The final word in C5 spheres on a Xantia

[xantia_enthusiast]

Hello fellow French car enthusiasts.

I have a '94 Citroen xantia 1.9TD (actually between myself an my father we have 5 xantias ) and I am now facing the the prospect of a complete sphere replacement. I know the front accumulator is utterly shagged (15 second HO pump ticks...) the rear is probably 20 years old as well. The front suspension spheres where borrowed from another Xant...god knows how old they are. The rears where supposed to be new but the whole ride is very...crashy.

I want to change the whole lot at once. I have read that C5 spheres were used on the last run of Xants. I know what pressure the 1.9TD spheres are (400/55 & 400/30) however I cannot find the pressures of C5 spheres ANYWHERE. I want to buy a set of C5 spheres for the longevity and I want to get it right first time.

Can anyone provide recommendations of either which C5 spheres to get or a table detailing their pressure/volume specifications and possibly the best place to purchase them?

[myglaren]

Someone else may be able to furnish better information but AEP Direct are known to be very helpful when supplying spheres and a call to them might be rewarding.
Had a quick look but the sphere volumes and pressures are not indicated on the web pages. There is also the damping factor to consider, which may or may not be significant.

[white exec]

Just lookimg at sphere volume and pressure, eg 400/30 is not enough. You must also get the damping right for each sphere position, eg 400/30/0.7 to take a random example. That last - all important - figure is the damping orifice diameter, and will affect the car's ride and handling dramatically.

The only exception to this are the Accumulator, Hydractive (centre) and Anti-sink spheres, which have no damping fitted to them, so would be written as 450/62/--, for example.

Need to get this right.

[xantia_v6]

I believe that it is a myth (sometimes spread by people who should have known better) that the factory ever fitted C5 spheres to the Xantia.
From 1997, some Xantias were fitted with some multi-layer spheres, but they were never C5 specification.
Modern genuine replacement spheres for Xantias are painted grey, but they are not C5 specification.

[white exec]

And, judging by a recent visit to a large scrapyard here, some repairers obviously fit any old sphere to hpn Citroens!

[hattershaun]

I believe that it is a myth (sometimes spread by people who should have known better) that the factory ever fitted C5 spheres to the Xantia.
From 1997, some Xantias were fitted with some multi-layer spheres, but they were never C5 specification.
Modern genuine replacement spheres for Xantias are painted grey, but they are not C5 specification.

Towards the end of Xantia production slimline (or C5 style saucer) spheres were fitted to the rear of some cars.
I've seen a year 2000 Activa with them.

They are shown in Citroen Service, with separate part numbers and pictures.

I don't believe the slimline sphere were ever fitted to the front of a Xantia.

As for retrofitting C5 spheres to a Xantia, I don't think I'd bother trying to guess the specs to use, so would get a complete set of new 'green' standard spheres from IFHS (The Sphere Shop) or one of the other sources.
Get the correct ones for your car's engine/spec (I.e. Hydractive or non-hydractive) and the ride comfort will be transformed back to how it was intended, that lovely wafting float.

[white exec]

Have noticed that a good few of the parts diagrams in Service.Citroen are "generic", and are shared between varied models and across years. So a drawing of a sphere shape etc there does not necessarily mean it was ever used on that particular model.

Agree about getting the spec exactly right. Pretty much true that the OE sphere line-up cannot be bettered. Wheel (corner) spheres are the easiest to overlook*, and are totally responsible for the Firm ride. If this goes awry (spheres down on gas pressure, for example) then the ride is wretched.

* Simply because if the Soft ride is OK, then much on-tarmac driving can be pretty acceptable and enjoyable. It's only when the system switches to Firm (fast corner, ridge, hump or nasty pothole) that your teeth drop out. Put the corner spheres back into good order, though, and the Soft ride improves too, as this is 'shared' between all three spheres per axle.

[xantia_enthusiast]

I believe that it is a myth (sometimes spread by people who should have known better) that the factory ever fitted C5 spheres to the Xantia.
From 1997, some Xantias were fitted with some multi-layer spheres, but they were never C5 specification.
Modern genuine replacement spheres for Xantias are painted grey, but they are not C5 specification.

Oh, for shame. I was hoping for some of that long lasting modern sphere action.

My car is the non-hydractive model. I would get another xant with hydractive but I have just replaced the rear suspension pivots & discs and I want to get my moneys worth! I even modded the new pivots with grease nipples I hope they will last me to the mythical 400k miles!

Thank you for the pointers. If anyone does have the specs on C5 spheres, I am still very interested to know!

[chinkostu]

Don't Saucer spheres have a different thread?

If you want awfully soft go for the spheres they stuck on early 1.6/1.9d models (not the td!) As they're higher pressures and softer. I'm tempted to jam some on the front of mine!

[CitroJim]

Don't Saucer spheres have a different thread?

Yes, but an adaptor was available...

I once had a very late HDi Xantia and that had a saucer fitted as the rear centre hydractive sphere. That one has the same thread as normal Xantia green spheres...

Judging on the looks of it and the difficulty in removing it I'd say the saucer was an original factory fitment...

When tested it was still good too so they do last...

[white exec]

Interesting, Jim. When I pulled the two hydractive valves off a 2001 Xantia recently, the rear one had a grey mushroom sphere attached, and was standard old-style thread. Rusty, too, so maybe original as well.

[Stickyfinger]

Remember the Sphere adaptor I gave you Jim ?, maybe a photo ?