xantia- rear suspension dropping after starting

carpysmith · Unread post by **carpysmith** » 13 Sep 2010, 20:03

hi everybody,
my 1999 xantia hdi estate (mk 2 with anti sink valve i take it?) rear suspension drops when i start it up (only after it,s stood for a while) it always pumps straight back up within a minute or so and when it is pumped up hydraulic pump "clicks" every 20 seconds or so.
i think i saw an old thread on the forum saying that the accumulator sphere is the problem (does that sound right).
i take it the accumulator sphere is the one in front of the engine in the middle?. what sort of job are they to change? i assume i need to de-pressurise the hydraulics before changing sphere? do i have to re-pressurise/bleed system after fitting or does it pressurise itself?
where would be the best place to get spheres , do new spheres come with sealing rings, and roughly how much do they cost?
sorry if i,m asking lots of dumb questions but this is the first citroen i have owned and hydro-pneumatic suspension is a bit of a mystery at the moment! only paid 150 quid for the car (without mot which has now been done) and so far am well impressed with it (especially the fuel economy!)
thanks in anticipation (great forum by the way!)
regards steve (aka carpysmith)

Unread post by **myglaren** » 13 Sep 2010, 20:31

Before embarking on anything have a good read of this thread, that covers all you need to know about the hydraulics and sphere changing. The questions you pose are all dealt with there.

If the tick rate is as low as 20" then it is in need of changing, the rear one too if it is an hydractive.

Front ones are easy, rear ones can be a bit more of a challenge.

Sam L · Unread post by **Sam L** » 18 Sep 2010, 10:32

Sorry to crash this thred but my car does this always has since i got it and i thought it was normal
i take it it is the accumulater is that at the front middle and would i be better changing all 3 at the back aswell antisink and sheres arent they because i want to keep ontop of all everything

thanks sam

1.9td by the way so theres 3 on the front and 3 on the back

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 18 Sep 2010, 11:15

I think this is generally a symptom of rear corner spheres being a bit duff, but I stand to be corrected. I know that changing the corner spheres stopped this happening on my previous Xantia.

carpysmith · Unread post by **carpysmith** » 18 Sep 2010, 13:52

hi again!
rear spheres were changed about a year ago on mine (not long before i bought it) so i wouldn,t have thought they are kaput already? i,m pretty sure i saw on an old thread that the accumulator sphere is the likely suspect (cant remember how far back it was though)
just got to pluck up the courage to have a go at it now!!
regards steve(carpysmith)

MikeT · Unread post by **MikeT** » 18 Sep 2010, 17:08

Mines stopped dropping at the rear on the startup after replacing the accumulator sphere.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 18 Sep 2010, 17:33

MikeT wrote:Mines stopped dropping at the rear on the startup after replacing the accumulator sphere.

Yep, that will make a difference Mike. Good spheres help the antisink valves close punctually.

Brigsygtt · Unread post by **Brigsygtt** » 18 Sep 2010, 19:42

Mine done this when the rear corner spheres & anti-sink were flat. Might be worth doing all the spheres if they havent been changed in a while.