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Suspension height adjustment |
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darrell
 
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  Member No: #699
Location: Hampshire |
I've just noticed that my car won't reach the highest suspension position (the wheel change position). It starts to move up from the intermediate-high position, but never quite makes it (the "adjustment complete" graphic never appears, and the (presumably) LDS pump keeps on whirring away beneath the bonnet. Might it be that the height adjustment sensors and/or switching are all out of kilter? I say this because the front (particularly) seems too high in normal mode, and after setting off (gently!) in the lowest setting, and letting the car raise itself, it might be my imagination, but maybe the ride is better? Ideas anyone? Obviously I'll get it checked out at a garage asap, but I'm off to France for a few days in the morning - oh well, if disaster strikes, it might be the best country to be in! |
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C6Dave
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    Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
Have you done the obvious and checked that the LDS tank is full? The suspension ride height setting process is in the Suspension section of Technical Document Archive - Click Here - and scroll down |
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darrell
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Member No: #699
Location: Hampshire |
Thanks Dave. I've returned from France - no dramas with the car, I enjoyed motoring around almost empty roads, the only problem was keeping to 90km/h! I took it to the garage today, it took a litre of LDS, and they agreed with me that the ride height looked wrong, particularly at the front - it's booked in next week for to be reset. With the extra fluid, the pump noise when raising the car has gone, and I think I'm now hearing more than feeling low speed irregularities, so fingers crossed for further improvement. |
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C6Dave
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Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
Have you got a leak on the LDS tank hose under the wheel arch? It's quite common and covered in detail on site in other threads. |
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darrell
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Member No: #699
Location: Hampshire |
C6Dave wrote ... Have you got a leak on the LDS tank hose under the wheel arch? It's quite common and covered in detail on site in other threads. Well, the car responded to the extra LDS by starting to leak it out, just forward of the drivers side front wheel - I'm hoping that it is the hose that you mention - I've already mentioned what I have learned on the forum to the garage, and as soon as they have time, they'll lift the car, take off the wheel and arch liner, and have a look. Meanwhile, I took the C5 to work today - it's not that the leak on the C6 is that bad, but seeing as I still have the C5, and have had to insure it, I thought I might as well take it for a run, charge the battery up and all that. Interesting experience after 2 and a half weeks driving the C6: the steering seems so heavy at low speeds, and the brake pedal has much less travel. It also rides better than the C6, at least at low speeds - hardly surprising given the ride height/leak problems with the C6, but it's ironic that the C5 is over 5 years older, and has never needed any maintenance on the suspension, aside from one LDS top-up in 11 years. Never mind, the C6 will be sorted out sooner rather than later. |
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C6Dave
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Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
darrell wrote ... Well, the car responded to the extra LDS by starting to leak it out, just forward of the drivers side front wheel - I'm hoping that it is the hose that you mention Yes that's where the hose connection to the LDS tank is. |
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nickyg
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Member No: #100
Location: Tyrone |
Darrell, Just to let you know, my C6 has had the exact symptoms you are displaying, for a long time now. I'm in the process of quite a substantial overhaul. New LDS tank and front spheres last year did not cure this issue. I suspect/hope a height sensor issue or failed rear sphere(s) or strut. I do not hope for a BHI issue! I've previously addressed other leak issues (aside from the cracked LDS tank) by replacing the clips under the LDS tank and also behind drivers side fog lamps. The similarities are uncanny. Whirring pump and not reaching max high on display. Poor ride. Looks high at front in normal mode etc. Even down to the propensity for the ejection of LDS when filled to its seemingly correct level. I keep the level slightly low to compensate, or simply let it be at the level it ejects to. For example, if I fill to max indicated level and, say, park on a moderately high kerb then put in low, I could get an ejection. Similarly, this could happen if jacking (can't reach max high, so must jack at mid high). I am thankful for the newer version LDS cap weep vent for allowing the ejection to occur without further damage (I assume this is where yours leaks from?) One theory I have is that a failed rear sphere or two may be acting as an extra vessel for LDS as it fills with fluid past the diaphragm. Think what would happen if you wished to administer an accurate dosage of fluid into a container with a pipette only to find the rubber bellow of the pippete also being filled with fluid instead of air. Your container would therefore overfill and spill. I'm replacing all struts, all wheel sensors and brackets. Front wishbones and hubs and various bushes, also all rear spheres. With an unexpected upturn in my work leaving me rather busy, this undertaking is proving a rather large one for me to complete now! Hopefully by next weekend, as I'm taking things carefully. Very interested to hear how you get on. Perhaps together we can get to the bottom of this! Hopefully without having a single new BHI unit purchased between us!  Good luck! Nicky |
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michaelb
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 Member No: #14
Location: London |
darrell wrote ... Meanwhile, I took the C5 to work today - it's not that the leak on the C6 is that bad, but seeing as I still have the C5, and have had to insure it, I thought I might as well take it for a run, charge the battery up and all that. Interesting experience after 2 and a half weeks driving the C6: the steering seems so heavy at low speeds, and the brake pedal has much less travel. It also rides better than the C6, at least at low speeds I had the opportunity to drive Citroën Slough's C5 many times when my C6 was being fiddled with by them. I agree fully with your experience; it is more comfortable and is easily able to tackle speed bumps at a full gallop. Agree with the steering comment too - I much preferred the C6's steering which is nothing short of excellent - and the first few times I used the C5's brakes I nearly whacked my head off the steering wheel their response is so immediate. It astonishing that two cars so similar in so many ways, produced by the same manufacturer, can have such different temperaments. |
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darrell
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Member No: #699
Location: Hampshire |
Update: the car was in the workshop today. Slightly worryingly, the LDS leak had stopped, and it was not obvious where it had been coming from. They've added a little more LDS, cleaned up the wheel arch liner, so we'll keep an eye on that! Better (much better!) news on the ride height: after a little head scratching (they'd never done the adjustment on a C6 before, and it's apparently very different to a C5), they succeeded in resetting the ride heights - the car now sits properly on the road. Looking at it now, "normal" before today was actually the intermediate setting, at least at the front. The crashing over humps in the road has gone, low speed is much smoother and high speed is more stable (I realise now that prior to the adjustment, it was pitching more than it should have been) and on the run home this evening (22 miles, mixture of town, country, roundabouts and a 10 mile dual carriageway blast), I got 35mpg, up from 30/31, now the front is no longer (relatively) pointing at the stars. |
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darrell
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Member No: #699
Location: Hampshire |
So, the LDS started coming out again, not a lot, and by the time I took it in for investigation today, it had stopped again. But this time they found the source - the tank is split, half way down on the rear side, i.e. the side facing the coolant tank. New one ordered and being replaced tomorrow. Will it need a full drain and replace of its LDS? What is the total capacity of the system? |
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smihaialex
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  Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest |
I would go for a full drain and replace, because LDS is hygrosensitive meaning that it absorbs water from the air, which affects its characteristics... The full capacity is less than I would have expected ~3 liters or less, if I remember correctly... Cheers, Sam |
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darrell
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Member No: #699
Location: Hampshire |
The job was done this morning with just a top-up of the LDS. The car feels fine, and for less than £100, parts and labour, I'm happy. What should I look out for if the LDS is now in less than optimum condition? | ||
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smihaialex
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Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest |
You shouldn't worry about it man - if the engineers decided to top it off, they knew what they were doing - the hygroscopic nature of LDS is only a thing to worry about if it has been sitting outside the system for days, like in a bucket or something, which I doubt was the case  Cheerios, Sam |
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Kaloteck
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 Member No: #1271
Location: Warsaw |
darrell wrote ... Meanwhile, I took the C5 to work today (...) It also rides better than the C6, at least at low speeds Rides better than the C6 ? How is that even possible ? |
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darrell
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Member No: #699
Location: Hampshire |
Kaloteck wrote ... darrell wrote ... Meanwhile, I took the C5 to work today (...) It also rides better than the C6, at least at low speeds Rides better than the C6 ? How is that even possible ? Bear in mind I am talking about a hydractive+ Mark 1 C5. But the C6 has improved significantly with the ride height set correctly and the right amount of LDS in the system. There still remains, though, some "crashiness" over broken surfaces, at low speed. It's strange, some discontinuities in the road surface bother it not at all, others quite a lot. I put a lot if it down to the low profile tyres (my C5 has 15 inch wheels with 65 profile tyres), but I think, sooner rather than later, I'll be thinking about suspension joints and/or spheres on the C6, which is a bit annoying as there have been no such problems on the C5, even though it's nearly twice the age and over twice the mileage of my C6. |
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