Terminal MOT Failure?

morgaine · Post by **morgaine** » 13 Oct 2004, 14:13

Hi,
My Xantia just failed MOT on loads of little stuff and two things I don't like the sound of at all :-
Nearside front anti roll bar link badly worn
Both front suspension arm rear bushes separated
Are these as bad as they sound? I guess neither is something I could do at home?
Thanks
Morg

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 13 Oct 2004, 14:43

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by morgaine</i>

Nearside front anti roll bar link badly worn
Both front suspension arm rear bushes separated
Are these as bad as they sound?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Both jobs require a certain amount of DIY skills - but 'terminal' - they are not. What else did it fail on?

P 2501 · Post by **P 2501** » 13 Oct 2004, 15:24

Anti roll bar drop links are certainly pretty easy to change.

wrinklet1 · Post by **wrinklet1** » 13 Oct 2004, 15:42

Morgaine,
I would say you have a classic problem caused by the front spheres being flat.
Something has to take the shock when your driving, and if your spheres are flat, the bushes take the shock and therefore wear out, similar action can cause the droplink to fail.
I have done the bushes and the droplinks on a BX and the Xantia is almost the same.
After you have removed the suspension arm, remove the old bush by cutting it away with a hacksaw.
Get a blowlamp and after heating the suspension arm for about 15 minutes, get the new bush and force it in by puting the arm and bush into a vice (you nead heat to expand the metal so the bush goes in easier) The heat wont damage the bush or arm.
Once the bush is in, dip the arm in water.
You will need to do both fron and rear bushes on each arm, because it may cause unusual wear and will fail again quickly.
The drop link is a doddle to do, just undo the top nut and undo the bottom nut (remove this nut) the use a ball splitter to split the ball joint from the suspension arm.
Good Luck
Paul

oilyspanner · Post by **oilyspanner** » 13 Oct 2004, 16:05

I used a mini grinder to cut the wishbone bushes off, just remember the angle they lie at. while the grinder is out of its box use it to chop the nuts off of the drop links too.
Stewart

morgaine · Post by **morgaine** » 13 Oct 2004, 16:21

Thanks guys
Also failed on -
Nearside headlamp has no clear pattern, horn muffled, both front brake hoses split exposing cord, nearside handbrake not working, nearside washer jet not working.

Post by **smashymike** » 14 Oct 2004, 04:07

Bit of a tease eh ... i found this 'funny' after four galsses of wine, much better than the Aber...n v England game!! Thanks.

wrinklet1 · Post by **wrinklet1** » 14 Oct 2004, 13:53

Morgaine,
These jobs may take a little bit of time to do, but they are all simple jobs to rectify, (Try changing the heater matrix, dashboard out job, still have the scars). All cars need jobs doing on them, no matter what make, they just differ from make to make. The Xantia suspension can be wierd/wonderful, but if you go by the manufacturers recomendations, you should change the shockers on a normal car every 3-4 years, and that can be more money than spheres.
The headlamp lense can be replaced on its own,
the horn remove the dead mouse
Brake hoses simple to change, not forgetting to release the hydraulic pressure first
Replace both handbrake cables, fairly simple, may be worth replacing the brake pads while you have the wheels off.
Washer jet, needle job, Pain in the arse as they are always blocking up on my car too.
Give it a go, but have a Haynes manual ready as it tells you how to do all the jobs in detail
Regards
Paul