I think Phil has quite a low mileage Xm, so shouldnt be bearings just yet?

Maybe something worth checking out though!

Hi Stiff Risers!!!
Had a similar experience on Monday up near Ross on Wye suspension went very hard for no apparent reason but after 3 to 4 miles decided to stop and put suspension right up and down thinking it might be a sticking height corrector.
Didn't cure the problem so pressed on but after another 4 miles engine started loosing power and missing forcing me to stop again as car was now undriveable.
So call the AA as I am in the middle of nowhere but no signal on Orange or O2 !!
Ain't that just like it -1 degC outside and no mobile signal! AA guy diagnosed alternator not charging, this was confirmed by my being unable to use hazard flashers!!! Battery must have been completely exausted.
To cut a long story short after 6 hours waiting for replacement alternator to be fitted everything is now hunkey dorey and suspension is back to normal magic carpet ride.
I deduce that failing voltage caused electrovalves to malfunction and probably the suspension ecu resulting in hard ride. Eventually engine management failed as battery finally failed to deliver the volts.Thought this senario might apply in some of the cases above.
In my case I didn't even get a battery warning light come on in the dash.
AA guy suggested this might have been because the brushes in my alternator were not connecting with the commutater and they need to do this to give you a battery warning light on the dash, a hammer blow to the brush end of the alternator jogged the brushes into contact and hey presto battery warning light comes on!!
Hope this may help others.
Regards Merv.

Cold weather and hydraulic???
Some complaining of -5 deg. here.
No problem. Fact is:
The further up north you come in Sweden and Norway, the more Citroens you meet on the road.
Temp stays regularely around -20 to -40 all winter. Everything is stiff, eksept the hydraulics

I've got mine up without problem 0600 and -38.

Some precautians though:

Clean LHM, clean filters. If it's to cold: run on Hydracinquage.

And some paraffin and Westfrost in the fuel (if it's a diesel)

Have a nice winter!

/Erik J

After extensive cleaning and tinkering mine now rises to full height after sitting all week before the oil level display on the dash goes out

First thing - check the hydraulic pump belt tension. It may be OK when the fluid is nice and thin but slipping in this weather.

Hehe. One get used to it after some generations

An English experiense from the late seventies:

We went to England with the ferry to Immingham in February. Norwegian Viking Stop Wnter tyres with ice dubs on the DS...........and met the winter you did'nt remember.
Up on M1 going north on the worst snowy and icy roads I've seen; but no traffic at all.
When we took off to Manchester, a Police Patrol stopped us and told us the road was closed

I showed them my tyres and my national sign. He smiled and said: Go on!

/Erik J

yes i think we are a bit wet in this country when it comes to cold weather, but then we dont get enough for people to become used to it.
Welcome to club xm by the way.

Regards
D

Temp stays regularly around -20 to -40 all winter

ah yes, cold enough so see the air sparkling in the sunshine. an amazing sight (for a tourist).

its certainly true about our different nations attitude to cold weather and driving. panic vs 'stick the studs on and get on with it'. I used to really enjoy driving in norway during the winter i was there. No problem with grip and the most amazing snowy views. (just a slightly low and heavily enforced speed limit!)

========>is always stiff in the morning !! with age it gradualy wears off till interest is shown then yer tooo old to do anything.......yer gotta laugh with the title of this thread...i wonder how many of us thought of the car problems first when first reading the title.........mind you as the old saying goes " great minds think alike but fools seldom differ." lol

My bro said his BX was also very slow rising in the cold weather (it has been even colder in Herefordshire than here in Bristol). That was last weekend before the seriously cold nights on tues and last nite. So I guess it isn't a hydractive only problem.

Why is slow rising a prob with S2's and anti-sink? Mine never has to rise up in the morning like the S1 (something I am going to have tho get used to again soon, lucky me).

Actually, mine has done far too many miles on hydraflush (probably 4k now, will have to check,
too skint to have LHM put back in) but after reading the advice from Scandinavia maybe that is a good thing given that I don't think we've seen the worst of this unusually cold weather yet. Steering has been a BIT stiff for a few hundred yards when really cold, but thats it.

Now, I don't remember MUCH apart from parents tales and a few photos about the winter of 68 (I was 6) which was apparently quite bad, and apparently I went blue on a trip back from the grandparents one very cold nite in the early 60's when I was just a baby. Really miss my dads input on the current weather, being a farmer all his life and living in the same area since the early 60's he would I am sure have had a few choice tales to tell.