Xantia V6 low rear end. Dogbone falling off

[dunk]

Hi, At Lunch time at work today the back end of my xantia failed to rise if anything it had sunk, so I put it up on high to see if it was anything obvious (was fine on the way to work) I noticed that the small plastic bar with a socket (dogbone?) on the end had come un-cliped from the ball to which it seemed it should be attached to, with it supported at the back I let it down & was able to get the clip back on the ball, got it off the axle stands & it settled out & all seemed well, took it for a spin & it seemed to work ok came to leave work in the dark & it still seemed ok, but upon arriving home it seemed very bum down again, I've not crawled under it again (dark wet & cold!) but I'm guessing the dogbone has dropped off again? Is there a fix for this? going to get annoying if it keeps dropping off.

Thanks Dunk

[Mandrake]

If the cups on the dogbone look worn a new one may fix it (they're less than a couple of quid) but chances are the height corrector linkage assembly is a bit stiff and rusted which will be putting greater than normal strain on it...in which case you want to lubricate the linkage especially the top pivot with the spring in it with plenty of grease and work it back and forth with the manual height lever.

Another thing that may be wrong is one of the steel balls that the dog bone clips onto may have rusted and significantly reduced its diameter...

[dunk]

Thanks for that, the ball looked clean & shiny with no obvious pitting though probably worth swapping if i can get it out (is that a bad idea to try?), the cup end went on very easily barely needed to push it at all, would have thought there should have been a definite snap when pushing it back on? Is it Citroen dealer for a new dogbone? the linkage joints all look well covered in grease (not sure about the top one), buy the manual height lever I take it you mean the one inside the car?

Dunk.

[Mandrake]

If the ball joint was clean and shiny its probably fine, if the dog bone went back on with barely a push then its badly worn - it should be a good hard snap on fit with quite a bit of force required to get it back on. As far as I know its Citroen dealer only but they are very cheap. (I would get one for the front as well even if you just keep it as a spare in case the front one gives problems in the future)

Yes the manual height lever is the one between the seats - its an easy way to work the suspension and thus the height corrector linkages through their full range of motion helping to free them up and prevent them rusting together and getting seized. It's a good idea to operate it through the full range of manual height settings a few times a month...

[xantia_v6]

I removed, freed-up and lubricated that height corrector mechanism about 18 months ago, so it should not have seized. The dog-bone has never popped off before, but is likely to be worn at that mileage. I would recommend a new dog-bone.

[citroenxm]

Useing the lever in the car to try and free up the leverage will not help you in the slightest IF its siezed badly

This is because the lever in the car is attached to the linkages via a "Softening Spring Arms" attachment.. What happens then is if the linkages are very siezed, then the spring "Legs" around the ends of the lever rods under the car simply take up the lever movment and dont move the linkages.. The only way to free either one (theres two) off is to support the car and manual move them - useually with a screw driver and pleanty of penetrating oil like Plus Gas, and eventually free off...

The other way, as xantia-v6 has said is to remove it from the car once you have tackled the 3x rust Torx 40 or 45 headded bolts that hold it on..

By the sounds of it though, it is simply a worn dog bone clip, a very common problem which is - as you found easy enough to fit.

About 2.60 from dealer IIRC...

[xantia_v6]

Paul, you misunderstood, Dunk now has my old car (the one you haven't driven )which is the one which I freed-up the rear corrector (it was not totally seized, just a bit stiff).

[citroenxm]

I realise that, what I was trying to say, which I was not point at this Particular V6 was that the lever in the car wont help free up a BADLY siezed lickage, however, I know that once linkages are nice and free a bit of Citrobics to the up and lowest settings go a way towards keeping them free..

However, nice soft spheres will help the Auto linkage stay free with back end movments..

I guess I didn't make myself completely clear...