Bouncing Down The Street

[Mike123]

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Can you help?
My 1.9 TD LX has developed a strange ride characteristic. When driving on fairly smooth roads it bounces quite severely, almost as if it is being driven in the 'high' suspension setting. The effect is not quite as bad as this but uncomfortable nevertheless. And the worse the road, the worse it gets.
I really can't afford main dealer prices to fix this so was looking for any ideas so I might attempt a repair myself. Can you shed some light on what the problem might be? :)

[corkymills]

Hi, Have you tried posting your question at www.andyspares.com/discussionforum/ you are certain to find an answer to your problem there untill we get more interest in this site. I agree with you comment about main dealer prices,what a stinger. Hope you find help with your problem my friend...all the best......corky :)

[Mike123]

Many thanks for the reference to the andyspares site. Your are right of course - the answer was there. New spheres will be ordered but at a fraction of the Main Dealer cost. Thanks again, Corky. :)

2 new front spheres, £40.00, a 12mm spanner and 30 minutes were all that were required (once I managed to loosen the spheres, that is) - no problem! The car now drives and feels as intended.

[Jonnyboy]

My Xantia went in for a service and MOT on wednesday, it had been making a knocking noise from the o/s/f for a while and needed a ball joint. The garage had to wai for the part and so the car wasnt ready until friday. It is now behaving exactly as described in the first post of this thread - im driving down the road bouncing up and down in my seat like im in a mini!
I think the car spent a couple of days on top of a lift with the wheels hanging in mid air, (which will open the suspension to full stretch i think?)
Will this have caused the problem and will it settle down again?
Ive parked the car on its lowest setting for the night in the hope it might help - anyone got any pointers?

[Scipio Africanus]

Hi.

 

I just got a Xantia and I'm thinking the spheres will need to be looked at soon, but could anyone tell me if I'm as well off replacing the whole lot or just replacing the fluid?

 

The marker in the on-engine indicator is up way above the red lines, and the manual isn't too clear about what this may mean. The ride is a lot smoother than my last car but going on what I've heard about Citroens it may be a little harder than it's supposed to be.

 

Thanks in advance.

[stebro]

My Xantia went in for a service and MOT on wednesday, it had been making a knocking noise from the o/s/f for a while and needed a ball joint. The garage had to wai for the part and so the car wasnt ready until friday. It is now behaving exactly as described in the first post of this thread - im driving down the road bouncing up and down in my seat like im in a mini!

I think the car spent a couple of days on top of a lift with the wheels hanging in mid air, (which will open the suspension to full stretch i think?)

Will this have caused the problem and will it settle down again?

Ive parked the car on its lowest setting for the night in the hope it might help - anyone got any pointers?

Hi

Have you tried to reset the suspension? At the front of your engine you will see what looks like a sphere well this is your pump at the side you will see a bolt this needs to be undone 12mm spanner (but undo ONLY A 1/4 turn) this will let all the pressure out of the system watch out as the car will drop right down to the floor when it stops hissing out air tighten it up start the car put the suspension to normal ride height let it go up and give it a drive up the road & see if that works (DON'T DRIVE UNTILL THE RED LIGHT HAS GONE OUT FIRST AS YOU WILL HAVE NO BRAKES!!!!!)

[915tdl]

changing the fluid is not to hard just make sure you keep the head up in the air so that you dont get the main feed to pump full of air as then its alot of faffin about to bleed.red eye meens to much fluid you put it on high allow to settle then the marker on red eye/float should be between the two lines if it's high all that happens is that when you drop suspension down it comes out of overflow and onto floor/engine bay it's hose coming out of filler cap on top.best way to is to unbolt tank jigger it about till you can get it freeish so you can release unit with pipes onit just make sure as you take out you dont tear filter's on edge it can be abit messy.then release filter's clean them and tank with petrol or cleaner or similar clean out blow filter's so clean then reassemble fill tank put on high start engine you can fill tank to top.then the most important you must do is get the wife to bring out some biccy's while you sit back and drink you're tea! :lol: after 10mins it should be up then just topp up as ness then that's it wash down engine bay of any fluid then you're now a fully fledged citroen mec anic or is it moc a nic?

[Guest hedgehog]

Hi

Have you tried to reset the suspension? At the front of your engine you will see what looks like a sphere well this is your pump at the side you will see a bolt this needs to be undone 12mm spanner (but undo ONLY A 1/4 turn) this will let all the pressure out of the system watch out as the car will drop right down to the floor when it stops hissing out air tighten it up start the car put the suspension to normal ride height let it go up and give it a drive up the road & see if that works (DON'T DRIVE UNTILL THE RED LIGHT HAS GONE OUT FIRST AS YOU WILL HAVE NO BRAKES!!!!!)

 

 

I have tried the above tip for reset but my rear suspension is still not right to the point when driving over bumps it continues to bounce down the street.Car was fine until left suspended overnight. You dont say which position to have lever in when loosening 12mm bolt. After loosening this bolt I heard a hiss for a very short period but the car did not drop to the ground as described.Please confirm that the bolt is the one which is facing the radiator. Any ideas ?????