Front ride height all wrong

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Andy.
Would I be right in saying Andy, that you have only had this problem with the front of
the car stuck in high, since you have replaced all of the suspension spheres
Have you renewed the accumilator sphere at the same time Andy
You could try swapping the front spheres, from n/s to o/s and see how she is behav-
ing with those swapped Andy
I hope this helps Andy, let me know what effect it has
Vince.

[Mothman]

Hi Vince,

all i did was replace all the suspension sphere's, didnt do the accumulator as the tick time is ok.

Didnt have this problem before the change and i didnt touch anything else.

The problem i may have with changing a sphere is the front end is now pressurised again. I did undo the pressure release valve and she didnt drop at all. I think it would be a bit dangerous to remove a pressurised sphere.

Maybe this is a new fault thats developed with age, Malcolm's idea!!

Andy

[Vanny]

If one side is sticking then the problem is in the strut/sphere.

Can you pull the strut gaiter back and have a look at the piston at the top of the strut.

I suspect it would be possible to have a damaged sphere where by the multitude of plates that release the pressure are badly setup/ incorrectly fitted/bent and stopping the fluid pressure releasing from the sphere. If you've got the old ones still it might be worth swapping the bad side and seeing what happens.

[Vanny]

just fitting spheres should not cause the suspension to refuse to adjust in hieght on request

the pressure differential is controlled by a series of discs with little holes in. I can imagine a situation where by the discs are damaged and allowed fluid into the sphere, but not out, the holes are pretty small.

i have not heard of a BX with anti sink,

There is at least one i know of, and it's not a difficult task, just a bit of plumbing, so not unrealistic, but like i said, very unlikely.

[hvanman]

Andy, I had the same problem of the front stuck on high and wondering how to release the pressure, when the normal pressure relief valve did not work. I had this situation several times while trying to fault find my system. The first time I managed to slightly undo the pipe from the height corrector at the 3 way union to the two strut pipes, wiggle it a bit and get a slow leak out into a container below, however, the second time I tried that the union came apart fully before I could get a weep and sprayed LHM everywhere, so I would not recomend that route.... The final way I got mine to drop was to put a lever on the central point of the rear of the height corrector and hold the linkage in for a short while and then it came down, but this will all depend on where your problem lies... Mine was due to the linkage to the H/C being out of adjustment for the combination of replacement parts I fitted. Needless to say, watch out for teh sudden drop of the car!!

[citronut]

i cant see how or why a faulty sphere can cause or stop a strut moving up and down,from/to any level setting,

all i did was replace all the suspension sphere's, didnt do the accumulator as the tick time is ok.

Didnt have this problem before the change and i didnt touch anything else.

The problem i may have with changing a sphere is the front end is now pressurised again. I did undo the pressure release valve and she didnt drop at all. I think it would be a bit dangerous to remove a pressurised sphere.

Maybe this is a new fault thats developed with age, Malcolm's idea!!

Andy

this is even stranger than when i spoke to you yesterday,

regards malcolm

[Mothman]

Ok, ive got it up on the tractor ramps but what to do next?
I have to remove the sphere but its under pressure and although it does turn its very stiff and ive decided not to proceed any further as ime a bit worried as to what will happen when i finally remove it.

Anyone with any idea as to how to release the pressure. Ive cracked off the pressure release valve but all it did was his a bit, nothing else happened.

Andy

[hvanman]

Have you tried using a lever of some sort to press on the central point of the rear of the height corrector? (the front side is hard to get to and the operating linkage passes through the center) You need to hold it pushed in towards the rear of the car, for a short while and then if the problem is in that area, there should be a hiss and the front should drop. If the problem is somewhere else, this may not help, but worth a try and no risk of leaking LHM.....

[Mothman]

OK, with Tim's help and a phone call to Malcolm we managed to drop the beastie to low as as when required and i changed the sphere which was fine. However, it seems that when i put the height lever to low it pops off its spigot thingy and dosnt operate the front height corrector. Could be that there is some wear, not helped by the fact that i think the strut is knackered. Luckily i have another height corrector in excellent condition which Tim [thanks Tim] is going to clean and plenty of spare struts.
Hopefully do the job in the next few weeks so i can take it to Cornwall.

Andy

[tim]

I thought I had some stuff on rebuilding height correctors, but I don't! Can they in fact be rebuilt and where can I find the guff, I did a search but nowt came up.
Also, Is the hc lever jumping off the ball because the hc has suddenly developed an ailment, or is the front strut, whichis seriously sticky, actually preventing the hc from going all the way.

[citronut]

the H/C's very very seldom give any trouble at all, apart from a build up of sludge inside the diaphragm, the only replaceable parts are the dust covers, diaphragm and there retainging rings,

they are so simple you would not belive it till you see one in bits,

as i said to Andy there is an exploded drawing in the older brown hayneass BOL

also the strut sticking/jamming up can affect the H/C in any way

ialso said to Andy maybe the adjuster on the hight lever rod by the front H/C may have not been tight enough and slid out of adjustment, in turn causing the bracket to jump of the ball on the H/C,

regards malcolm

[Mothman]

It was a bastard job to get the drivers side front strut off. Book of lies made it look simple but hell no it wasnt. Tim came and helped but it was a struggle with him pulling and thumping and me standing on the hub, holding onto the front wing.
Got it off in the end and found that the strut was seized solid, no movement whatsoever. Hopefully the replacement will do the job, at least it all moves ok.
Andy

[mat_fenwick]

If it's one you got from me then it should be fine!

[Mothman]

It certainly will be Mat, plenty of movement in your strut so fingers crossed it goes back easily.

Andy

[citronut]

i didn't think last night on the phone,
you did have both front wheels off the ground did you Andy,
if not this can stop the arm on the side you are removing going down away from the strut,

they really don't usually give that much of a fight,

what did you do regarding the sphere mount in the end

regards malcolm