DS height corrector to anti roll bar connection

[Pallas74]

Hi. Wondering if anyone can shed light on the mysterious "nut for eccentric pin operating corrector" that sits halfway up the fork thats attached to the front anti-roll bar (sway bar) in which the front height corrector ball sits. Let me explain...

Have changed out a sticky height corrector. At same time adjusted the suspension link heights which were both at 197mm so have set those to 198/199mm as per the book. Also reseated the roll bar shims and replaced the bent self-levelling headlight wire. All good so far.

Bled the system and the back came up but the front didnt. Cause is that the height corrector hadnt got the signal from the roll bar which I presume is just resetting the height at the front. Applied a screwdriver to acivate the height corrector and everything working - just that the fork needs moving nearer the height corrector.

However the manual height corrector rod which goes through the fork is noticably catching so I'm thinking that the rod isnt sitting squarely in the middle of the hole in the fork. A look in the Autobooks 742 manual and there's a diagram showing this eccentric pin which is halfway up the fork. I cant make out if the fork is one piece attached to the roll bar or two pieces connected by the pin. No mention of this in other manuals Ive looked at.

Anyways, I loosened the nut and have tried turning the pin with a screwdriver in the slot in the pin but cannot for the life of me see what it is actually adjusting. I was hoping it might adjust the fork in relation to the rod.

Am I barking up the wrong tree? Any ideas what this eccentric pin does and now that I have adjusted it what I would expect to have screwed up!! Any idea how to sit the rod in the fork hole so it doesn't catch?

Thanks in hope. Pete

 

[David S]

A 'sticky' height corrector if often not really sticky. It can become clagged up by debris accumulating and blocking the passage joining both sides of the corrector. A further problem in the DS is where the front roll bar has excessive lateral play (worn plastic bushes) and moves to the left, placing lateral pressure on the corrector's valve and making it 'sticky'. The first condition you often experience it staying up or not responding and the second, I have experienced where the cars nods because it sticks until it has over-corrected and then lets go. So, do either of those causes apply here? There is a clamp on either end of the roll bar and these need to be adjusted to limit the lateral / side-to-side movement of the roll bar.

If you are not sure if the linkages are where they are supposed to be, then you really should follow the factory manual procedures for setting up the roll bar and corrector linkage. If you have moved the lateral position of the roll bar, then you may need to move the roll bar back across slightly and/or shift the clamp in the middle left or right a little so the fork at the extreme left of the linkage will move freely and not apply any lateral pressure on the corrector valve. Then you can set up the reference height at the front and adjust the corrector linkage nut relative to the fork so it is within the design specs. The procedure for this in the manual involves using a special tool with two pointer rods. The long top one slips into a bolt hole in the half axle housing and the short bottom one into the centre of the hub. You can approximate this I guess, but it's meant to help you set up the corrector linkage at the fork. The manual link pushes against the fork and overcomes the link bar to the roll bar, so setting the corrector to high or low position.

There are good pictures in the factory manual. If you don't have it already, download the 'Green' CD package and look for Manual 814-1. Don't pay the eBay scroungers who have most likely nicked the pdfs from here:
https://sites.google.com/site/citroenpublicationslist/
The links mostly go to DropBox, but a few contributors have hosted some manuals elsewhere.

 

[Pallas74]

Thanks David. All good stuff and well explored before I decided to swap out the height corrector. The one I took out is definitely sticky now it's off and I can test it. I refurbish it 8 years ago and remembered it being imperfect but now it's a lot worse. Prob can be refurbed again but this time decided in a replacement unit.

Everything checking okay on heights and lateral movement. Just need to reset the height and the interaction with the manual height corrector rod which is currently sticky. I can jog it through the sticky bit with a screwdriver. It's catching.

Any thoughts on the purpose of the eccentric pin on the fork.

Many thanks. Pete.

 

[David S]

OK, scratch my earlier attempt at this reply. It was wrong as I was looking at a part from another model. maybe CX. Anyway, the roll bar with links I have now found that came off a late 23 wreck seems to have a single arm pressing that is bolted to a stub on the end of the linkage. If there is an eccentric in there, then it would pivot the arm relative to the link rod. One the other part I'd found there is an eccentric, secured by a nut and it alters the relative angle of the corrector arm to the manual link arm. I don't think it's a D part though. Stuff like that is usually set up on manufacture and not likely to be a problem unless it's been dismantled or fiddled with.

Sorry if some of the earlier comments seemed to be 'preaching to the converted'. You don't always know where others are at.

 

[Pallas74]

OK, scratch my earlier attempt at this reply. It was wrong as I was looking at a part from another model. maybe CX. Anyway, the roll bar with links I have now found that came off a late 23 wreck seems to have a single arm pressing that is bolted to a stub on the end of the linkage. If there is an eccentric in there, then it would pivot the arm relative to the link rod. One the other part I'd found there is an eccentric, secured by a nut and it alters the relative angle of the corrector arm to the manual link arm. I don't think it's a D part though. Stuff like that is usually set up on manufacture and not likely to be a problem unless it's been dismantled or fiddled with.

Sorry if some of the earlier comments seemed to be 'preaching to the converted'. You don't always know where others are at.

Thanks David, no worries all advice is good advice and thanks for looking through your spare parts bins! Mines a late 23. The ARB has two torsion bars. One to the height corrector. The other to the headlight self-leveling wire hook. Both have a bobble on the end which inserts in the half shell. The other end f each clamping to the ARB. Undoing and rotating the clamp on the height corrector torsion bar sets the front height. I'm preaching to you now

I'm picturing the torsion bar that's clamped to the roll bar for the height corrector. At its end is the bobble that slots into the half shell. Just before that is the stub you refer to with the fork that the height corrector ball sits in. Halfway up this stub is the pin and nut. I can rotate the pin but I cant work out what its doing. Does it move the top of the fork fore and aft or back and forward or up and down. If possible it would be a great help if you could loosen the nut and rotate the pin to deduce what it does. This may enable me to position the fork so that the manual corrector rod that runs through it is not rubbing and catching on the fork.

If you can read the attachment the nut is number 37 sitting above teh pin that goes through the fork. The hole at the top of the fork is where the manual height correction rod passes through and this is where its catching. So knowing if rotating the pin helps to center the rod in the hole is what I'm after if its not a complete red herring.

Many thanks for your help!

 

[David S]

OK, so I dug it out and slackened nut 37. It does nothing except hold it together. If you slacken nut 37, the stud with the slot in the end can turn. It has a round head, so the slot is the only way to hold it when tightening the nut. It has no eccentric and the hole in arm is only large enough to take the stud.

If you are finding the manual link is fouling up, then maybe you need to slide the clamp along the roll bar a little bit more to shift the fork a bit? Nut 37 will not resolve the problem you have.

Autobooks is not always correct. Some of the diagrams in the later 21 and 23 version are obviously recycled from the 19 manual, so can be misleading. It's a handy reference, but the factory manuals are probably the best, if hard to follow at times. If you can find one, the Peter Russek Pocketbook for the DS is worth having and they seem to be technically better at the expense of pictures versus the Autobooks option. It also fits neatly in the glovebox.

 

[Pallas74]

David. Thats very kind of you. So a red herring it was. I'll tighten it up and as I have to adjust the height anyway I'll try what you suggested. Thanks so much for taking a look it'll save me time hoping for something that wasnt going to happen!!

Will let you know how I finally fix the snagging. Cheers for now

 

[Pallas74]

Just as a quick update. I determined the the eccentric pin can be loosened and the pivot arm adjusted a little to left and right (fore and aft) as an initial setting relative to the height corrector before setting everything else. However, after all sorts of adjustments and cursing at the position of the torsion rod clamp bolt on the anti-roll bar and not being able to rotate the clamp made me think something else was awry. Darrin at Citroen Classics kindly agreed to have a quick look and he ascertained my suspicion that the LH anti-rattle spring had dropped and was snagging the torsion bar stopping it rotating properly. The spring was still seemingly in the correct location pressing onto the anti-roll bar but the strap had failed and the spring itself had slipped down below the cross-member. A jemmy and a hammer popped that back in place and voila - enabled the torsion bar to rotate as it should. The bar must just have been catching on the top of the spring. A few adjustments later and all is well. We noticed that the brass torsion bar end has a bit of lateral movement in the anti-roll bar half shell so I might look to sort that as the final fix and replacing the strap on the spring for good measure then hopefully the front suspension will behave as designed. I've just had the pleasure of wafting around France covering 1200 miles without incident. Thanks all for help as usual.