Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

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stevestix8
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Re: Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

Post by stevestix8 »

Hi All,

Have fixed my car today.

I went and had a chat with a local citroen specialist and he informed me that the cause for the suspension problems on the back was prob not the spheres because it still goes up and down.

He advised me that the reason it only goes all the way up or all the way down was probably because of the height adjuster. He had a look underneath and showed me the small (white) piece of plastic that had popped out of the ball joint.

He said it can happen if there is a heavy load (like washing machine / tumble dryer with concrete in the base) and it bounces then this can pop the height adjuster out of the ball joint.

Anyway I went to Stroud and worked on it on the drive and managed to pop the adjuster back into position. Now the car sits as it should on all height settings. I have just driven it back and it as smooth as it ever was. Problem solved.

I spent about £80 on the 2 rear spheres and the anti sink sphere, and I didnt even need them. I got a deal on them anyway so I will prob keep and fit in a year or so.

Thanks for any advise,

Steve
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Re: Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

Post by aneesh84 »

Congratulations! I guess you should still be entitled to a return and refund from aepdirect for the spheres if you didnt use them.
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Northern_Mike

Re: Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

Post by Northern_Mike »

stevestix8 wrote:Hi All,

Have fixed my car today.

I went and had a chat with a local citroen specialist and he informed me that the cause for the suspension problems on the back was prob not the spheres because it still goes up and down.

He advised me that the reason it only goes all the way up or all the way down was probably because of the height adjuster. He had a look underneath and showed me the small (white) piece of plastic that had popped out of the ball joint.

Thanks for any advise,

Steve
My advice is to find a different specialist. The spheres can be *totally* knackered all round and it will still happily go up and down. The spheres have nothing to do with the ride height or whether it goes up and down.
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Mandrake
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Re: Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

Post by Mandrake »

stevestix8 wrote: He said it can happen if there is a heavy load (like washing machine / tumble dryer with concrete in the base) and it bounces then this can pop the height adjuster out of the ball joint.
Sounds like a load of BS to me, sorry... ;)

The weight carried by the car has no bearing on whether the dog bone link will pop off or not.

It's caused by one of three things or a combination of them:

1) The cups on the dog bone link wear out and become slack - the dog bone is only made of nylon.

2) The metal balls the dogbone clips onto can rust and reduce their diameter, also making the ball joints slack.

3) The height corrector linkage starts to seize up due to rust so it becomes harder and harder for the dog bone to "push" the linkage, eventually something has to give and the dog bone pops off.

Once it pops off, just pushing it back on won't be a permanent fix - more likely that not it will pop off again. IMO problems 1 and 3 are the most common, problem 2 is less common but can happen in extreme cases of corrosion.

There is supposed to be a felt washer between the dog bone and each ball to keep dirt and water out of the ball joint but they are typically lost by the time they get to this age, especially if the dog bone link has popped off.

I would replace the nylon dog bone links with new ones (only a few quid from Citroen) and see whether the new ones snap on a lot more securely than the old ones - you should find they are a much tighter fit than the old worn ones. Also give the linkage a good grease and work it back and forth to free it up so there is less force being exerted on the dog bone.
Anyway I went to Stroud and worked on it on the drive and managed to pop the adjuster back into position. Now the car sits as it should on all height settings. I have just driven it back and it as smooth as it ever was. Problem solved.
Yes, but not permanently. ;)
Simon

1997 Xantia S1 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive in Silex Grey
2016 Nissan Leaf Tekna 30kWh in White

2011 Peugeot Ion Full Electric in Silver
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Northern_Mike

Re: Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

Post by Northern_Mike »

Mandrake wrote: Sounds like a load of BS to me, sorry... ;)

The weight carried by the car has no bearing on whether the dog bone link will pop off or not.

)
Well, quite. If it had, the dog bones would have popped off mine every time I carried a couple of passengers in the back, given that a washer weighs about 65kgs with the concrete base!
stevestix8
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x 7
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Re: Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

Post by stevestix8 »

Hi,

Suddenly everyone knows about the height adjuster.

I thank the man who yesterday took the time to give me the fix to my problem.

Surely if the spheres are knackered and have lost pressure then it will not go up and down. Anyway for the record the problem is not the spheres.

In my experience there is no such thing as a permanent fix as all things degrade. What this has done is show me that my problem is not the spheres, which was the advice on this forum before yesterday.

Yes I agree that a rusted ball joint may have helped this dogbone pop off but as it happened within a day of me moving a very heavy washing machine plus other stuff then I would be a fool to assume this wasnt part of the cause of the fault.

I will visit the specialist again as he has some trim I have been trying to get, and also they are one of the few places that recycle and can re gas spheres.

Steve
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Re: Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

Post by Xaccers »

If by up and down you mean by bouncing the end of the car then yes flat spheres will give a hard bounce.
However if you mean up and down as in the car's height then that has nothing to do with the spheres.
At both ends of the car are the height correctors which connect via the dog bones to the anti roll bars to provide self levelling and to the control rod that runs front to back for manual height control using the lever between the from seats.
The linkages pull the HC valve forward and back which either lets more lhm flow to the struts raising the car, or less lhm which lowers the car.

The linkages seize up and overpower the dog bone causing it to pop off or in the worst case it causes the arm between the dogbone and anti roll bar to snap.
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stevestix8
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x 7
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Re: Xantia 2.0l H.d.i 110 bhp spheres

Post by stevestix8 »

Thanks Xac and all,

Have fixed it with a new dog bone. I got a new one with clip for a couple of quid. Got the old off and it did look warped. I put the new one in (the metal ball joints look fine, put some vaseline in dogbone sockets anyway) this took some leverage before it nicely popped on to the ball joint. I wd40 the sprung arms and insured movement back and forth. All seems ok and I have done a few miles since and it seems to be holding.

Is nice and smooth again like it should be.

Many thanks and happy christmas,

Steve
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