bumpy ride

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IrfanIbrahim
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bumpy ride

Post by IrfanIbrahim »

might be a stupid question but here goes. :lol:
noticed it few weeks ago when my xantia starting to get bumpy when driving along some bumpy highway. when stationary, i tried pushing the car up and down to test the suspension , the front seems to be soft but very stiff at the back. does it mean i need to change the sphere or is there any other problem that i need to consider of before changing the sphere? i think i had changed the back sphere about a year and a half ago.
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by Peter.N. »

Sounds as though you have one or both spheres failed, is it stiff both sides. If its a hydractive could be the centre sphere.

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IrfanIbrahim
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by IrfanIbrahim »

tested on the right side but forget to test on the left. #-o but the bump seems to be on both sides. im not preety sure if my xantia had hydractive but there is a centre sphere on front and back which made a total of 6 spheres. is it consider hydractive? sorry but im totally loss about this car since it was my father's and now im the one who using it. :lol:
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by red_dwarfers »

If you have a hydractive sport button next to the manual height control lever, you have hydractive. If there is no button you have non hydractive. If you only count 6 spheres then you most likely have non hydractive.

If you have non hydractive, before you go ahead and replace the spheres check the ride height. If the ride height is wrong you can easily be fooled into thinking the spheres need replacing when they're actually fine. As a rough guide there should be around one finger width between the top of the tyre and wing at the rear and around 3 finger at the front. Be careful that you don't damage your fingers though!

If you do have hydractive, there are a few other bits and pieces that are certainly worth checking. I don't really understand the system properly yet so I'm not really the best person to advise.

If it does turn out to be the spheres, I think some companies here have a 2 year warranty on them, might be worth checking to see if that's the case with yours.
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IrfanIbrahim
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by IrfanIbrahim »

so its a non hydractive then. seem that the car is not nearby i wont bother checking the ride height yet. :lol: but assuming that if the ride height is not correct will the ride return to normal (soft) after the height is corrected?
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by red_dwarfers »

If the spheres are working, yes.
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by IrfanIbrahim »

lets hope it just the ride height although idk how to correct it by myself..
btw, does the centre back sphere (anti sink? or something) help smoothen the ride? and when did it need to be replace? and for the front mid sphere? sorry for asking alot...
thanks in advance.
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by Peter.N. »

You can tell approximatly by looking at the trailing arms, they should be more or less parrallel with the road. If it isn't hydractive changing the centre sphere won't help.

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Re: bumpy ride

Post by red_dwarfers »

The front middle sphere is the accumulator, it evens out the hydraulic pressure and provides a backup for the brakes. You should hear a ticking noise from that sphere area every so often. If the tick is less than every 30 seconds, the accumulator needs to be replaced. It can be quite hard to hear the tick over the engine noise though.

The middle one at the back stops the car from sinking at the back. If it sinks, it needs replacing.

I should have been clearer, when I mentioned spheres in my previous posts I was referring to the corner ones!
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by IrfanIbrahim »

seems like my xantia accumulator need a replacement then, antisink still working fine.
checked the ride height and seems that the back had 2 fingers gap between the tire and wing. does that make a really much difference to the ride? it is really bumpy and it felt stiff when i push it up and down when stationary. the front had 3 fingers gap though. heres some pic of them.

Image

Image
rear left

Image
rear right

Image
front right
1994 Xantia 2.0I

Keep calm & drive a xantia!
red_dwarfers
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by red_dwarfers »

A couple of fingers either way doesn't make too much difference as you say. Now you can be almost certain that your rear spheres need replacing.

Lovely colour that 8-)
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Re: bumpy ride

Post by IrfanIbrahim »

spheres it is then. thanks!
lovely from the sides but got some minor damage at the front and upper bonnet behind. need a repaint by the end of the year. then it would look awesome! =P~
1994 Xantia 2.0I

Keep calm & drive a xantia!
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