Bleeding and flushing the lhm circuit

Actirouge · Unread post by **Actirouge** » 21 Oct 2015, 22:57

HI all,

I am a new owner of a 1998 2.1td red Activa with 210,000 kms on the clock I am her 3rd owner and she has been really looked after. But she takes a long time to lift at the back and drops slowly when parked sometimes more on one side. After looking through many topics I have come to the opinion that maybe my LHM circuit needs to be flushed out for me its the cheapest first hit rather than replacing whole sets of spheres the system is really dry and there are no leaks. But I have no clue/cannot find exactly how this is done. Also are there any filters in the system and if so what their part numbers are. When she driving she great but sometimes she gives a little Activa shuffle at the lights I have greased the guides on the front which improved things but I am going to order a set of replacement guides.
Also dashboard lights, I have a couple not working....are they replaceable units or soldered on?

She's a great car and I really want to get her up to spec.....though hopefully without spending a fortune...

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 22 Oct 2015, 15:28

Welcome to the forum

In my long experience of Activas, they all tend to be slow to rise and fall at the rear and also do tend to go sideways up occasionally. I once spent many weeks trying to find out why and even resorted to cleaning the height corrector and other fruitless activities..

Therefore I reckon it's more or less normal..

Have a look at this article that deals with changing spheres, LHM, flushing and bleeding:

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... 22&t=24595

It'll show you most of what you need to know and yes, there are two fine filters in the LHM reservoir that can get quite dirty and restrict flow.. I'd also recommend a Hydroflush to clean the system right out.

Panel bulbs are swappable.. They're type 286 12V 1.2W wedge bulbs. Buy at least 30 to do the whole dash...

This thread may help give advise on bulb replacement:

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =3&t=53198

Hope that helps...

Actirouge · Unread post by **Actirouge** » 23 Oct 2015, 10:57

Thanks Jim,

Just what I was looking for, now just to verify I have a phase 2 Activa to get to the dashboard lights do I have to take of the steering wheel to get access?
Also I live in France near Poitiers, hence the 2.1td version I've been to my local Citroen dealer and ordered a set of guides for the front end but when I asked for some Hydroflush/Hydroclean/Hydrorinçage he said it was no longer available. I've looked on line and i'm not finding many references of places to buy it.....any ideas.

Thanks Jason

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 23 Oct 2015, 12:13

Hi Jason,

No, luckily with a S2 Xantia, no need to remove the steering wheel

You are lucky there to have a choice of Activa engines... Here in the UK we only ever had the TCT, hence the V6 Conversion I'm undertaking!

I do believe Hydraflush is still available from Total... I must admit I've not looked in the very recent but not so long ago it was. Can you check with a Total distributor direct rather than a Citroen dealer?

Stickyfinger · Unread post by **Stickyfinger** » 23 Oct 2015, 13:01

Hello fellow Activa owner....welcome

I have a LHD French Activa as well, it has emigrated for tax reasons however

Unread post by **myglaren** » 23 Oct 2015, 16:16

Is this any help?

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 23 Oct 2015, 16:52

myglaren wrote:Is this any help?

Excellent find Steve

Actirouge · Unread post by **Actirouge** » 24 Oct 2015, 12:51

Thanks a lot people .......going to get the flush ordered, now for bleeding the brakes I don't have ramps but I do have stands, so can I just take off one wheel at a time and bleed it ? Also is there a post with the procedure for getting at the dashboard lights and the heater control lights ?

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 24 Oct 2015, 13:15

Yes you can bleed one wheel at a time in the manner you describe... note that to bleed the rears weight needs to be on the remaining wheel or no lhm will be released... In other words, thevrear suspension must be under load and not floating free in the air.

Not sure if there is a guide to doing the panel bulbs but it is different betwen s1 and s2 models... I've never done an s2 so can't really help on that... I only really know s1 models....

Unread post by **myglaren** » 24 Oct 2015, 14:13

Jim, shoot me down in flames if this is nonsense but can't you bleed the brakes with the suspension locked to max height and both/all wheels removeded?
Years since I had a Xantia but I seem to remember doing this on the GS.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 24 Oct 2015, 19:47

myglaren wrote:Jim, shoot me down in flames if this is nonsense but can't you bleed the brakes with the suspension locked to max height and both/all wheels removeded?
Years since I had a Xantia but I seem to remember doing this on the GS.

Yes, but the flow of LHM is only a trickle in my experience Steve.. You get more flow if you can keep the rear under some decent load when bleeding... This is due to the way the brake pressure is automatically regulated by the load on the rear due to the rear brakes being fed from the rear suspension. More load more brake pressure available.

It only applies to the rears and not the fronts... They are fed direct from the pressure source.

Hell Razor5543 · Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 24 Oct 2015, 19:52

When I bled the rear brakes on my BX and Xantias I always had one wheel supporting the weight on its' side. Never had a problem with the flow (unless the pipe came off, that is. Then the nipple was tightened up in a hurry!).

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 24 Oct 2015, 19:54

Hell Razor5543 wrote:When I bled the rear brakes on my BX and Xantias I always had one wheel supporting the weight on its' side. Never had a problem with the flow (unless the pipe came off, that is. Then the nipple was tightened up in a hurry!).

Exactly James, precisely how I do it. That one wheel on the ground is load-bearing and loads the suspension up sufficiently for a fair flow of LHM.

Actirouge · Unread post by **Actirouge** » 25 Oct 2015, 11:07

Ok sounds good for the bleeding of the LHM system once the flush arrives. I'm going to fit the new front guides while I've got the wheels off for the brakes. And as for the dashboard I'll try looking around the French forums or just have a crack myself.......I'll post a method for the dash on the phase 2 once it's done.....

Thanks again everyone, catch up with you all in a while..

Jason

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 25 Oct 2015, 12:09

Jason, the basic method is to remove the steering wheel cowls after putting the wheel into its lowest position and then remove the switch panel below the instrument cluster. This means finding all the screws and disconnecting every switch and the clock.

Some screws are hidden under the radio surround...

Then three screws removes the instrument cluster..

The heater panel bulbs can be replaced after removing the radio and then removing the top cover of the hear control panel... Then the bulb holder can be removed but the heater levers have to be in the right positions to allow the holder to lift out...

That's the basics of it...

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Bleeding and flushing the lhm circuit

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