Dowty Seals work!!!!!

[citroenxm]

Woow.. chris..

I noticed the unions are a largef size with 3.5mm type pipes.. but i have not removed any to look at closer.

I took your unions out of the xantia struts!! Wait till you see what i have on the other thread...

[c.morewood]

Great news.. you don't have to remove the rear cylinder to fit a dowty seal. I've just fitted one on "T" Ecohouses old mk2 TD using a multi tool to cut the ridge off and the sander to sand away any ridges. This means that you can do a seal in about 2 hours!!
Remove the old sphere, loosening it on "high" before lowering to low and depressurising.
Pack tissue into the cylinder to stiop any debris getting in.
Clear off all the old LHM.
Using the multi tool use the small blade, for metal to cut carefully away at the seal ridge so that the end of the cylinder is as flat as you can get it.
Then change the head for a sanding one with emry paper on it.
Carefully feel for the little ridges, especially ones that radiate outwards which may lead to leaks.
Use the sander attachment to sand these away and create as smooh a surface as possible.
Smear the surface of the cylinder in a sealant such as blue hylomar or other LHM resistant seal.
Then smear the surfaces of the dowty seal and place it on the cylinder.
Add an extra smear of sealant round the base of the threads on the sphere, taking care not to get any near the opening of the sphere and carefully offer up the sphere to the cylinder, taking care not to cross thread.
Tighten the sphere as much as you can without bending the bracket holding the cylinder.
Tighten the depressurise screw and turn the engine on setting the height to High and tighten the sphere fully using the tool.. you'll need to tighten it slightly more than you would using a standard rubber seal ... and bobs your uncle!!
Time saved ? About 2 weeks

[CitroJim]

Chris, that's excellent news

[citroenxm]

hi Chris.. how has the dowty seals fared since fitting. Long term success..?

what size are the seals.. as I may eventually when I'm a bit better, need yo do this on a C5..

[c.morewood]

Long term success.. no leaks whatsoever.. the spheres have to be done up a little tighter than normal but come away just as easily.. I use a sealant like blue hylomar on the seals as it helps keep them in place when tightening. I think I've got 4 spare sets if anyone else needs a set.

[CitroJim]

That's good to hear Chris

[Dommo]

Hi folks

I've recently had the dreaded corrosion issue around my C5's rear cylinders. In their defence, they were original to the car, fitted 14 years and 150k ago! So it was me that kind of dredged this thread back via citroenxm...

Anyway, I'd pondered about repairing the cylinder using an adapter of sorts, with grooves at both ends to provide a new seal against the cylinder, as well as a new seal for the sphere into the adapter. I'd described this to my brother who's an engineer, and has his own lathe. More often than not I suggest engineering things to him and it's nearly impossible because I don't understand how to use a lathe, but this time I'd suggested something that was doable.

So sure enough with my shoddy description he managed to make this up on my lathe (see photos attached), and it's a great piece of engineering. Most importantly it works perfectly. The one and only downside is that it requires two sphere seals, which is hardly the end of the world.

Over a week later and we are still leak free!

[c.morewood]

Excellent solution! Well done. Does it affect the suspension at all? I guess there must be 50 to 100 ml extra fluid in there to compress. I wondered if it would make the ride better by being slightly softer, like comfort spheres?

[white exec]

That's a very nice piece of engineering.
The extra fluid will not affect the suspension, as the fluid is not compressible. The gas remains the same.

I vaguely remember seeing an advertisement for adaptors looking rather like this, intended for fitting the larger diameter saucer spheres in place of classic spheres, where clearance was an issue.

Found it:
viewtopic.php?p=617033#p617033
via Activa Club, France

[Dommo]

Thanks for the kudos! As Chris says, the fluid simply transfers the energy from the cylinder into the sphere's gas, so there is no difference in terms of how the suspension rides. Interesting link there Chris, it's essentially what we have made isn't it without realising it had already been made!

[Dommo]

I've just realised that the Activa Club version is to allow you to fit a C5 style sphere to the front activa sphere and anti sink sphere locations. Anti sink (and the specific front Activa sphere) use a strange metal pipe connection, so fitting C5 style spheres to all 10 of an Activa's sphere locations without that adapter is not possible.

[citroenxm]

Chris. Could I possibly borrow and post up yur pictures else where. People are asking for C5 struts but I'm advising this method. I'd not want to post them up without your permission..

[c.morewood]

Absolutely Paul..no problem ..any time..anything I can do to help.

[citroenxm]

OK cool. Thanks Chris.,

[c.morewood]

I have 5 left 14 Inc p and p.. ill try to.find the details if anyone wants to order more