Xantia Steering Puzzlement

Here's the background.

Having not been able to give Zaphod the TLC he deserves for a long time now, I've been planning some quality time with him for a while.

Just recently, when cold, first thing in the morning usually, the steering has felt "lumpy" as if it was being fed from a pulsing supply. This would clear after a couple of Km so it was just noted in passing.

I've also been having the odd issue with rear suspension height. (Varying while sitting at the lights, all by itself!)

A bright thought struck me yesterday (and you could well ask why it took so long) that perhaps the main accumulator was flattish. Listening to the cycling of the pump seemed to add weight to this, it was cycling around 15 seconds or so. Also, the big red lights would go out quite quickly after an overnight inactivity. Both symptoms of a low accumulator.

So this morning I put the beast up the drive, depressurised and removed the accumulator. It tested at just under 300 psi, about 21 Bar. Spot on in the diagnosis I thought! I then proceeeded to dig out my spare accumulator which tested at 550psi (38B) which, while lower than the nominal spec of 62 bar is above the minimum specified of 30 bar.

In it went and after a bit of other minor works, such as repairing a leaking return hose on the LH strut and adding some grease to the strut shafts, I fired it all up, bled the regulator and cycled the suspension.

So far all good, cycle time around a minute or less so the accumulator is obviously doing its thing.

So let's go for a drive. What's this? The steering is awfully heavy. Yes, I now have what we used to call "Armstrong" steering some of the time. (as in unassisted). It seems to smooth out once you're driving, but is heavy on rapid turns and at parking speeds.

Can it be that my HP pump has gone (partially) to God? I've noticed a bit of a racket from the pump when swinging the steering wheel and on that basis I took the precaution yesterday of acquiring a spare pump from the esteemed Mr Cavanagh of French Connection (grovel, genuflect) so I can prove the point by swapping it I suppose.

I'm just curious that this appears to have happened quite rapidly, given that the car drove fine yesterday with no overt signs of heavy steering. I just don't see how changing the accumulator could trigger a failure in the pump? Perhaps the extra load of charging to a higher pressure has clackered out an already marginal valve or two? I'm guessing the suspension side of the pump is working fine as there's not obvious issues, but the P/S comes from the multi cylinder part as I understand it.

So does anyone have any bright ideas before I go and tackle the swap?

Cheers, Pottsy

air somewhere? open bleed valve of regulatory and run for a few minutes....

It's the poogoe system with 6&2 pump right ?? rather than proper hydraulics .... I'd suggest checking the pump... there must be a simple blow off valve arrangement for the poogoe steering rack too. I'm sure David will know where it's located.

Yes Shane, it's the 6+2 jobbie. Still proper hydraulics though.

OK, I've replaced the pump assembly complete. Since I had the replacement I figured it'd save me time, except for the consequences!

1. The rotten mongrel brittle old intake pipe split at the pump end! I've replaced the first 6" or so with power steering return hose and an aluminium joiner, so it should be fine.

2. Now the bloody thing needs bleeding. I've tried filling the pump from the return hose, but lacking a small enough funnel I've managed to get LHM everywhere but (I suspect) into the pump.

Getting frustrated and cranky, Time for a cuppa I think. Saving the beers for later.

Make a cuppa and search for a means of filling the pump properly. I figure it needs priming as I'm not gettting any kind of flow visible in the tank. Got the regulator pressure relief open and just run the engine. I should see flow shouldn't I?

Input would be welcome.

Cheers, Pottsy

An air leak on the intake side would be worth looking for. It could have been at the pump end, but now that it's broken off entirely you can't know for sure. Could be at the reservoir end?

How is the pinion return line looking? Hard and crispy and almost ready for a really big leak?

Thanks guys.

Certainly the original problem may have been a suction line leak, but that was certainly the problem with bleeding.

Couldn't work out why after turning off the motor I could hear a hiss and gurgle straight after. Turned out to be the clamps on my repair section not being tight enough, and the hiss and gurgle was the air leak.

Simple in hindsight, but no less frustrating.

Car now has normal hydraulics again (so far).

I'm going to dismantle and check the original pump. It was certainly making loud noises so I think I was right to replace it. "New" one is lovely and quiet.

Just got to source some brake pads and a couple of new tyres and Zaphod will be almost good as new. (Well, 247,000Km new!)

Thanks for the responses chaps. Now to clean up the shed and crack a frothy.

Cheers, Pottsy

The LHM to HP pump rubber hose can be relatively easily replaced as follows:

1. You need a generous 2m (2.5m to be safe) of fuel hose 7/16" diameter (Repco or SuperCheap)
2. One metre of 19mm irrigation polypropelene (Bunnings sell in 1m lengths). This slips over the 7/16" hose in the same place as the original reinforced hose (ie the horizontal run alongside the engine)
3. You will need to remove the air intake tube and anything else that sits above the flywheel housing, as there is a plastic saddle that is vulcanised onto the HP pump feed and the similar sized hose linking the regulator to the LHM tree/ LHM reservoir. The saddle needs to be sectioned to separate the two large hoses (another brilliant piece of Citroen design for no other benefit other than to make a complete new harness mandatory if one part breaks).
4. Clamp one end of the new 7/16" hose to the HP pump. Bend it into a nice arc reusing positioning clamps. Slip on the polyprop irrigation tube. Route hose over flywheel cover mimicking original route. Then form a graceful arc under the LHM reservoir to come up to the connection on the top of the LHM tank. [The original hose had some right angled bends under the LHM tank. Forget that, just bend it in smooth arcs to finish in the correct place].

Generally I find Imperial measurements for fuel hose more easily obtainable than Metric ones The relationship of the 7/16" hose and 19mm polypropelene is another reason. It would probably be better to get 5m of 7/16" hose so you have the correct size for when you do the regulator to LHM tree/LHM reservoir (which you surely will one day).



John

John, that's absolute gold.

Thanks.

For the moment I need to minimise down time as I've got an elderly parent in hospital and transporting other parent across town to visit needs a reliable car.

My repair of the existing pipe almost mirrors the first 6 inches or so of yours. After that, it's still the original and I hate to think how brittle it must be by now.

Once things settle down a bit Zaphod will get a whole lot more TLC, and since one part of that planned treatment is a full LHM filter clean and fluid replacement, I imagine that's when I'll need to replace as many sections of hose as I can. With the help of your diagrams I anticipate the job will be a lot easier.

Cheers, and thanks again for sharing the knowledge (and pain). Pottsy