R267PGF 2.0TCT - MOT Pass!

[beko1987]

I know where you mean now. Will grab my long screwdriver and have a listen. Might do it at home though to avoid the stupid questions (if another of my esteemed colleagues liken it to a dodgy pile of crap again I'll stop being so polite and tell them where to shove it!)

[CitroJim]

if another of my esteemed colleagues liken it to a dodgy pile of crap again I'll stop being so polite and tell them where to shove it!

Good If I was that esteemed colleague I'd not say a word whilst you're brandishing a big screwdriver though

I'm afraid that comments of the sort you've already heard are commonplace and we grow a thick skin against them and then pity them for they know not what they say...

You should hear the stick I get at work I give as good as I get though...

[beko1987]

Me too! Saying that my car cost the same as a monthly payment for colleague's OMGBOGGOSPECGOLF normally does the trick! Luckily I sit next to someone who shares my love for quirky old chod so that helps!

Strangely anytime anyone has a car question we get asked it though, so they must trust our judgement a bit.

[russ92xmsed]

Sam, the regulator sits just behind the main accumulator sphere (in fact the sphere screws into it) low down on the engine by the front of the gearbox. The tick can be quite soft and hard to hear above the idling of teh engine, particularly a diesel.

Another way is to listen to the pump via a stethopscope which can be either a fancy engineers one or a long screwdriver or even a length of wooden dowel. Place one end on the body of the pump (take care of rotating pulleys and belts!) and the other against your ear. When the pump is idling because the system is up to pressure it'll be more or less silent. When it's actively pumping it will make a rapid machine-gun sort of noise - best way I can describe it- sorry!

So, listening to the pump with a stethoscope you should hear lots of silence interspersed with regular bursts of the machine-gun fire. The silences should be at intervals greater than 30 seconds and the bursts of fire should last three to five seconds as the pump works to restore pressure; the bursts of machine-gun fire are equivalent to the regulator ticks I spoke of earlier.

If you hear more machine-gun fire than silence then assume the accumulator sphere is flat (in need of replacement) or there's an internal leak in the system causing a loss of pressure... The latter is rare but the former is quite common.

Hope that all makes sense Sam. I'd love to see the looks on people's faces as you listen to the hydraulics with a stethoscope - you can always say you're checking its pulse and in a way you are

the things we have to do! Great tips though Jim.

I can see the neighbours faces now....

[CitroJim]

I can see the neighbours faces now....

Mine are used to it now Russ but passers by still often look twice when they see one of mine doing Citarobics

Saying that my car cost the same as a monthly payment for colleague's OMGBOGGOSPECGOLF normally does the trick!

I like that a lot Sam Excellent!

[russ92xmsed]

A couple of days ago I was sitting at some lights, and a brand new golf passed in front of me. I have to say, if that is VW efforts nowadays, then yeah, an XM or any unique older car is a very attractive proposition. Why be a sheep!

The retched thing is one of the most dull, predictable and boring pieces of automotive design ever. Not worth the £18K price tag.

[Dieselman]

Back to the query.
It's normal for the hydraulic system pressure to be lost when dropping to the low setting then back up.

[beko1987]

I tried the bounce test, and the front is nice and bouncy, the rear not so. Turning the car off, waiting 30s etc makes the front nice and firm, and no change to the rear. Left her parked fully up for the morning, will run and get the plusgas at lunchtime and spray the rear corrector again so it's nice and loose for our journey tomorrow!

Computer is saying 430 miles left. I don't trust him one bit! However coming in on the M40 has improved economy.

[CitroJim]

That proves the hard/soft switching is working nicely at the front Sam.

Next test is to listen to the hydractive electrovalves. They emit a soft hum when they're in soft mode and go silent when in hard mode.

If you listen to them just after switching off the ignition and closing all doors you should hear them hum for the 30 second time-out period and then just as they switch they should emit a loud click and stop humming. If you open a door then the system should switch back to soft mode and the electrovalve should be heard to click and being humming again.

The rear one is above the subframe but if you lay on the ground with your ear by a rear wheel you should be able to hear it although it can be a tad quiet. Choose a nice quite spot and then curse when just as you want to hear it something comes along and makes a racket

If you hear a ragged hum without distinct clicks at the beginning or more especially at the end then that suggests that the 'diode mod' needs doing. It sounds scary but is in fact very easy. Else you can fit an 'e-crofting box' which does the job but costs about 1000% more expensive than a couple of diodes and a bit of soldering. No hum at all from the electrovalve suggests a more interesting fault but likely nothing serious.

If all hums and clicks sound normal then suspect nothing more serious than a flat rear centre hydractive sphere...

I guess you may not want to listen to electrovalves in public Sam. The task is likely to amuse passers-by...

[messerschmitt owner]

Sam

the only spheres I changed were the two rears, which were flat! Fronts were fine, God knows about the hydractive ones

Campbell