not a mechanic and am not up to the job, plus it's too expensive for me to have done. It's fully serviced with a recent cam belt, a year's MOT and tax, but unfortunately the rear height regulator has seized up. The guys on this forum have offered advice but it's simply beyond me.

If you want photos or details let me know asap please otherwise I'll be forced to scrap it. Shame as it's a good car. Decent enough condition, there's a scratch down one of the rear doors from the previous owner, looks like a car park or post scrape. The aircon also doesn't work, the cam belt bypasses the aircon unit. Accumulator sphere ready for a change, it ticks a bit.

Derbyshire area.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 06 Aug 2010, 19:42

A can of WD40 and spray lube is too expensive?

hilldweller · Post by **hilldweller** » 06 Aug 2010, 20:10

I have no real mechanical knowledge, I took it to a mechanic to have the dog bone replaced and that's now snapped off again. I went underneath and found where the hydraulic linkages pull on something at the back and had a good spray around with wd40 but (probably as the dog bone bit had broken off again- but I didn't know this at the time) it didn't work.

So as a last effort I took it to a Citroen specialist who has quoted me £270 to fix it (height regulator, some linkage stuff, and labour).

Can't afford that and I've already spent a lot on the car this year. If anyone on the forum lives in Derbyshire and thinks they can get it going I'll happily pay them the £50 labour to sort it out.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 06 Aug 2010, 20:32

Flippin' eck that's a rip off unless they're replacing the linkages, and even then it's not normally needed.

This photo is taken from in front of the rear height corrector, facing towards the spare wheel.
The item with the bottom most white double ended arrow is the automatic height corrector linkage.
Dowse the sandwich bit with WD40 or if you can get some, PlusGas.

We hate to see people ditch good cars when the fix is relatively simple, especially when a garage had given a high cost for a cheap fix

hilldweller · Post by **hilldweller** » 06 Aug 2010, 20:41

I used that pic to see what I was doing!

Problem is some of the bits are missing. I did douse the lot in wd and gave the height controller inside the car a good old wiggle, didn't know at the time that the replacement bone had already dropped out so it probably didn't work into the mechanism.

Hmm. I'm wondering now whether to just get another clip put in now everything's soaked in wd40... the garage I took it to were quoting me to replace the whole shebang.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 06 Aug 2010, 21:01

If the car is otherwise sound then keep it, the 1.9TD is an awesome engine (which can run on vegetable oil to reduce your running costs) and Xantias are very cheap to maintain, but they do need that maintenance and many previous owners/garages haven't done it.

So things like the accumulator sphere and the anti-sink sphere don't get replaced, and the LHM doesn't get drained and renewed every 36K or replaced with hydroflush every 72K for 500-1000 miles.

And the rear height corrector mechanism doesn't get lubed so seizes (the front one normally gets sprayed with engine oil through normal driving so doesn't often seize).

Worst case scenario you have to take the linkage unit off and soak it in diesel for a couple of days and try and work it with your hands to get it moving again, or buy a loose second hand one and fit that.

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 06 Aug 2010, 21:02

These things don't usually fail, yes they can stiffen up with crud and
become hard to operate properly and likely wear on the small nylon
dogbone is allowing the link to pop off easily too but the money for
this is modest - as Xac says, you just need to be safely under the car
on ramps working Plusgas (fabulous stuff) spray into the linkages.

Which bit do you believe is missing!?

Andrew

hilldweller · Post by **hilldweller** » 06 Aug 2010, 21:08

Ok I think what I'm best off doing here is to get the car over a pit tomorrow and take a picture. Looking at these images I don't recall seeing anywhere obvious where the dogbone bit should go which makes me wonder if there's been some corrosion.

I would prefer to get the car fixed if possible, but it's standing me at a fair bit of cash this year which is why I'm reluctant to proceed with more garage bills (I'm sure you've all been there).

Will retract my For Sale until we know more, and will post back tomorrow. Thanks for your help so far I do appreciate it.

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 06 Aug 2010, 21:19

The bits you need to focus on are items 4 which links the height corrector
mechanism onto the anti roll bar via a bracket ring and a small lug foot and
item 6.

The item listed number 1 is the front height corrector, the picture shoes the
common parts between both the front and rear height corrector mechanisms.

Andrew

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 06 Aug 2010, 21:29

With the dogbone off, and after soaking the linkage with WD40/PlusGas, try carefully moving the linkage with a large flat screwdriver to help free it.