Just Bought My Y4 And Have Two Questions

[evlo]

On my previous Y3 i disconnected hydractive and got myself really swinging ride, now on Y4 i have hydractive2 and it is probably stuck in sport mode and it don't change when i disconnect white connector, car is stiff as beemer (i have 740i also so i can compare ) ) and not citroen at all.
So my first question: how to disconnect hydractive? I want diagnose it sometime latter, but for now also i want dirty temporary fix
second one: spheres that are under windshield rotate about 5 degrees when i turn wheels fully to right or left side - is this normal?

This post has been edited by evlo on June 03, 2010 12:47 pm

[noz]

Hi Evlo,

There is no 'dirty' way to keep Hydractive 2 in soft mode. In addition to the spheres at the wheels there is an additional sphere in the middle of each axle. These middle spheres can be connected or disconnected from the hydraulic circuit by the valve to which they are attached.

Power on to valve = valve open = soft mode
power off = valve closed = stiff mode

To keep the suspension in soft mode you need to provide a power supply to the valve all of the time. However, the power is not straightforward. When the power is first switched on it is 12v DC. This has enough power to open the valve. However, after the first burst of 12vDC the current then switches on and off very quickly (I cannot remember the frequency). the purpose of the 'switching on and off' is to reduce the overall power sent to the valve. If you keep the 12v DC on all the time the heat produced will eventually burn out the electrical coil.

So, you can keep it in soft mode permanently but you need to find a way of producing the fast switching of the current.

I'm not sure of the cars ability to maintain good roadholding when going around a corner with the suspension in permanent soft mode. Try this at your own risk.

Cheers

noz

[noz]

ps

No, turning 5 degrees is not good. It is likely the reason it is not turning further is that the hydraulic pipe is stopping it. this means all of the turning force is being transmitted to the hydraulic pipe. The only way this can be possible is that the rubber bond keeping the two halves of the strut top together is completely broken.

Please see here for the results if the strut top goes completely:
http://club-xm.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1707&hl=
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19386
http://club-xm.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1626&hl=

Consider very carefully whether to keep driving or not.

Cheers

noz

[evlo]

Pretty scary, i will investigate how it actually look under the rubber cover in engine bay (i don't know why, but whole body in engine area on this car is covered in some kind of rubber (like one that is put as insulation on roofs etc.)) before any driving for sure

UPDATE: after quick look it seams ok, only little surface rust, but movements seems to be caused by rubber base, but i will investigate further tomorrow.
At least i will do measurement check that you mention in pdf in other thread.

This post has been edited by evlo on June 03, 2010 07:59 pm

[evlo]

Hello,

i have made some photos of my strut tops and i would like your opinion on it, so what do you think?

driver's side car on lowest:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GILQsTRUrlA/TAk2MoWt...kouk_ridice.jpg
passenger's side car on lowest:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GILQsTRUrlA/TAk2M221...spolujezdce.jpg

driver's side car on highest:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GILQsTRUrlA/TAk2WUC0...bouk_ridice.jpg
passenger's side car on highest:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GILQsTRUrlA/TAk2WtcE...spolujezdce.jpg

passenger's side overview 1:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GILQsTRUrlA/TAk2NHxn...spolujezdce.jpg
passenger's side overview 2:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GILQsTRUrlA/TAk2M_w6...olujezdce_2.jpg
driver's side overview:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GILQsTRUrlA/TAk2NAUT...bouk_ridice.jpg

video of spheres movement when steering wheel is turned from one side to another - as you can see passenger side moves quite more then driver's side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYaSpUoA4rk

In my opinion driver's side look 100%, passenger's looks like it will hold for a year or so, but i know i can't be sure until i go to service for in deep inspection of both sides

This post has been edited by evlo on June 04, 2010 07:10 pm

[xmexclusive]

Hi evlo

It may well be worth doing a little more investigation of the passenger (LHD) strut head before you decide to run it for longer. Consider also that it is very difficult for anyone to risk giving an opinion to use longer from looking at photographs.
If it was my car I would want to examine from the wheel arch the underside rubber of both strut heads. I would be looking for any cracks that would form part of a circle. There will be 2 deep part circle recesses cast in the underside rubber that make the examination a little more difficult. This is the best visual examination you can make of the main suspension block as you cannot see it from above. If there is any sign of cracking joining these up towards making a full circle or the rubber is obviously seperating from the metal these are further signs of a bad condition strut head.
On the top of the strut head there is a thin layer of rubber fixed on top of the metal cone that contains and holds down the main suspension rubber block. This thin rubber is non structrual and often cracks and peels back a little. This can then attract moisture by capilliary action increasing greatly the rate of corrosion of the top of the metal cone. On my cars with this cracking/crazing I usually carefully peel away the top rubber. This allows me to examine the top surface steel of the cone to get an idea of how bad the rusting has become. Exposing that surface to the air can slow considerably the rate of rusting.
In my opinion if there is significant loss of metal then the strut head is not safe to continue using. If the rusting is little more than surface rusting then treatment with a rust paint system may be well worth while. I tend to have spare secondhand strut heads as I find the rubber peeling and rust treatment can be done easier to a much higher standard on a separate component off the car.
As a last point as well as being handed there are at least 3 different designs of XM strut head used during the production. These are not interchangable so if seeking to obtain replacements make sure that the correct part is being obtained. In the UK these strut heads are very expensive from Citroen (£450 each). Secondhand ones from scrap cars are often heavily rusted and now difficult to find as the number of XM's are reducing.

John

This post has been edited by xmexclusive on June 05, 2010 12:13 pm

[evlo]

Also i did not found any aftermarket or any alternative to speeding so much on new ones. Is there some alternative? Or only way is to lurk and lurk until i find some usefull second hands ones?
BTW my car is 1998.

[xmexclusive]

Hi evlo

There is a Swedish system for half cones that you bolt on over the top of the existing cones. You bed them to the old with windscreen adhesive, then weld the two halves together. You can only buy then as sets to repair both sides. They were about £120 for a set. I have never tried them but others have and report well on them. I seem to remember a write up on here a good while ago.

John