Xantia rear suspension staying up.

harryb.48 · Post by **harryb.48** » 27 Oct 2004, 20:19

To add to my recent woes,I have noticed while sitting on the tailgate floor the rear suspension rises a couple of inches ,but then stays up until I get off again.[:(]
It worked normally i.e. went back down to normal position ,until recently.I`m sure the answer is in the forum somewhere,or even at the back of my head ,but I`m suffering from brain fog at the moment so I would be pleased if someone could help by pointing me in the right direction.[?]
I did adjust the rear height upwards a few weeks ago - by moving the
h/c clamp on the antiroll bar,but thats all ,except cleaning and freeing - up the mechanism and bleeding the brakes.
Any ideas ?

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 27 Oct 2004, 20:27

When you sit on the boot floor, the car goes down initially. After a little while it will correct its height to compensate for the added load and go to its correct height again (and stay there). When you get out, the car will move up initially, then correct its height, going back down to its correct height. For all of that to happen (both going up and down), you need a source of pressure for the suspension (accumulator sphere or engine running). If the engine isnt running the accumulator sphere will be discharged and the rear suspension will stop compensating.
If your suspension is a bit sticky (i.e. doesn't do the above perfectly), chances are that it needs the rear suspension linkages freeing up and lubricating (and smothering with grease to keep water and muck out). If you've already freed them up once, either you didn't do the job completely or they've stuck themselves up again. Height correctors can (rarely) stick if they get muck inside them (dirt or a piece of rubber seal etc).

Post by **RichardW** » 27 Oct 2004, 20:28

Harry,
Do you actually have a problem...??
Normal should be (engine running): sit on boot, car drops a bit, then a few seconds later comes back up to correct height. Get off, car rises a bit, then after a few seconds drops back to normal height.
Which, from you post is what yours does[8)]

harryb.48 · Post by **harryb.48** » 27 Oct 2004, 20:39

Sorry if I wasn`t making myself clear - the engine is running,I sit in boot ,the back goes down a bit then rises again,but to a higher than normal level,by about 2 inches - and stays that way until I get off- then it falls to normal height.
I actually saw it happen first when I had my trailer attached and a fairly heavy load in trailer it looked to be pumped -up far too high so that the trailer was tail-down.
It seems like a fault to me.!

harryb.48 · Post by **harryb.48** » 27 Oct 2004, 22:02

Richard,and anyone else who`s listening,I`ve just had to carry a heavy load in back of car,had the chance to have a good look at rear height when out of car ,and it was up to about standard intermediate height and stayed that way until I unloaded ,then it went to normal height all round.Front stayed as normal.
So it was actually a couple of inches above normal.

Post by **RichardW** » 28 Oct 2004, 12:49

Well, there's something very odd going on there - but I have no idea what. I'm tempted to say "It can't do that", but it obviously does....[}:)]
The only thing I can think is that the height corrector is partially seized, or bent, or misaligned some how. Even then I am finding it difficult to imagine why it's behaving as you say it is [:o)]
Best thing to do will be to sell it to someone who doesn't have any heavy loads at the time of purchase [:D]

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 28 Oct 2004, 13:20

Harry
I notice that you have adjusted the rear height upwards - this is something that normally should never need doing, so my theory is that the car is actually riding too high now, but the rear HC is partially blocked or the linkage is still sticking.
In the 'sit on boot sill' check, it should compensate in less than 10 seconds in both directions; if not, damper stack in HC is blocked.
HTH

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 28 Oct 2004, 16:35

Damper stack? That sounds like BX technology to me.
The Xantia HCs that I've had apart didn't have a damper stack in them.

harryb.48 · Post by **harryb.48** » 28 Oct 2004, 17:39

Thanks all for the input,so it looks like its out with the ramps again and have a good look at the h/c linkage.

I was never happy that I had to adjust the height upwards - strangely, by that same 2 inches .
So if I can ascertain that the linkage is working ok ,what then - strip and clean the h/c?
The lhm looks clean and green but I know that`s no guarantee that the system is clean so would cleaning it out be the next step?
BTW,the only sphere not changed in the last 3 months is the anti -sink , could this have some bearing on the problem?
Just when I think I`ve got it sussed, another Citroen gremlin strikes!!

harryb.48 · Post by **harryb.48** » 28 Oct 2004, 17:42

Nice one Richard!
Told you I was slow ,just got the joke now!