Issues needs help : Hydraulic Pump and Battery

[citroeneer]

Hey Guys,

Need you advise on two issues now. Am running a 93' Series I XM, 2 litre Petrol (A)

1) Frequent ticking from regulator (ie every 3-4 seconds). The pressure on the Main Sphere is 45 psi which is about right. BTW, am using a BX hydrualic pump. Was told by my mech it works the same as XM ones. The ticking sound is very noisy and obvious. Now what else can be wrong, I just got myself a spare XM Hydra pump.

2) Whenever foot brakes are applied or when the car is idle, the alternator (battery) indicator comes out. Fine. Thats exactly what the manual says. It dissapears when I accelerate. Now when the light is lit, it means the charging is not working at full capacity? Right. Now what happens, assuming we're stuck in a jam for an hour...with the battery indicator lightly on. Funny, because the host of cars that i've owned before including ZX doesnt work this way. Alternator works at full capacity at all times.

[andmcit]

The hydraulic pump either isn't delvering the capacity feed required for the Xm or you have a leak somewhere in
the hydraulic circuit demanding constant pressure. Have a close look at the Bx pump first and look at the Lhm tank
returns.

The battery warning only ever lights if there isn't enough charge going to the battery to keep on top of demand from the
electrics being used. You could have a deteriorating battery but really need to test the feed from the alternator to the
battery with a multimeter when the car is idling. I'd certainly suspect the alternator, its belt or poor connections.

Andrew

[Peter.N.]

I would agree with Andrew. The hydraulic system has a lot of components, generally as the mileage increases and parts wear the pressure loss becomes greater, my highest mileage car, about 250k, clicks frequently and the suspension drops pretty soon after you switch the engine off, the lowest, 150k is very much better in this regard but as long as everything works and they drive OK I dont worry, you could spend a lot of time and money trying to restore the system to new spec and the car wouldn't drive any differently. For what it costs, changing the accumulator sphere is worthwhile though.

On the electrics front, check the voltage across the battery with the engine running when the light is on, if it reads near enough 14 volts its OK if very much lower you have an alternator problem.

Peter

[hobblerian]

Does the same belt drive both alternator and hyd pump?, it does on my 96, If the belt is slipping it would account for both problems.

[Dean]

No, on the mk 1 it is a different pump which is driven by a seperate v belt, sounds to me like the alternator has reached retirement age or those lead battery clamps have finaly let go of the main + or - cables, and something is leaking badly in the hydraulic system to give 3 sec cycling times, especialy since your acc sphere is well pressurised, i would be doing as Andrew has said and pull off all but the two biggest pipes to the LHM tank and see which one is trickling.

D

[Dieselman]

1) Frequent ticking from regulator (ie every 3-4 seconds). The pressure on the Main Sphere is 45 psi which is about right.

I thought the main accumulator pressure was meant to be 62-Bar +5;-32 Bar. That's 899-psi. At 45-psi the sphere is flat and ineffective.

[andmcit]

Missed that this morning where I was still half asleep!! Good call dieselman!
That'll make it tick every few seconds every time - unless it was meant to be 45 bar
in the original posting!!


Andrew

[Dean]

Dman, i missed that, i took it as 42bar, 42psi would indeed be flat, good thing someones paying attention isnt it

[citroeneer]

hi guys,
Think its my typo, should be 45 bar. There are no LHM leaks anywhere. Would try replacing the spare XM pump The front and rear spheres are less than a year old, hv never changed the center ones since got the car 2 yrs ago.

The alternator is rather new. Would check the belt. Charging showed abt 13.

[Peter.N.]

13v not enough, check the belt.