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Car Forum / Citroen Cars / August 2006XANTIA SUSPENSION PROBS-CAN ANYONE HELP
Hello everyone, New to the board, so please bear with me. My Xantia is getting on, and I have recently found the suspension going hard. If I hit a few small bumps in the road together, car becomes a fairground ride!!. I was qouted £180 pounds to have it fixed. Looking through this board, this seems quite expensive, especially when Im not sure the car is worth having this much spent on it. Can get the spheres cheap enough myself, but a little concerned about doing the job myself. Is there anyone in the Manchester area who would be willing to do the job for me for a more reasonable price. Can come to you. Failing that could do with plenty of advice please. I used to do all my own work on my cars, but over the years, the will to do this has got less and less. Do I need to change/flush the LHM? Can anyone give me instructions on how to do this please? Thanks ct76 > Hello everyone, New to the board, so please bear with me. My Xantia is > getting on, and I have recently found the suspension going hard. If I > hit a few small bumps in the road together, car becomes a fairground > ride!!. I was qouted £180 pounds to have it fixed. Looking through > this board, this seems quite expensive 5x£20 = £100 for the spheres alone. £80 for the labour and VAT doesn't seem way out to me, particularly if that includes a change of LHM - 4x£5 = £20, so £60 for the labour and VAT. > especially when Im not sure the > car is worth having this much spent on it. For that amount of money, will you get a replacement car that you KNOW to be better without having to spend any money on it? Now think of the environmental impact of throwing away a perfectly good vehicle for the sake of a small bit of maintenance. (No, seriously, this really pisses me off.) > Can get the spheres cheap > enough myself, but a little concerned about doing the job myself. It's not a huge job - the fronts particularly - but the rears can be a pain. There's a proper tool which makes it far easier. The accumulator should be easy, but can be a squeeze to get to. > Is there anyone in the Manchester area who would be willing to do the > job for me for a more reasonable price. Can come to you. Try http://www.westroen-spheres.co.uk/ > Failing that could do with plenty of advice please. I used to do all my > own work on my cars, but over the years, the will to do this has got > less and less. Do I need to change/flush the LHM? Can anyone give me > instructions on how to do this please? I'd certainly change it, yes. Drop the car to flat, remove the tank, empty it, rinse with petrol, drain - if the fluid was black, do it again. Rinse the filters in petrol. Put it all back together, refill, start, raise/lower/raise/lower. Now bleed the brakes through until clean fluid comes out. Top up. If the fluid was really horrible, then put hydroflush in (from any of the Cit parts suppliers) instead of new LHM, then repeat in about 1500 miles, changing to clean LHM. Thanks for the quick response. Price qouted was just for the front 2 spheres. > > Hello everyone, New to the board, so please bear with me. My Xantia is > > getting on, and I have recently found the suspension going hard. If I [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > Cit parts suppliers) instead of new LHM, then repeat in about 1500 miles, > changing to clean LHM. > Thanks for the quick response. Price qouted was just for the front 2 > spheres. Ah. They're screwing you rotten. The front spheres are a piece of piss to do. >> Thanks for the quick response. Price qouted was just for the front 2 >> spheres. > > Ah. > > They're screwing you rotten. standard prices are £60 for genuine citroen spheres x 2 = £120 + labour + VAT so £180 is about 'right' but still over the top iyswim. . (--@-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying : > standard prices are £60 for genuine citroen spheres x 2 = £120 Meanwhile, in the non-dealer-price-real-world, £19.50 each or £32 for genuine Citroen from GSF... > . (--@-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying : > >> standard prices are £60 for genuine citroen spheres x 2 = £120 > > Meanwhile, in the non-dealer-price-real-world, £19.50 each or £32 for > genuine Citroen from GSF... agreed, but that doesn't alter the fact that the prices quoted to the OP, including fitting and VAT, are commonplace. . (--@-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying : >>> standard prices are £60 for genuine citroen spheres x 2 = £120 >> Meanwhile, in the non-dealer-price-real-world, £19.50 each or £32 for >> genuine Citroen from GSF... > agreed, but that doesn't alter the fact that the prices quoted to the OP, > including fitting and VAT, are commonplace. Who in their right mind would take an aging Xant to a dealer? <thinks> Who in their right mind would take ANYTHING to a Cit dealer...? > . (--@-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying : > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > <thinks> > Who in their right mind would take ANYTHING to a Cit dealer...? novice citroen owners who are convinced by the bloke down the pub that hydrolastic suspension is complex and should only be touched by "specialists" but you already know that. . (--@-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying : >> Who in their right mind would take an aging Xant to a dealer? >> >> <thinks> >> Who in their right mind would take ANYTHING to a Cit dealer...? > novice citroen owners who are convinced by the bloke down the > pub that hydrolastic suspension is complex and should only be > touched by "specialists" > > but you already know that. Quite. Hydrolastic really is best left to BL specialists, who have the proper pump, since Longbridge didn't see fit to actually install one on the car. Strange people. Citroen dealers, otoh... Hell, they're the people who put normal DOT3 brake fluid in the tank on my mother's Xant at it's first service... > . (--@-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying : > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Hydrolastic really is best left to BL HA! my bad. Well, seem to have started a debate here, and I didnt even give you all the facts. The price was just for the front 2 spheres, and RECONNED at that. Was going to try Westroen, seem very reasonable. Are reconned spheres OK. Thanks for all the suggestions and help. From looking through the forum, read enough that I was reasonably happy to fit them myself, but £25 each fitted seems to be my favourite option. The lhm has never been changed in 3 years (can hear lots of sucking teeth and tutting out there), is this better done before replacing spheres, or doesnt it matter if done after. Cant find enough info on how to do this for me to be confident enough to do it myself. Seems to be a lot of info, but all assumes you have done certain things. Need a newbie guide. Thanks everyone > Well, seem to have started a debate here, and I didnt even give you all > the facts. The price was just for the front 2 spheres, and RECONNED at > that. f.ck. Me. > Are reconned spheres OK. *If* they weren't totally flat before being regassed, then yes. If they were flat, then no. Sometimes seemingly good ones can die shortly after being regassed, though, and leaving the rear ones alone endlessly will cause them to be a major league pain in the arse when they are finally changed. > The lhm has never been changed in 3 years (can hear lots of sucking teeth > and tutting out there), Three years isn't the end of the world. What colour is it now? REALLY horribly black? Or still vaguely greenish? > is this better done before replacing spheres, or doesnt it matter if done > after. You need to have the car flat and all the hydraulics depressurised to do the spheres, might as well do it all at the same time. > Cant find enough info on how to do this for me to be confident enough to > do it myself. It's already been posted in this thread a couple of times. > Well, seem to have started a debate here, and I didnt even give you > all the facts. The price was just for the front 2 spheres, and [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Thanks everyone re_conned_ is the right spelling in this case. <snip>> > Now think of the environmental impact of throwing away a perfectly good > vehicle for the sake of a small bit of maintenance. > (No, seriously, this really pisses me off.) I am SO with you on this one ... though the real problem is the environmental impact of making the new car to replace the one you threw away ... how much energy and emissions are "saved" by a new car against keeping an old one going ... none at all I suspect .... grrrr that's part of the reason I dont work for www.ricardo.com any more ... THE WORLD DOESN'T NEED MORE CARS ! and relax ... S 8-) Hmm. Thinks. > > Now think of the environmental impact of throwing away a perfectly good > > vehicle for the sake of a small bit of maintenance. > > (No, seriously, this really pisses me off.) > > > I am SO with you on this one ... So I should get this repaired. Then next week the clutch clip possibly goes, or even the clutch. Then the brakes might need seeing to. Then the MOT, and any repairs that may bring. So potentially I could have paid more in the next few weeks, than I would have paid for my next car. > though the real problem is the environmental impact of making the new car to > replace the one you threw away ... how much energy and emissions are "saved" > by a new car against keeping an old one going ... none at all I suspect .... > > grrrr Never bought a new car in my life. Not worth it for economical reasons if nothing else, considering the depreciation as soon as you drive out of the dealers car park. My next car would have been a 2nd hand diesel. My Xantia is a petrol engine, and I do hundreds of miles. How good is that for the environment. I dont mind people with soapboxes, or missions in life, especially when I basically agree with the sentiments, just not keen on being judged, when all the circumstances arent known. I joined this board thinking I would get a bit of technical advice, off people who had a bit of experience (which I have had a lot of, thanks to everyone), didnt expect to be blamed for the destruction off the world!. > ct76 wrote: > > Well, seem to have started a debate here, and I didnt even give you > > all the facts. The price was just for the front 2 spheres, and > > RECONNED at that.... > re_conned_ is the right spelling in this case. 8/10. ct76 doesnt pay enough attention in class. Must try harder. How does this help me sort out my suspension problems. Thought this was a friendly board, dedicated to giving help, and sharing experience (again not aimed at those who have helped, Thanks again). >> > Now think of the environmental impact of throwing away a perfectly >> > good vehicle for the sake of a small bit of maintenance. >> > (No, seriously, this really pisses me off.) >> I am SO with you on this one ... > So I should get this repaired. Then next week the clutch clip possibly > goes, or even the clutch. Then the brakes might need seeing to. Then > the MOT, and any repairs that may bring. So potentially I could have > paid more in the next few weeks, than I would have paid for my next > car. And that somehow miraculously isn't going to happen with the replacement car you'd spend a relatively few quid on buying? You won't spend money on that new aquisition after purchase on new tyres and servicing needed because the previous owner had let things slip, since he wouldn't have it much longer? > My next car would have been a 2nd hand diesel. My Xantia is a petrol > engine, and I do hundreds of miles. How good is that for the environment. Not really much different to a diesel. Some pollutants better, some worse. In the grand scheme of things, relatively insignificant compared to the energy used to aircondition bloody great big glass officeblocks or shove a couple of hundred tons of ally cigartube half way across the world with 300 people on board. > Hmm. Thinks. > [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > a friendly board, dedicated to giving help, and sharing experience > (again not aimed at those who have helped, Thanks again). first off, this isn't a board, it's usenet. secondly, you've been given all the advice you need to make a saving of a few hundred quid. there's more know how on usenet than you realise but if you want to avail yourself of it you must learn how to use usenet. (and have a slightly thicker skin) the xantia is a good car but like all good cars if you get a lemon it will remain a lemon. I bought my diesel xantia at a specific point in it's service history and plan to put 100,000 miles on it. I have already spent a few hundred on it and will probably spend a few more hundred on it before I get shot. I could go out right now and buy a new (to me) car for 5k cash and not feel it in the bank balance dept and I've been tempted recently, but this old xantia has a /lot/ of life left in it and I wouldn't be able to justify the purchase of a paramotor to the mrs without buying her another few hundred pair of shoes. better the devil you know and all that. <snip> > first off, this isn't a board, it's usenet. excuse my ignorance - what is a "board" and what is "usenet", and where do "forums" fit into it all ? > <snip> >> first off, this isn't a board, it's usenet. >> > excuse my ignorance - what is a "board" and what is "usenet", and where do > "forums" fit into it all ? Newcomers to newsgroups should start here <http://computer.howstuffworks.com/newsgroup.htm> and here <http://members.fortunecity.com/nnqweb/>, the Official Home Page of the newsgroup called news.newusers.questions.  Signature-- ^^^^^^^^^^ -- Whiskers -- ~~~~~~~~~~ I was reading <news:rm1kr3-ban.ln1@ID-107770.user.individual.net>, made by the entity known as Whiskers, that requests spam to be sent to <catwheezel@operamail.com> and I became inspired, >> <snip> >>> first off, this isn't a board, it's usenet. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > <http://members.fortunecity.com/nnqweb/>, the Official Home Page > of the newsgroup called news.newusers.questions. Er, www.aacity.net Signatured:J0han; Certifiable me ( change dot com to .com to reply ) http://www.aacity.net Citroen Newsgroup > I was reading <news:rm1kr3-ban.ln1@ID-107770.user.individual.net>, > made by the entity known as Whiskers, that requests spam to be sent to [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Er, www.aacity.net As in <http://www.aacity.net/main.htm>? Good site, that :)) I posted a catch-all 'boilerplate' that I have pre-prepared for such occasions, and I haven't included this group's home page for 'general consumption'. To be honest, I hadn't noticed which group I was in when I posted it. Signature-- ^^^^^^^^^^ -- Whiskers -- ~~~~~~~~~~ >>> Newcomers to newsgroups should start here >>> >>> <http://computer.howstuffworks.com/newsgroup.htm> many thanks Steve I was reading <news:s8fkr3-krk.ln1@ID-107770.user.individual.net>, made by the entity known as Whiskers, that requests spam to be sent to <catwheezel@operamail.com> and I became inspired, >> I was reading <news:rm1kr3-ban.ln1@ID-107770.user.individual.net>, >> made by the entity known as Whiskers, that requests spam to be [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > As in <http://www.aacity.net/main.htm>? Good site, that :)) Heh :-) There is a well known name on that page. > I posted a catch-all 'boilerplate' that I have pre-prepared for such > occasions, and I haven't included this group's home page for > 'general consumption'. The links are good. I think I will include them on the site. > To be honest, I hadn't noticed which group > I was in when I posted it. You are forgiven :-) Signatured:J0han; Certifiable me http://www.aacity.net Citroen Newsgroup Sig is being randomised, pls wait . . . . > I was reading <news:s8fkr3-krk.ln1@ID-107770.user.individual.net>, > made by the entity known as Whiskers, that requests spam to be sent to [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > Heh :-) There is a well known name on that page. Yup; 'Citroen' :)) >> I posted a catch-all 'boilerplate' that I have pre-prepared for such >> occasions, and I haven't included this group's home page for >> 'general consumption'. > > The links are good. I think I will include them on the site. Good idea :)) >> To be honest, I hadn't noticed which group >> I was in when I posted it. > > You are forgiven :-) Phew ... Signature-- ^^^^^^^^^^ -- Whiskers -- ~~~~~~~~~~ I was reading <news:9h1mr3-7hc.ln1@ID-107770.user.individual.net>, made by the entity known as Whiskers, that requests spam to be sent to <catwheezel@operamail.com> and I became inspired, >> I was reading <news:s8fkr3-krk.ln1@ID-107770.user.individual.net>, >> made by the entity known as Whiskers, that requests spam to be [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Yup; 'Citroen' :)) LOL >>> I posted a catch-all 'boilerplate' that I have pre-prepared for >>> such occasions, and I haven't included this group's home page for [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Good idea :)) http://www.aacity.net/access.htm >>> To be honest, I hadn't noticed which group >>> I was in when I posted it. >> >> You are forgiven :-) > > Phew ... Heh :-) Signatured:J0han; Certifiable me http://www.aacity.net Citroen Newsgroup I drank of the purifying Nirang, the sterile urine of the spotless white bull of which there is but one in ten thousand. I am the wearer of The Secret Girdle that once belonged to DE. snip > http://www.aacity.net/access.htm snip Nice links :)) Signature-- ^^^^^^^^^^ -- Whiskers -- ~~~~~~~~~~ <snip> > So I should get this repaired. Then next week the clutch clip possibly > goes, or even the clutch. Then the brakes might need seeing to. Then > the MOT, and any repairs that may bring. So potentially I could have > paid more in the next few weeks, than I would have paid for my next > car. errr ... never pay more than it's worth ... perhaps buy a Honda ... >> though the real problem is the environmental impact of making the new car >> to [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > My Xantia is a petrol engine, and I do hundreds of miles. How good is > that for the environment. errr .... the environment is a really nice place ... be nice to trees and little animals > I dont mind people with soapboxes, or missions in life, especially when > I basically agree with the sentiments, just not keen on being judged, > when all the circumstances arent known. I joined this board thinking I > would get a bit of technical advice, off people who had a bit of > experience (which I have had a lot of, thanks to everyone), didnt > expect to be blamed for the destruction off the world!. errr .... please dont destroy the world ... >> ct76 wrote: >> > Well, seem to have started a debate here, and I didnt even give you [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > a friendly board, dedicated to giving help, and sharing experience > (again not aimed at those who have helped, Thanks again). errr ... I hope you get your car fixed ok ... errr ...sorry my agreement with a fellow human being offended you so ... errr ... <lost for words> > Hello everyone, New to the board, so please bear with me. My Xantia is > getting on, and I have recently found the suspension going hard. If I [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > cheap enough myself, but a little concerned about doing the job > myself. My local Gloucester Citroen specialist charges about £26 a sphere fitted. > Is there anyone in the Manchester area who would be willing to do the > job for me for a more reasonable price. Can come to you. Look in yellow pages for Peugeot/Citroen specialists > Failing that could do with plenty of advice please. I used to do all > my own work on my cars, but over the years, the will to do this has > got less and less. Do I need to change/flush the LHM? Can anyone give > me instructions on how to do this please? Buy a Haynes BoL. IIRC what I did was to lower the suspension this driving most of the fluid out of the suspension units. Then empty the reservoir and flush all the filters with petrol. Refill and that's about it. There's a bit more to it but that's the basic gist of it. SignatureMalc Cheap, but not as cheap as your girlfriend |
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