CitroJim's Citroens

[captainhaddock]

Don't they do them in blue mauritius?

I had an anti sink valve plop on my xantia, LHM pissing out in no time. Replaced it for a new one. So they do, for whatever reason, fail from time to time. I paid 110 euro for a new citroen part.

[Jan-hendrik]

The front of my XM is sinking rather fast these days and I thought perhaps something was wrong with the front anti sink valve. I once read about someone replacing it who said it cured the fast sinking.

[CitroJim]

It might Jan but replacement is the only answer. The anti-sink valve is the most precision item on the system and is not likely to be improved by taking it to bits. I'm not even sure the specialists can do much with them due to their precision. Only leaky ones are really easily fixable.

An easy way to test the valve is to put the car on high and see if it sinks from high. If it stays up then the valve is Ok and the problem most likely lies with a strut.

[CitroJim]

The Activa is finally fixed and silent Job went Ok but had to take a break of a couple of hours for a torrential rain storm to pass

It was the nearside bearing and as soon as I had the hub off I could feel it as rough as anything.

Clearly the original bearing as it took 11 tons in the press to get it moving. It also highlighted how badly distorted my press is now from far too many abuses when pressing out very well rusted-in wheel bearings in both XMs and Xantias. The moveable press bed is now as bent as a nine-bob note and it makes the job of pressing new bearings in nice and square a bit tricky.

I must see if Clark do spare parts for their 10 ton presses. From that statement it's clear why it's bent now - a 10 ton press being used at 11 and 12 tons on regular occasions!

Still, no worries, the Activa is now lovely and quiet again and touch-wood, running lovely.

I wonder how long it'll be before she'll have her next toy throwing session? The book is open

Tomorrow I shall fit the new leak-back harness pipe onto the V6 and then all being well I'll have two good Xantias again

Hopefully next week we'll see the strut tops back from KingAS and we can get the XMs back in action...

[ragger]

Sounds like a good day.

[CitroJim]

Sounds like a good day.

It certainly has been Rob It's been a while since I've had a good spannering session and I rather enjoyed it, bar the rain...

Another one is planned for tomorrow

[CitroJim]

The day has ended well. Between storms I managed to fit the new hose to the V6 Xantia and mow my lawn. All jobs done for the week and all cars fully serviceable

[russ92xmsed]

Excellent! I know the feeling, very satisfying......

[Jan-hendrik]

An easy way to test the valve is to put the car on high and see if it sinks from high. If it stays up then the valve is Ok and the problem most likely lies with a strut.

I put the car on high Sunday around noon and the next morning I was greeted by a pool of LHM near the LH front wheel and the car at the front had sunk 10 cm. At the rear it had not sunk a bit. The leak came from the strut return hose which had sheared where it joins the fixed return pipe. I got a new piece of rubber hose and joined that with the original hose with a piece of LHM steel pipe. For now no more leaking, but many rubber return joints and pipes seem to be at the end of their life span.

[CitroJim]

For now no more leaking, but many rubber return joints and pipes seem to be at the end of their life span.

The car (or rather it's rubber bits) has reached that certain age Jan Just like my V6 Xantia. They cannot now be fully trusted not to leak.

The strut return pipes are still available and it's best to replace them; repairs to them never seem to last long.