Date stamped sphere's??

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Jshodgson
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Date stamped sphere's??

Post by Jshodgson »

I have just looked at my 2 green front speheres above the front struts and noticed they have what looks like a date stamp (04/01). I have just bought the car, is this likely to be a date stamp, and if so can I presume therefore that the front 2 sphere's have been changed since April 2001?
If this is the case would they need changing again now? I don't know how mwnay miles the car has done in the last 3 1/2 years.
My haudraulic fluid looks clear and green.
Thanks
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

You dont change spheres based on a time or mileage scheme.
You go by the feeling of the suspension. If it is hard - does not resemble the "Citroen feeling" - then change the spheres.
Testing is easy :
Have engine idle, height control lever in normal, handbrakes on.
Now press down each corner of car. It should feel nice & sofr to press down - like any other car.
Any corner that seems NOT to give under your pressure - will have a flat sphere.
Then you go change BOTH spheres on same axle.
The hydraulic system test goes as follows :
Have engine idle, height contol lever to MINIMUM height, handbrakes on.
Now the pressure regulator (pump) should emit those wellknown Citroen heart beats (ticks) with an interval of at least 30seconds. The longer the better.
Less than 30 seconds down to some 10-20 seconds, means the accumulator sphere (on engine block) must be replaced.
Read more basics here :
Citaerobics
LHM fluid service
tomsheppard
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Post by tomsheppard »

Yes, that is the build date. Although it is commonly reckoned that spheres last about 3 years, the likelihood is that if you bought "new" spheres, they would be a year old already.
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Post by Kowalski »

The new spheres I've bought generally have bought that have had dates on them tended to be recently manufactured, maybe I've been lucky.
Spheres generally last 3 years / 60,000 miles as a maximum. I've not had spheres that lasted longer than either of these milestones, I've had remanufacured spheres that did last anywhere near as long as this.
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Post by alexx »

Interesting.
On my front spheres, there's a number 96199318 8-086. First part is a Citroen product code for multilayer front non-hydractive sphere 450ccm/50bar. Second part is a date, meaning 86-th day of '98
It's similar on other spheres
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Post by JohnD »

I fitted new GSF spheres in May 04. The date on them is 18-03-04. Can't get much fresher than that!
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Post by bernie »

Just checked the accumulator sphere I bought today, dated july 04
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Post by john alexander »

Has anyone used ALKO spheres, are they any good?
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Post by Stempy »

The date (if indeed that's what it is) on my front corner spheres says they're only a year old, but having recently changed all the others I realise that they too are knackered. 'Spose I should have done them anyway. At least they are the easiest ones to do.
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Post by NiSk »

O.K. you sceptics! HOW long can a Citroën sphere last??
I was pretty sure that I still had the original spheres on my '93 XM TD12 - well, I've just been out and read off the date codes:
R.H. Front: code 96087008, date 3 - 148, L.H. Front: same code, date: 3 - 125, Accumulator (which was swopped last year for an sphere with an in-situ refilling valve fitted) code "Stamped" U printed 5451376 date 1 - 252 !!!
And they work perfectly (all are fitted with refill-in-situ valves).
Bad news for sphere salesmen I'm afraid.
//NiSk
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Post by nick »

Our '83 A reg BX still had all its original spheres and LHM until about 1997, only then did the ride quality begin to noticeably deteriorate and I changed them all & replaced the fluid. The car had covered about 40k by this stage, for a couple of years it only did about 50 miles per year according to the MOT certificates!
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Post by nick »

....I have wondered if spheres actually have a longer shelf-life when fitted to a seldom-used car like ours than they would if they were still in the box in a warehouse for example?
Even after several months of the car being parked up, the hydraulic circuits will probably retain a certain amount of positive pressure, which will act against the diaphragm in the spheres and help to prevent the nitrogen on the other side leaking through.
A sphere in storage will only have atmospheric pressure on one side of the diaphragm, so the nitrogen on the other side will be able to leak through more easily.
Just a theory......!
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Post by bxbodger »

My rears were last done in 97, and are still comfy!! I did the fronts not long ago with Alko spheres which seem OK.
They should last a lot longer than they actually do-Hydragas spheres, although at a lower pressure, never go flat, and are indeed not even replaceable without changing the whole displacer unit and they will outlast the car they are fitted to, and are still usable after years of lying in the scrappie!! There are Allegro's and Princesse's running about which are getting on for 30 years old which have never even had the fluid changed.
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Post by AndersDK »

Although similar construction - the Hydragas units are different from Citroen spheres.
The problem with Citroen spheres is the N-gas diffusing through the nitrile rubber membrane. It is not actually leaking - it's down to the molecylar basics.
It may certainly help having the spheres fitted on a pressurised system - as then the pressure difference over the membrane is nil - because of the equilibrum reached.
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Post by bxbodger »

But Hydragas also uses nitrogen- it must be down to the rubber type used.
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