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Not sure if I'm imagining it but...
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Stealth   
Mon Nov 11 2013, 07:47am
Joined: Aug 11 2012
Member No: #986
Location: Sydney
 Have I done one of my spheres in?

A few weeks ago, after a legally compliant run down the expressway, I decided to have a bit of a blat in the last kilometre or two. You know, stretch the legs, turn up the volume, lift the aft horizontal stabiliser to flight mode, engage warp drive etc.

Selecting Sport mode for the exit ramp, where I intended an enthusiastic left sweep re-entry to more gentle, quiet country road conditions, at speed, I encountered an anticipated bump-rise in the tarmac. Everything went perfectly, two and a half tonnes of high-tech French metal wafting smoothly yet fluidly through the unsettled part of the bend.

However... the next day, Planette 6 didn't seem to settle to her normal resting position in the garage. She seem to remain standing, to attention, ready if called upon to go and challenge that bend again.

After the next drive, this condition passed and there's been little to comment on since.

However... and here's the thing... I get the sense that my front suspension is a tad harsher than the rear (more so than the normal Rennes production line front/rear differential bias), a little more sensitive to ruts and sharp bumps in the road. It's almost as though the front spheres are selected for Sport, while the rear are set for comfort.

I'm now thinking dialogue with a service technician is called for, perhaps interrogation under spotlight with Lexia? A call to M? Maybe I've shredded the middle front sphere? I know that one sphere down can distort ride quality - making progress a bit more like driving across a tightly stretched trampoline, than the normally nitrogen adjusted landscape.

So... I'm wondering, in a post-Xantia existential moment, is Lexia clever enough to identify a damaged sphere? Or do we still remain in an age where we need each and every sphere pressure tested until we find zee culprit?

Doctors, diagnosticians and Dave (our acknowledged and highly esteemed hydromeister), your hypotheses please.

Imagined? Possible? Seen before?
smihaialex   
Mon Nov 11 2013, 10:33am
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
 Hi there,

If you feel like the front is in sport mode, while the rear is in confort mode, you are right to suspect that something might be wrong with the front stiffness regulator sphere (the central one).

Try enabling sport mode, and if there's almost no difference, you may have confirmation of that theory.

However, if enabling sport mode further increases crispiness of the front suspension (which you should be able to feel in the steering wheel) then it might just all be in your head

Cheerios,
Sam
gmerry   
Tue Nov 12 2013, 08:59am
Joined: Dec 11 2009
Member No: #21
Location: Scotland
 Hi Aussi Stealth, to answer one of your questions:-

Lexia cannot detect a flat or failed sphere, these are purely mechanical devices with no imbedded instrumentation / electronics.

Most reliable method if the spheres are detected is to depressurise the system hydraulics (Note, cap must be removed first from the LDS reservoir to prevent it rupturing and have plenty of rags to hand).

If there is dirty brown fluid coming out of the top of the reservoir, this is your first direct observation: the dirty brown fluid is the effect of nitrogen bubbles in the LDS. Then you must test each sphere with a sphere tester/pressure gauge to find which is flat/reptured.


Something to keep in mind is that the front corner spheres control suspension stiffness and damping (damping because the strut dampers displace into the corner spheres). The central stiffness sphere, just controls suspension stiffness (roll and vertical). If there are odd lurches, that indicates loss of damping or failure of a corner sphere.


Regards

G
Stealth   
Tue Nov 12 2013, 07:55pm
Joined: Aug 11 2012
Member No: #986
Location: Sydney
 smihaialex & gmerry,

Thank you for your opinions.

I suspected that despite our spheres now being manufactured in Japan, we still haven't added a chip to them or something like the TPMS that exists on each wheel. That could be handy, or a total nightmare...

Smi, I tried your sport vs normal suggestion yesterday but that didn't quite clear up the question.

I think I'll schedule an appointment and have a technician take a look, as I don't know how to depressurise the system gmerry. That's not as simple as just lowering the car to its lowest height I take it?
smihaialex   
Tue Nov 12 2013, 09:12pm
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
 You need Lexia/Diagbox to depresurize, or you can do it manually via the bleed screw, but I think that going to a service is the best approach if you don't have the tools or you're not in the mood for some DIY...

Cheers,
Sammy
 

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