Morning all i have a Xantia 1800cc 8v SXI N reg 1995, i have noticed in the past couple of weeks the front suspension gardually getting harder and harder, and is getting to the point now where im being driven round the bend. I am thinking its the front spheres but i am not sure ive owne the car 3 years now and never had the problem. I would like to try changing these my self but i am not quite sure how, 1 guy told me i have to have the car set to the lowest level to release the pressure undo the spheres and the screw the new ones on and that the suspension system bleeds itself is this true and can anyone confirm for me how it is done.
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Adam0303,
You may want to post this on the "Technical Matters" forum or a kindly Mod may come and move it for you.... ;-)
The hardening ride on the front is almost certainly to do with the front spheres - I had the same problem with my mine about a year ago - not sure how easy they are to change, though the parts can be easily sourced from Euro Car Parts or similar.
Chad.
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Assuming that the ride height has not gone awry (look at it side on with the engine running - does the front look low or high?), then it's almost certainly the spheres. Change them as a pair - they're only about £25 each from German Swedish & French.
With the engine running, set the height to low, wait 30 seconds after it has fully settled, then carefully(!) reach down the front of the engine/gearbox to the pressure regulator (bolted on the front of the gearbox with another sphere attached to it) and find the 12mm bolt sticking out of the front (it's the only 12mm one there, and usually looks like it's not screwed fully home). Undo this 1.5 turns ONLY - do NOT remove it, or you will lose the sealing ball behind it. Wait another 30s for the system to fully depressurise, then switch the engine off.
Now unscrew the spheres using a chain wrench or similar - the fronts are usually easy to get off, but may need a bit of persuasion - do not be afraid to hit them with a cold chiesel on the seam if needs be. Once off, make sure you remove the old seal, oil the new seal with LHM, and fit it to the strut, then screw on the new spheres - hand tight ONLY!. Tighten the bleed screw on the regulator, start the engine and select high. It will take a minute or two to build the pressure up, but then should rise to full height. Cycle the suspension from high to low (waiting for the height to stabilise each time) 3 or 4 times - checking the LHM level on high on the last cycle (the top marker on the float should be between the two lines on the plastic dome).
Finally return to normal height and revel in the revitalised ride.
Probably take about an hour the first time.
--
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Agree with Richard, except that I have always found it easier to loosen the spheers initially with the suspension on max height.
On the minimum, the car sits on its bump stops so takes the weight off the suspension struts. When you try to undo the spheere, the whole suspension strut tries to turn straining the metal fluid pipes. With the car on max height, the struts have the full weight of the car so don't turn. Just chissel the spheers a fraction of a turn undone then let the car down as Richard outlines & complete the job. Don't undo them any more than a smidge on full height for obvious reasons.
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I don't know if it is applicable in this case, but we have a ten year old Xantia which has it original spheres, owing to the fact that several years ago, valves where fitted to all of the spheres to enable them to be repressurised. This was done when the car was quite young (about 3 to 4 years), as I had noticed the ride becoming much firmer, and I had no idea at the time that the spheres do leak gas over a period of time, until the mechanic who services the car mentioned it.
As long as no damage has been caused to seals, etc, by the losss of pressure, this is a labour saving and cheap alternative to fitting new spheres. I have them repressurised about once a year at a cost of about £25.
One question that comes to mind, is why it should be only the front spheres that are affected? Nine years is a long time for a set of spheres and I would expect that all the spheres would be low on pressure by now. In the case of our car, the pressure loss was greater in the rear spheres.
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