Time expired?

[Eroe]

Hi, all has my Xantia estate come to the end of its natural life? Suspension bouncy, turbo out, rev counter gone.....ideas?

[citronut]

well bouncy suspension is usually down to spheres run out of gas,
turbo might be a intercooler pipe/duct off/not secured fully, or for that matter any vacuum hose off or split

rev counter could be a bad connection on the transducer

[chinkostu]

Depends how much you want to spend really. In a non hydro all 6 spheres will be around £150 which is pennies

[Stickyfinger]

6 spheres will be around £150 which is pennies

Not to some.......

[Northern_Mike]

6 spheres will be around £150 which is pennies

Not to some.......

Quite right. It's a fair sum to someone not on a big income these days.

[chinkostu]

Oh god, i meant pennies conpared to springs and shocks all round, plus you could easily cut out the accumulator and antisink if theyre ok.

It is a wedge of money don't get me wrong, but if the rest of the car is cheap to fix itnis worth it

[Eroe]

6 spheres? would I have to replace all? And sorry to be ignorant, but I know about the front two, where do the other 4 go? you mention the accumulator and antisink, how would I know if they are ok? And what is a 'non hydro'?

[Stickyfinger]

Oh god, i meant pennies conpared to springs and shocks all round, plus you could easily cut out the accumulator and antisink if theyre ok.

It is a wedge of money don't get me wrong, but if the rest of the car is cheap to fix itnis worth it

NP...I jumped to soon I think....sry

[chinkostu]

6 spheres? would I have to replace all? And sorry to be ignorant, but I know about the front two, where do the other 4 go? you mention the accumulator and antisink, how would I know if they are ok? And what is a 'non hydro'?

Is it like driving a bouncy castle? With the engine running give each corner a bounce, they should go down and return quite smoothly. There is a sphere for each wheel, plus an accumulator and an antisink, which store a reserve of pressure for if the pump/engine dies

[demag]

Yes it should be fairly easy to push each corner down and there should be a lot of movement especially at the rear. Much softer than a "normal" car. Also if you stand in front of the car with the engine running you should be able to hear a steady click. If it's every thirty seconds or more that is good. If it's every few seconds it definitely means your spheres need attention. If you look in the Lhm reservoir under the bonnet the fluid should be bright green almost fluorescant. If its dark or black that will also need doing. It's possible to bring these back from the brink and get the suspension working quite nicely again.

[xantia_v6]

The anti-sink sphere (behind the spare wheel) provides a pressure reservoir so that the rear brakes will still work for a while even if there is total pressure loss in the main hydraulic system, it is thus a safety item, but there is no easy test to determine its condition. It is best to replace it whenever the rear suspension spheres are replaced.

[Zelandeth]

Really depends on overall condition.

Spheres are essentially a service item and you should be able to do a full set for less than £200, less if you can find a good secondhand set somewhere.

Turbo could well be something simple, but even if it is stuffed that shouldn't be catastrophic if you're reasonably handy with a spanner or know someone who is. Xantias wear their miles remarkably well, and well over 200K while still running like a Swiss watch isn't at all uncommon. 198.5K here and counting, and aside from knowing she's due a timing belt the mileage isn't something I even think about. A lot of these cars get thrown away because people are scared of high milers, hence why mine was for sale for £295 with a brand new MOT. It's sad really, sure a huge number of Xantias end up in the crusher needing naught but a good service!

What sort of miles are you at and which engine is it? Folks here should be able to tell you what to look for.

[Eroe]

Thanks to all, changed front spheres yesterday, actually went ok. Suspension seems ok now. Lots of foamy fluid around when I unscrewed them, any ideas? And noticed after a long run to test, fluid on top of resevoir where I had cleaned off surplus....?
New problem....demobiliser preventing starting. Problem is random, worse when car is hot, sometimes solved by complex routine of getting out, closing all doors, locking the car, and reversing the proceedure. Using car starting to be a bit stressful. Especially at petrol stations!!!!! Again chaps, any ideas?

[Eroe]

Zelandeth, don't want to scrap my car, love the sleek lines and the quirky French thing, but have heard that the electrics start to be the issue. Mines done 187000, stil really tidy, but if she can't pass the serial killer test (starts first time, every time) becomes a worry. 2ltr HDI V reg. Thanks for your support.

[citronut]

Lots of foamy fluid around when I unscrewed them, any ideas?

this is caused by the nitrogen that has leaked into the citro blood, probably the bladder in that sphere has ruptured so dumped all its gas into the system

And noticed after a long run to test, fluid on top of reservoir where I had cleaned off surplus....?

usually this is due to the reservoir being way over filled, with the car on level ground and fully up at its highest setting, the yellow disc should be between the two red bands, your will almost certainly be right up in the top of the sight glass,

the only problem this will cause is a mess on top of the tank/reservoir, as the rubber seal around the tank unit is just a dust seal, and not to hold any sort of pressure at all