front strut leak

bill o · Post by **bill o** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:35 pm

on saturday the warning light came on so i topped up lhm and jacked up the car to look for leak.at this time i could not find a leak although the rear edgeof the front subframe was wet with lhm on nearside by security valve.sunday night the light came on again so i topped it up to get home and in daylight i started looking for the leak. once again there was no visible leak so i put it in high (no leak).i then put it in lowest position and then it would not raise up again at the front,back was ok.i then moved the hight lever again and went back to check just behind the front wheel,suddenly the front started to rise and a deluge of lhm came out under the gaiter.i presume this means the strut seals have blown?.does anyone know if repair kits are available they don!t seem to be listed on gsf or europarts.alternatively anyone got a nearside strut they want to sell. thanks bill

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:23 pm

I understand that there are 2 seal kits available for them. I have one somewhere, but was told that you'd need both to do the job, so I never have. Always just changed the strut, 20 min operation.

However, front struts aren't as plentiful as they used to be.

cauchoiskev · Post by **cauchoiskev** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:03 pm

What you need is Citroen part n° 95 597 221 (2 off). Not expensive, just a couple of joints.

Not an easy job to get the strut open, but I managed it and no problems since.

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:07 pm

cauchoiskev wrote:What you need is Citroen part n° 95 597 221 (2 off). Not expensive, just a couple of joints.

Not an easy job to get the strut open, but I managed it and no problems since.

I wonder if that's what I have

bill o · Post by **bill o** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 8:32 pm

i needed to get the car fixed quickly so went to edwards breakers and got s!h strut.i started fixing it but had major problems as i could not get bottom ball joint to seperate,even broke my ball joint seperater. i eventually managed to undo top of the drop link to allow lower arm to drop.,after that it didn!t take long.the whole job certainly took more than 20 minutes,more like 5 hours.all i have to do now is locate various leaks which i think are returns which had blown apart.now my back brake pads have just worn out on the tzd so i hope thats a quicker job..

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 1:42 am

Oh dear

To change the strut all you needed to undo are the sphere, 3x13mm nuts on top of the strut in engine compartment. The 8mm high pressure feed pipe, the low pressure return hoses and the 17mm pinch bolt that secures it into the hub.

Very easy job, especially if you have car blocked up with both front wheels off the ground.

Better luck next time.

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:45 am

ken newbold wrote: Very easy job, especially if you have car blocked up with both front wheels off the ground.

Quite right Ken, trying to do this at the roadside with one side of the car up wasn't working until I realised what was happening with the ARB and rearranged for both front wheels to be up.

Also it's easier to leave the sphere, strut top/Gaiter in place and just undo the big nut on top along with the pinch nut below to achieve a very smooth change.

(:idea: I did remove the HP pipe temporarily to save it being damaged while undoing/tightening the top nut.)

bill o · Post by **bill o** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 7:47 pm

thanks for the replys--thinking about it ican see now i should have lifted both wheels.oh well thats another lesson learned the hard way. happy christmas to you all. now for the tzd rear pads next --anyone got any good advice?

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:33 am

Give the 8mm bolt some WD40 before you start, then give it some more.
It might pay to have new bolts at the ready and new dust covers as well. It all depends how well your car has been maintained in the past.
Getting those 8mm bolts out can be a real pain.

Also before you start, check the back face of the dics, I don't know why but they are usually far worse on the backs than the front face.

bill o · Post by **bill o** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 11:17 pm

done the rear brakes today,you are right about the 8mm bolts but a 4 inch angle grinder made the job much quicker,cut off the bolt head ,then punch the bolt through to free it,cut the nut off without ginding through the brake pipe and re assemble with new nut & bolt, whole job took about an hour.you were right about the discs ,they need urgent replacement,but at least the bolts will come out easy now. thanks for advice and i hope my method may help someone else.