C5 X7 Hydractive 3+ Possible Fault

[EDC5]

Great, I've got some rust converter and zinc paint, should I do the same to the actual spheres or is the surface rust just fine?

[Stickyfinger]

I did not bother about the spheres......I did make sure the joint between the sphere and the HA block was cleaned back and all the white oxide removed before waxing it however.....I never paint Alloy, only wax as paint traps moisture in the oxide layer. Paint does however bond to steel (as we know) so do paint that before waxing.

[EDC5]

Just a follow up: Yesterday I drove over about 10 quite aggressive speed bumps on a single track road in normal mode, after cresting every bump there was a bang just before the front suspension took the whole weight of the car. It didn't feel as bad as it sounded.
On my way back over the same piece of road I set the suspension to 'Sport' and it was much better, the suspension took the descent well, no noise and a much more comfortable experience.

I've seen a few threads on a few forums complaining about this banging when the front suspension suddenly becomes unloaded.. so I assume it's normal.
I'm just wondering if other members have had any luck changing the central spheres although as I mentioned in a previous post i'm probably being a little keen to replace something when in all likelihood it's normal behaviour.

[GiveMeABreak]

Mine does it on some hard speed bumps too. I just live with it, but agree the noise can make you sit up and think "oh crap"

[EDC5]

Haha, seems like one of those "live with it" type things. I'll probably leave it permanently in sport mode.
Does this mean that effectively I'm running a Hydractive "3" and not a "3+" ?

[GiveMeABreak]

Almost. It just means that the sports mode will be in effect for longer.

[EDC5]

Almost. It just means that the sports mode will be in effect for longer.

Yeah, sounds perfect to me.

"Just like on its predecessor, the Sport setting does not mean constant hard mode, just lowered, more sensitive thresholds for the switching."
Just read that the sports button only changes the thresholds for hard mode and is not constant. http://citroen.tramontana.co.hu/en/susp ... dractive-3

[GiveMeABreak]

Correct, and personally I use Sports mode more frequently where I am because of the meandering country roads - even at lower speeds, which saves being thrown side to side all the time. Back in the civilised world, it's fine on normal setting.

[EDC5]

Just a follow up to the possible fault angle....

Whilst I was changing the gearbox oil today something bad happened.

I was lowering the car down from the car lift when I saw this...



Not good.... It appears to be vastly overfilled... good job I loosened the cap

After it stopped overflowing the tank was full to the brim



I then went on Diagbox and selected the option to "check suspension level"... it then depressurised the system where even more LDS overflowed out onto the floor

After it had finished and the body was literally on the floor I used a sort of douche ( ) to suck out the LDS until it was level to the bottom of the filler basket.

I took the car for a drive and the ride seems much softer and more 'magic-carpety'... which is odd as It's only a reservoir.

So.. yeah, I'm guessing the previous owner just filled the tank far too high.... hope no damage has been done, however about a pint of LDS has been lost into the engine bay wall unfortunately.

[myglaren]

Mine is too full too, has been since before I bought the car.
Haven't had any problems and keep meaning to fix it.
May even do it one day

[Hell Razor5543]

There is a known issue in that, if you do not loosen the LDS cap before lifting up a C5 (in a way that suspends the wheels) it can cause issues with the reservoir. Unfortunately Citroen do not make this clear. It is possible that you may now have air in the system.

[EDC5]

There is a known issue in that, if you do not loosen the LDS cap before lifting up a C5 (in a way that suspends the wheels) it can cause issues with the reservoir. Unfortunately Citroen do not make this clear. It is possible that you may now have air in the system.

Luckily I'd remembered to loosen the cap before lifting, upon lowering the car back to ground it decided to lower itself to it's lowest setting (by that I mean retract the suspension rams).. thats when the fluid started pouring out.

[EDC5]

Mine is too full too, has been since before I bought the car.
Haven't had any problems and keep meaning to fix it.
May even do it one day

Haha... I'm sure it'll be fine as long as you don't depressurise the system with the cap securely on!

[Hell Razor5543]

When I had the front tyres on my C5 replaced I had already removed the cover, and before they jacked her up I raised her to full height and loosened the cap. The tyre fitter looked a bit amused, but when they fitted the wheels and lowered her back down she remained at full height (the fitter said that normally they had seen C5s drop all of the way down). He said he would try to remember that trick in the future for when they did other C5s.

[EDC5]

Hmm that’s interesting I'll let any garage know in future if they will be lifting the car.
From the sounds of it I think lowering them down can shock the poor little C5 into pissing its LDS back into the tank... and that’s when you know if it's overfilled or not

Does the colour of the LDS look OK? I'm wondering if the previous owner has overfilled it with normal power steering fluid or something