Xantia Original or Amtex Spheres\Airbag light

tony42 · Post by **tony42** » 19 May 2004, 17:05

Maybe this has been answered already but here goes anyway.
What differences are there between Original and Amtex spheres
Is Ride quality the same? Is it softer/firmer? Do originals last longer? Will I get 40-50,000miles from Amtex spheres?
Airbag light comes on when car is driven hard. i.e heavy prolonged acceleration in low gear to clear exhaust. Turn car off and it resets.
Previous owner got it checked and main dealer is suggesting a rolling contact behind the steering wheel. The connector under the seat seems ok except for a bare cable which doesnt seem to be attached to anything?

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 19 May 2004, 18:49

Cant help on the spheres as I've got Al-Ko ones.
Does this help with the airbag?
http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... IC_ID=6830
Jeremy

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 19 May 2004, 19:30

Spheres begin to lose their gas even as they sit on the warehouse shelf. I've just fitted its third set of spheres to my Xantia and I couldn't detect any difference between original Citroen and Amtex, (apart from the price!!!)

np · Post by np » 19 May 2004, 20:03

My airbag light started coming on intermitantly last year.On/off on/off,till about a month later it stayed on.Took it to a Citroen specalist who diognosed SLIPRINGS in steering wheel.The metal bands that make the contact.Cost about £100 to do,about an hours labour.
The airbag wont go if in you face,or anything nasty like that.It just wont work in the case of an accident if light is on.

tony42 · Post by **tony42** » 20 May 2004, 03:01

Had the car in with my trusty mechanic. Checked airbag and as np sayes below the rolling contact in steering wheel was showing faulty. But also the airbag light and the switch under the seat. He reckons if contact is replaced it will clear fault. Thanks Jeremy. Going to see how it goes and when it comes unbearable i will get it replaced.
Thanks JohnD i think i will be chancing the Amtex spheres. The originals cost €75-80 here while amtex are priced at €38. Bit of a difference. Has anyone else had experience with these or have a different opinion? Thanks for the reply.

Dave Burns · Post by **Dave Burns** » 20 May 2004, 03:27

Hehehe Citroen specialists that diagnose sliprings as the fault don't seem too smart, there is no such thing as slip rings in the rotary connector, contact is permenant and is provided by a coiled up ribon cable, if anything goes wrong with it its because a wire in the ribon has broken.
More often than not its the seatbelt pretensioner cable connectors under the seats.
Dave

David Goddard · Post by **David Goddard** » 20 May 2004, 04:05

The steering wheel rotary connector may well be repairable. It's likely that one of the two ribbons will have broken at the terminal point (mine did) and was easy to solder. Never failed again!

David Goddard · Post by **David Goddard** » 20 May 2004, 04:17

Just checked the prices for the air bag rotary connectors - cost £75 (or £100 if the steering wheel has remote radio controls! ) Worth a go at repairing.

tony42 · Post by **tony42** » 21 May 2004, 04:02

Mmmmmm Well I Suppose i have to be careful. Went to school with my mechanic he may check this forum so i will have to give him the benefit of the doubt. He is inadvertently curing the problem as i presume the ribbon cable comes with these slip rings or rolling contacts or whatever they are called.
Typical Citroen I got my TDC sensor replaced and the tacho is now fine. 1 day later the speedo gives up! Whats the story with this. Is it another sensor? Is it easy to fix?
Why cant Citroen copy the build quality/seats of a Volvo 940 and marry it to their suspension system. Utopia but as we all know you cant reach utopia as then you would be bark raving mad.