helping out

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 7:16 pm

Geoffrey Gould wrote:because they will only fit one way because of the slot in the hub.........................Most of the wear seems to be with the piston and bush, bush dry and piston scored etc.
Cheers.
Geoff.

You are right Geoff, there is absolutely no benefit to swopping sides as the strut cylinders are in exactly the same position irrespective of the side they are fitted to when you think about it laterally.

So it's try your rotation suggestion and if that doesn't make any difference, the offending strut will need to be replaced.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:19 pm

I didnt realise that top allen key bolt was easy to undo, the one i tried it on was welded tight, i thought they were all like that. Next time i'll have another go, here's hoping thats not too soon....

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:28 pm

Cracking tip there Geoff, I will give it a try soon...and to think I was going to swap them over!

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:25 am

MULLEY wrote:I didnt realise that top allen key bolt was easy to undo, the one i tried it on was welded tight, i thought they were all like that.

That's not an 'allen key bolt', it's the ram of the strut. The bit you undo is the large nut around it.

Geoffrey Gould · Post by **Geoffrey Gould** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:31 pm

Hi something else to try if possible, is to find a couple of struts, remove the rubber leak off pipes, turn them up side down and fill them through the hole that was covered by the rubber pipes with 3 in 1 oil and slowly move the piston up and down a couple of times each day, keep the oil topped up. Leave them as long as possible, a couple of weeks would be good. The aim is to soak the felts and top bush ( now at the bottom if you see what I mean.)Now is the chance to polish the piston and grease it before assembling the struts.
Give it a go.
Cheers.
Geoff.
PS. If you find that trying to turn the piston with the allen key referred to in the post above is difficult then undo the big nut a bit and give the piston a tap downwards with a rubber mallet or with a block of wood, that will free it from the taper in the mount.

mnde · Post by **mnde** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:48 pm

Aerodynamica wrote: I also wonder if this harshness some of you are getting is caused by the Mk2 cars' rubber arm bushings. I'd imagine these would be better for absorbing the high freq stuff but also I'd think they'd allow more flex and I can't help but think that this allows the front struts to suffer more sideways forces that the roller bearing - equipped Mk1 would not have. Perhaps with worn struts this flex is even greater and causes the flex to generate dynamic friction in the struts.

My Mk1 has evidence of sticky front struts however, the front bearings of the suspension are very good and the ride is smooth and quiet up front.

It's funny you should say the GSA as having such good ride as my GSA has the worst of all my Citroens!

I have to agree with this. Since my BX gained a new accy sphere, new wishbone bushes and anti-roll bar drop links, the overall ride has been transformed and is no longer crashy.

Going over rough, badly maintained roads is a joy rather than the previous bad experience. No more rattling from worn bushes, and the wheels seems to dive into the potholes instead of the "whole body". There is finally some form of... what's the word... well, controlled cushioning between the tyres and the body. It finally feels as though I'm being suspended by the suspension in an active way, rather than a passive way.

In contrast my GSA has recently been badly crashy. Those sharp angular roadhumps really fling it around - it's too easy to bang the sump on the road and there's plenty of rattling and slop. Deep potholes put a real shock through the whole body - BANG! It could do with all new bushes and links... and replacing October's hydraflush with bright new LHM...

Mark.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:04 pm

Apologies if I am asking a daft question...but does/can the accumulator sphere have a large effect on the ride?

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:44 pm

[/quote]That's not an 'allen key bolt', it's the ram of the strut. The bit you undo is the large nut around it

Erm, oops

That'll explain my struggle[/quote]

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:50 pm

mat_fenwick wrote:Apologies if I am asking a daft question...but does/can the accumulator sphere have a large effect on the ride?

I don't see how it can, but some people have reported an improvement in ride after changing the acc sphere.

maxgreenwood · Post by **maxgreenwood** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:42 pm

I could take the struts off my TGD and do Geoffrey's suggested soaking in 3 in 1 for a couple of weeks. First I'll try rotating the current struts seen as its so quick and see what that does, still havn't got round to it...

Doing Citaerobics brings back floatyness, but intermittently and really only getting the great supple ride for 1st 10-15mins after the car has been standing overnight or even for a few hours, then gets a bit more harsh.

I wonder if part of the problem is the amount of crap in the system that was dislodged through hydraflushing is still making its way round the system even though i've changed back over to LHM - Citroen7 said maybe i should try re-filtering the LHM (i havn't touched it as only been in for a few months) and cleaning filters etc.

Could a plausible theory be that when the car is started after standing, silt has sunk to the bottom of the resevoir and so initially clean LHM is making the system supple and lubricated, then as i drive, the silt gets shaken up and starts entering the system causing more friction in the struts? - it does seem to affect the back end as well.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:10 am

Thanks David, I can't see it either but I'm no expert on the hydraulic side of things. That's not to say I can't understand it, just never had the need to delve deeply into it. The only work I've had to do is sphere/strut replacement, no fault finding.

Geoffrey Gould · Post by **Geoffrey Gould** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:57 am

Hi as a small add on, the only lubrication that the strut gets is a very very small amount of LHM ,which in it's self is not that good a lubricant, that leaks past the seal inside the piston. There is never enough to get as far as the top bush and seal, the felts dry out and shrink and there for do nothing. The object is to try and soak the felts hopefully so that they retain some oil and lubricate the bush. As the supply of struts dry up

then a couple of spares in there own bath of oil ( something thin 0 - 30 engine oil .) and a length of 6" drain pipe each, swapping over say every 6 months with the ones in the car may per long the life of the car.
Repair kits were available once upon a time but I haven't been able to find any lately.
Cheers.
Geoff.

citroen7 · Post by **citroen7** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:25 am

spent a while thinking about all this while having a soak in the tub last night,Does the acc. sphere affect ride? well actually i think it could the acc. sphere is in the system to do two things 1 is to provide the system with a constant pressure ie the pump charges the accumulater which in turn delivers the pressure to the system thereby eliminating any wild fluctuations .2 is to store pressue so it the event of pump or more normally belt failure there is enough left in the system to allow for the brakes to work and get the car stopped safely.
Suppose you had a duff accumulator or even a weak one ,combine this with a weak pump or even a loose belt this means that the pump is working harder to provide the required pressure to the system (hence faster tick times as the pump is constantly trying to keep up the pressure in the system) this then will affect the system as it is not opperating at its optimum pressue.
Now i could be talking b******t but it did sort of make sense to me ,but i am happy to be shot down in flames and told to go back into to the board of many drawings!
Max i still think another dose of hydroflush will not do your beast any harm and getting that height corrector changed will help.
Geoffrey interesting ideas about the struts i will experiment with the ones from maxs car i have two repair kits here (under lock and key

) if you want to know the contents, cannot help thinking that like the rear arm kit most of it will not need replacing .
Well thats my tenpence worth for today!

Geoffrey Gould · Post by **Geoffrey Gould** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:40 pm

Hello ah contents of kit, the tiny ptfe seal for the inside of the piston when it leaks and blows the pipes off. Useful. The top bush,felts,seal may be but only Really effective with a new piston, matter of opinion. As the top bush etc. is screwed in with a coating of thread lock then there is a good possibility of destroying the seal etc. with heat trying to unscrew it other wise it would be a simple job to remove it and clean everything out and soak the felts and top bush in hot oil for a few hours and then just let them cool and stay soaking until needed.
Another option was to fit a 'grease' nipple to lube the bush using oil but this would have to be used carefully not to blow the seal apart with the pressures available.

Just a few thoughts here and there.
Cheers.
Geoff.

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 2:18 pm

citroen7 wrote:2 is to store pressue so it the event of pump or more normally belt failure there is enough left in the system to allow for the brakes to work and get the car stopped safely.

Once the car is raised the pump is not required much for suspension as the system is in a sort of equilibrium unless the height corrector calls.

In the failure scenario, the first pressure reserve for brakes is called from the accumulator but if this is not suffient the system can use the stored pressure from the suspension spheres IIRC. So really the accumulator has little effect on the suspension but of course with a weak pump and a bad accumulator, a lowering effect may occur on braking.