suspension question

[dei9]

Hi, as you all know, my hydractive 2 Hdi is a bit high on the front, been underneath with some cleaner and ptfe spray and wiggled the height thing from inside the car, still no joy, now: when i exercised the suspension today it was on low and after a few minutes, fluid came gushing out of the resevoir, clearly overfilled. Now I sucked loads out, dont ask how much, just f'n loads, it was awful. So could TOO much LHM in the system cause the front suspension to be too high, or is it just a matter of having a good poke around down there and maybe adjust that clamp on the anti roll bar a bit? What would be the bad points of having too much LHM? (its nice and clean though, so thats good)

Thanks all, D

[Stickyfinger]

Others will answer....but as always.

..........NEVER go under the car without it SUPPORTED esp if you are messing with the height adjusters....it can easily kill you if it wishes to..


Just the standard reminder, sorry if its teaching egg sucking

[dei9]

Nah, it's OK, I fully appreciate the warning and it is never a bad thing to remind myself and everyone else, I do know why (fiddling a bit of the height corrector can make a big change and sometimes a sudden one unexpectedly).

At the moment I'm wondering how the hell I'm going to do the height correction since I haven't got access to a car lift or a pit, i COULD drive it up a ramp, but that is not the correct way to do it (as the car isn't level), they ramps are high enough to do the job as i've done it before on these ramps and i'm still alive (it did drop to the bottom too).

Hmmm... maybe ramps it is, just so I can get some indication, the front is so high it looks like a 4x4, and I suspect the rear is a bit low too, but that may correct itself (go higher) when the front drops a bit.

But my biggest question really is, does too much LHM in the reservoir cause the front to be too high in some weird way, I can't see how, but you never know, it's a french design after all.

Thanks.
D

[Mandrake]

I've never had access to a pit or hoist to do a height adjustment - I adjust it with one end of the car driven up on ramps.

It makes no difference to the adjustment or functioning of the height correct the car being on a slope, it just makes the measurement a bit harder. (The two ends of the car are completely independent by the way)

I measure the height on level ground before starting to determine how far out it is and in what direction. I then measure from the top of the wheel arch on the wing through the centre of the wheel with my measuring tape hooked over the bottom edge of the wheel rim.

I then work out what this measurement SHOULD be if the height was correct (eg adjust for the error) then drive the car up on ramps. While making the adjustment I do the wheel arch to wheel measurement.

When I'm finished I then drive it back down onto flat ground and confirm the ground clearance measurement and repeat if necessary.

[citroenxm]

Tank level UNLESS TOO LOW has nothing to do with height..

Height is sorely and solely controlled by the "Height Corrector" hence the name..

Both levers on the height corrector bracket should both be very free and smooth in operation to move!

If theres any stiffness then you will always get a height issue..

[dei9]

Well, the slider moves ok from inside the car, maybe a little bit stiff? but my guess is that if it goes up and down from lowest to highest on the front then it should settle fine at 'a' normal set height right? The only problem is access to the height corrector in the front, it's kind of obscured by it's own cage isn't it. I'll ramp her up tomorrow and disconnect the dog bone (or loosen the manual height corrector rod?) and have a free play see if it is stiff before meddling with the clamp. Thanks again, and merry crimbo Paul.

[citroenxm]

he lever in the car will ALWAYS work perfectly, this is because each end of the lever rods are attached to SPRINGS to soften the action between the lever and the Height Corrector! So assuming the lever is ok means the levers on the cradle are ok is false and incorrect.

you NEED to get the car on a Ramp and then look at the two levers more closly!!

Its sticking in the middle, but as you ram the lever to max height or max lowest it forces the corrector levers to max direction either way ...

[dei9]

ahh yes or course, i get it now!
do i really want to be under the car on xmas day? (well it's raining on boxing day isn't it) meh!

[dei9]

Right, been under,Ii felt the height corrector wasn't seized, so off i went to adjust the clamp on the anti roll bar, however, upon checking the clamp on the rod, the screw doesnt hold, i.e it needs a bolt on tbe top because the thread seems cross threaded (the female thread on the clamp), so it doesn hold. Which might exlplain why it foesnt work. My guess is the manual rod needs setting first? Then the clamp on the antiroll bar?
Also, which way does the needle in the.height corrector go to drop the car?
Thanks, D... how's everyone's xmases?

[citroenxm]

NOPE DO NOT Touch the manual Rod!

You only set the correct height on the Clamp!! Thats all!

[Mandrake]

If the thread in the roll bar clamp is stripped or cross threaded and no longer holds you need a new clamp!

Still available from Citroen, about £25+vat. Seems unlikely that it could be cross threaded, more likely it has been over tightened and stripped. They don't need to be super tight, just normal hand tightness with a spanner or small ratchet.

[dei9]

it's the nuts thats cross threaded, just noticed now, can you tell me about the positioning of this rod in the clamp? any clues as to where it needs to be?
so tomorrow i'll under the car again sorting that out, and then the clamp, annoying!

[Mandrake]

There's no nut on the roll bar clamp for the height corrector, so you must be confusing it with something else...

The clamp is a two part casting with a hinge on one side and a bolt on the other side. The rod between the clamp and the plastic dog bone link is supposed to be welded to the clamp - sounds like yours might be broken...

[citroenxm]

Item 3 is attached by item 6 to the bottom lever by a pop joint!! Item 1 is the front Assey, no.2 the rear assey...

Theres NO need to play with the manual Rods, the connection is made by the plastic dog bone..

Have a GOOD look above!

[dei9]

What I meant was the bolt that holds it (sorry, i meant bolt, been a long day).



Item 70 that goes into item 4, which of course doesn't hold well enough, won't allow the centre point to be set because it slides in place at the height corrector, thus messing everything else up.