The Ambassadorial XM estate has another new owner… Hi!

[Ambassador JDStone]

That’s good news. There were no obvious leaks, perhaps the odd weep but honestly I don’t think this car has had much in the way of tidying up after any jobs done… so that sticky old Lhm could have been there for yonks!
I’ll try get the old seal out and see where I’m at.
Thanks!

[Ambassador JDStone]

The pump change was a success, pulley is straight and true and my steering is smooth once again.
The more I drive it the more I like its mechanical feel and responsive controls. But it ain’t without its faults!

I don’t think I am experiencing the magic carpet ride as it should be, it’s lovely on the motorway but bobs up and down and crashes about a bit more than I thought it should.
The accumulator should, I believe, do its click every 30 seconds? Mine is doing so every 6-12 seconds! Also looking at the spheres they look pretty worn externally and likely been on a while. It all pumps up nicely and levels itself so I think all is well mechanically… I think

I’ve downloaded the sphere table so I know the correct pressures to buy, but just wondered if there is a specific supplier or brand of spheres I am best going for?
Ride at the rear feels ok so I think I’m going to replace the accumulator and front spheres first… unless I am steered another direction!

[DownUnderXM]

Here's one option - they sell IFHS, which have a good reputation (I'm using them on an XM and a Xantia).

https://www.sphere-discount.com/gb/

And here's another - also selling IFHS product, with almost identical pricing.

https://www.spheres-neuves.com/

I haven't personally bought from these vendors - my last sphere orders came from another online seller - Sphere Shop - who have disappeared. Don't even know if these French sites will ship to my home in Australia yet!

[Dieselman]

Try AEP in Glasgow for supply of IFHS spheres. Tel: 0141 647 0800
They used to list them on their website but no longer do, though we were advised they do still stock them.

The only real way to check the spheres is by removing and pressure testing them, but a relatively accurate method is to run the engine, ensure the ride is at the correct height, then bounce the front and rear of the car, which should feel softish and fluid at the front and masses of bounce at the rear. Really push and pull on the car to get it bouncing.
If it appears the spring rate is becoming rapidly firmer when pushing down the spheres are low on gas.

Switch off the engine, leave the doors closed and wait for the electrovalve to de-activate. (30s and there should be a clunk noise)
Now bounce the car again, which should be very stiff, due to being in hard mode.

You may well find a member willing to pressure test and re-gas your spheres either at a CCC rally, or another time if you travel to them.

The more I drive it the more I like its mechanical feel and responsive controls.

Xm are a great drivers car, very tactile and precise.

[Ambassador JDStone]

I ordered an accumulator sphere earlier today, just off eBay as it’s what I use most commonly… gone to look who the stock is from, and it’s AEP in Glasgow!
Starting with that to get the accumulator clicks a little less frequent and I’ll gradually replace the rest in pairs I reckon.

[Dieselman]

AEP will probably do a deal over the phone.

I've now added the IFHS and AL-Ko catalogues to the Sphere tables.

[Ambassador JDStone]

I can report that some of the sphere replacement went well… because I only replaced some of the spheres
Front corners and accumulator done, the latter of which were easy… but involved using a hammer and chisel as the tool wouldn’t fit and the latter of which required a 4 foot bar and swinging on it under my work mates 4 post ramp!
Just the centre and all the rears left to go when I get use of the ramp again.

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While I was there I checked the condition of the strut tops which I believe were ok, just a bit of corrosion on the top shroud thingy, but the underside in the wheel arch didn’t show any separation that I could see. What do you reckon?
I coated the rusty bits in copper grease, it’ll do for now.

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Now that my Punto is back as my daily the XM is laid up on the drive for now, it decided to Chuck some of its water out when parked on a hot day after a spell in traffic. I can’t tell if it’s the water pump or a pipe that’s gone. It doesn’t leak while it’s not running, emptying the header tanks with in a few miles of running.
Reckon it’s worth replacing and doing the 5 year old timing belt kit at the same time?
Also, I discovered while underneath it that it only has one radiator fan… which may have been the cause of it getting pretty hot! No wiring present, no relays or anything. Is a single fan original fitment for a 2.0i boggo spec car? And should I endeavour to fit a second one? I’ve found one from a peugeot with the same size fan with the wiring, tempted to stick that on with a relay to a manual switch since I have lots of blank slots in the interior!

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[Dieselman]

Early non-A/c 2.0 petrol Xm did only have a single fan, but another was added later on, or as a towing package. Your car has a twin fan should so probably a later addition. It probably doesn't have the twin fan control electrics.

Is the fan actually working and coming on when hot? If not the system will lose water.
It might be time for a new radiator cap.

If you don't know how old the timing belt is, fit one, it's really easy on the 2.0 petrol engines.

As far as sphere removal goes, they shouldn't be particularly tight.
With the engine running lower the car then release the regulator pressure relief bolt 1/4 turn, then switch off the engine. If the car has anti sink wait 30 seconds between lowering the car and releasing the bleed bolt, to fully evacuate the system.
Corner spheres will often just unscrew by hand, accumulator and centre spheres are held on rigid supports so a few whacks with a lump hammer, either while trying to loosen by hand, or not, will normally loosen them off. (think how an impact driver works)

With rear corners the rams are held in place by locating dowels to stop them turning. If the dowels are corroded allowing the rams to turn, raise the car to the top to load the ram, thus locking it in place by friction, undo the sphere slightly then lower and relieve the pressure, etc.

Only do up hand tight and don't even spin them on.

You should have done the accumulator and centre spheres when you had ramp access, all corner spheres can be changed without jacking the car up.

What condition are the old spheres in, worth re-gassing?

To my knowledge those side bolt type removal tools never work, re-fabricate your removal tool to make it a band wrench. Steel on steel has a significant coefficient of friction.
If there is sufficient interest I could look to make some band wrenches.

Those strut tops look fine as far as corrosion goes, ideally remove them, clean and paint.

It's good to see you are doing some of the neglected jobs on this car.

[Ambassador JDStone]

Oh the fun thing is it didn’t lose water from the top, it lost it further down, I just can’t see where apart from where it dripped from!
The fan works great, but it does it as a last resort at about 95° on the gauge, it would be nice to cut it in a little sooner really, or stick a manual one on that as soon as I pull up in traffic I can put it on to keep it cool.
Timing belt was done in 2019, about 12,000mls ago, but I don’t know if they did anything else like water pump while there.

As far as sphere removal went it was pretty good! The tool is great but a little cumbersome, but worth the tenna I paid for it. I did those three first because it was my first time doing it and I had a time limit, and being the pressure regulator was down to clicking every 5 seconds the accumulator really needed changing.
It’s up to 30-50 seconds now! Not perfect but lots better.
I opted for new spheres all round because AEP got the accumulator sphere to me in 17 hours after ordering, so a week or so later I just bought the lot.
I bought a full set of IFHS spheres because taking the car to have the work done somewhere or removing them, having a dead Citroen for however long it took to ship them and receive them or new ones back just isn’t an option. Whereas working on it now and again on the ramp is!

[Dieselman]

I had a rubber hose that had a split that only opened under high temperature and revs.

As far as spheres, if you don't have facility to pressure test the ones you have, it's definitely a good idea to replace all the ones on the car for good quality, new ones.
You may find some of your old ones are suitable for recharging, which is a lot cheaper than new replacements. Charge them up and keep as spares: they don't lose gas in storage.