The front left strut is very stiff.

[Palex12]

Hey everyone, hope you’re doing well!
I’ve got a 2009 Citroën C5 X7 (Hydractive 3+ suspension) with about 251,000 km on it. During a recent technical inspection, the automated checks showed that both the front and rear suspension components were fine. However, the inspector insisted that the front left strut was extremely stiff and advised against driving the car in that condition.

After the inspection, I had the spheres for the front struts replaced, but I didn’t notice any significant improvement. For some background:

The left strut was replaced just 4,000 km ago (this year).
The right strut was replaced 5 years and about 40,000 km ago.
Has anyone here dealt with a similar issue? I’d really appreciate any advice or troubleshooting tips you could share. Thanks in advance!

[Palex12]

For your information, the air-bleeding cycle was carried out and repeated three times.

[Kees]

Just a question, did you notice that problem if you pushed the corners down by yourself, and was there a difference between left/right?
Greetings,
Kees.

[Palex12]

Hi Kees! Thanks for your observation. The difference between them is significant. You can feel it by hand. The right strut moves smoothly and gently compared to left.

[Kees]

Hmmm, this problem was here before in an other post.
I try to help with some advice, but at the end for me the only thing what's left over, was the strut itself. I don't know the outcome, because it was not mentioned here on the forum.
But what you can try is to swap the sphere's from left to right and see if the problem is still the same.
Greetings,
Kees.