Sphere shelf life?

[Boxwolf]

I recently decided to stop putting off having the suspension spheres replaced on the BX, due to the ride becoming closer to a horse and cart than a car. The garage that I get the car MOT'd at informed me last time I was there that they offered free fitting on spheres if bought from them so when it came to doing it I took it there.

They had them fitted by the afternoon, and they were notably better than the rigid ones that came off, but the ride didn't feel that different. I had a look at the spheres to check the date on them and it was mid 2009. (I also noticed they had been done up with a wrench of some kind, as it had scratched a ring around the outside of them)

I have heard that spheres have a limited shelf life but I don't know what it is. I know they need changing after 3 years on the car but I'm concerned that the spheres they put on may already be somewhat flat.

I'm just asking on here for either reassurance that they are fine, or advice if they aren't.

[rutter123]

yes this is a possibility as i have brought almost flat ones in the past tho sold as new, and of course once fitted they are non returnable!! did they bleed the system properly after fitting them? luckily i have genuine citroen spheres fitted on my tzd which i can get regassed by pleiades every 2/3 yrs these tend to stay gassed for longer as i have had pattern spheres go flat in 18 months or so. also there are many ways to fit them and tighten them up strap wrenches, oil filter chains, large grips, and i dont like to say but hammer and cold chisel, there is also the correct tool for this, but you may have marks on them from one tool or another, personally i use a rubber lined home made metal clamp which you just tap with a hammer to tighten/release.

[Mothman]

I only hand tighten them, dont need a tool for this, only to undo them.

andy

[MULLEY]

This particular topic has been discussed at great length before. The conclusion is that no one really knows, everyone seems to have mixed experiences, personally, when i bought some spheres from GSF, i got them to check the dates on them & then asked them to order me some brand new one's as the one's they had out the back were old & so didn't want to take the risk. They weren't proper citroen one's. I usually get my replacements from Westroen in Manchester who give a very good warranty & price & also fit them for free They re-charge proper citroen one's, so you know they are very new from a charging point of view.

The only way to check them is to see somoene who has a sphere tester who can then test how much pressure they are holding. Are you sure that they fitted the correct type? There are quite a few different varieties available & have different volumes & pressures, so perhaps the wrong one's have been fitted.

[Way2go]

I only hand tighten them, dont need a tool for this, only to undo them.

Agreed - tighten with a tool and it may be a cold day in hell before they come off again!

[Boxwolf]

I only hand tighten them, dont need a tool for this, only to undo them.

Agreed - tighten with a tool and it may be a cold day in hell before they come off again!

Yes, that's why I was concerned with the tool marks as I was fairly certain they were only meant to be hand tightened and it looked as if they had been done up fairly roughly.

I'll just have to live with it, as I don't have a choice now if they are non returnable once fitted - they never showed me the spheres before fitting. I can't afford to have them changed again for a considerable amount of time so I hope they at least stay as good as they are.

[MULLEY]

Did they give you your old one's back? If not, ask for them & then you can get those pressure tested to see if there was anything wrong in the 1st place.

[Way2go]

Yes, that's why I was concerned with the tool marks as I was fairly certain they were only meant to be hand tightened and it looked as if they had been done up fairly roughly.

I'd be inclined to draw their attention to this and ask them to slacken them off and then retighten them by hand if they were incorrectly fitted. The threads and washer hopefully were lubricated with LHM before fitting so should undo easily now with the tool but will become a nightmare if left. They should not charge you for this if they have done it wrong - if they try, threaten them with Trading Standards.

There is a procedure to follow to prevent damage which is just slacken them by the tool with the suspension on High, put the suspension on Low and wait for a few minutes before unscrewing the rest of the way. Then lubricate the washer (LHM), replace the sphere and retighten by hand as mentioned.

[nige]

i went down the route of recon ones - never again, the only thing reconned was the paint job. Shelled out and bought a complete set of pucker ones from Citroen - had to haggle on the price though - that was 5 years (50,000miles) ago - no probs yet

[MULLEY]

I can't vouch for re-con one's except Westroen's, not had a single problem so far in 7yrs of buying spheres off them. They only re-con genuine citroen spheres as they are the best quality. They stick an endescope down them to check the diaphram for damage, if they are damaged they don't re-con them. They even show you the pressure in each sphere that they are selling to you as a double check & are quite happy to show the multitude of different spheres they have which have been cut in half showing how they actually work etc...it's pretty interesting stuff. But if you can buy some brand new one's, i'm not going to knock you, haha...

Is anyone interested in a 16v front sphere, i've only got the one, i can check the date if anyone is interested, no idea on price so pm me an offer