Rudge ("Rudge" <nospam@nospam.com>) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying:
> If I raise the suspension level in my XM and then set the control back
> to 'Normal' again, the suspension does not level out correctly. The
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> I can sometimes fix it by lowering the suspension to the lowest setting
> and then raising it again to normal.
<chuckle>
Your mate's already asked this over on the CCC member forums...
> What is the most likely cause of this problem and is it fixable by a
> competent amateur?
Almost certainly a sticky height corrector - how often's the fluid been
changed in the past?
It's not difficult - but you MUST support the car properly before getting
under it. Dropping a ton and a half of XM on your head by depressurising
the suspension suddenly can rather spoil your whole day.
> Also, is there any detailed information online about how Citroen
> suspension works?
http://www.citroencarclub.org.uk/ds gives all the theory and practice
behind the DS suspension - there's no real difference in concept to the
XM, except for the Hydractive (go to the main bit of the site, and
there's an article there on how that works, under the XM in "About the
Cars"
Rudge - 20 Oct 2007 09:09 GMT
> Rudge ("Rudge" <nospam@nospam.com>) gurgled happily, sounding much like
> they were saying:
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
> there's an article there on how that works, under the XM in "About the
> Cars"
Thanks for the info Adrian.
I will try replacing the LHM fluid. I believe I will require about 5 litres
of the stuff. I can get a 5 litre can of LHM Plus for about £24.
Does the Haynes manual describe the best method of draining the old LHM
fluid out of the system?
Or is there any 'tips of the trade' that I should be aware of?
Regards,
Rudge
Adrian - 20 Oct 2007 14:45 GMT
Rudge ("Rudge" <nospam@nospam.com>) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying:
> I will try replacing the LHM fluid.
What colour is it currently? It _should_ be a violent electric green. If
it's not been done for ages (should be done every couple of years), it'll
be filthy black. If it's bad, it's worth putting some flushing fluid in
(available from GSF and others), leaving it in for a thousand miles or
two, then changing for new LHM.
> I believe I will require about 5
> litres of the stuff. I can get a 5 litre can of LHM Plus for about 24.
> Does the Haynes manual describe the best method of draining the old LHM
> fluid out of the system?
It's straightforward.
Start the car.
Put it onto full flat.
Turn it off.
Remove the LHM tank - IIRC a couple of clips - and empty it.
Give it a good rinse out (petrol's as good as anything) to get the old
crap out. Clean the filters on the pipe block, too.
Put the tank back in.
Fill with new.
Start the car.
Full high. Up and down a few times.
Check the level.
What are the spheres like? If the fluid's been that neglected, the
chances are the spheres haven't been touched either. A flat accumulator -
click-click-click-click from under the bonnet - will mean you have no
reserve of brakes if the engine stops whilst you're moving. It also risks
damaging other components by not damping the pressure waves from the
pump. Flat front wheel spheres will not only mean you have no suspension,
but will put extra stress on the rubber front strut tops, which can fail
causing the suspension struts to come through the bonnet. There's 8
spheres on a late XM, less than £20 each. Most are easy to change, but
there's a couple of buggers at the back - the anti-sink and rear
hydractive centre. They are worth doing, though, as they make a big
difference to the ride.
:Jerry: - 20 Oct 2007 15:02 GMT
<snip>
> <chuckle>
> Your mate's already asked this over on the CCC member forums...
Can I high-jack this thread now to ask Adrian something about the CCC
web site (IIRC you're the web master) - why does the site (appear to)
use an absurdly short log-in cookie life. Why can't it use, in effect,
an infinite time before dieing?
Adrian - 20 Oct 2007 16:07 GMT
:Jerry: (":Jerry:" <INVALID@INVALID.INVALID>) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:
> Can I high-jack this thread now to ask Adrian something about the CCC
> web site (IIRC you're the web master) - why does the site (appear to)
> use an absurdly short log-in cookie life. Why can't it use, in effect,
> an infinite time before dieing?
Because it's a session cookie, unless you tick the box - at which point
it remembers you for two weeks between visits.
:Jerry: - 20 Oct 2007 16:55 GMT
> :Jerry: (":Jerry:" <INVALID@INVALID.INVALID>) gurgled happily,
> sounding
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> point
> it remembers you for two weeks between visits.
That's what I mean, why can't it die after say 5 weeks (or even until
'log-out') - two weeks is absurdly short time period for this class of
site.
Adrian - 20 Oct 2007 17:38 GMT
:Jerry: (":Jerry:" <INVALID@INVALID.INVALID>) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:
>> Because it's a session cookie, unless you tick the box - at which point
>> it remembers you for two weeks between visits.
> That's what I mean, why can't it die after say 5 weeks (or even until
> 'log-out') - two weeks is absurdly short time period for this class of
> site.
The options within PostNuke (the CMS we're using) are "Not at all", "two
weeks" or "forever".
Balance of opinion when the site was set up was "two weeks" being the
best compromise.