hi there is there any way of tricking the rear suspension into thinking its higher than it really is in effect lowering the car ??

cheers

rotate the height sensor arm on the sway bar.

How do you do this ?

Slacken the clamp on the rear anti roll bar, and rotate it round to the desired point, then lock it back up.

Anyone got pics of this ?

You don't need a pic. Raise the car to maximum height and get under for a look! The height sensor is bolted to the diff housing. You can't miss it, or the arm connected to the sway bar.

Hope you dont catch the diff on speed bumps then!

Did you end up achieving this?

Don't go that low!!

Is it not a bit dodgy messing with something so breakable?

Why has the rear suspension got a name for being weak?
In all the years i have worked on these, the problems are always the same and they are all easy to fix, they are not even that expensive to repair if you do the work yourself.

Urban myth then..?

I can only speak from my own experiances, but i have never had a problem on one that could not be sorted out relativly cheaply. I feel the big problem is due to lack of understanding of the system and the labour costs that people charge to fix them, as like i said before the parts a relativly cheap if you don't mind having a go yourself.

1:Hard rear suspension: Rear sphere failed about £70 incl: Vat
2:Collapsed trail arm bearings: abot £70 a side if you go genuine (they are only taper roller brg's though, so as long as you have the numbers off of them you can get them from anywhere).
3:Car fails to lift: Usually broken wire to the pressure switch: repair free, Oh a peice of wire.

If you service it properly and regularly like to manual says then the pump and other hydraulics should last for ever. i.e: clean the filters and change the LHM fluid. You will probebly find that these have never been done.

As said, there is little to go wrong if serviced regularly. Change the LHM every two years. Wash out the reservoir with warm water and dry. Take the sphere to a Citroen dealer for checking. It should have 40 Bar. These should also be checked every two years.

I have an Xantia which needs it's rear spheres regassing every two years. It has typically only 12-15 Bar (out of 40) in each sphere after two years. If you let them go flat they will burst, leaking LHM everywhere. The rear Xantia spheres only have a single diaphragm, unlike the front which are doubles, and have never lost there pressure. I am unsure whether the Mi16x4 sphere is a single or a double.

I also have a spare sphere which has 55 Bar, which I haven't used yet. I'm going to try it next time I change the LHM. It should stiffen the rear significantly.

Well I just bought a 4bie which hadn't moved in 5 years and the suspension all works as it should! So I take it all back!

How do you raise and lower the rear on demand?

Cheers

The big switch in the boot. It will only raise it for maintenance purposes. Shorting out the two spade terminals next to it will lower the car. Otherwise, it's fully auto.

I raised then lowered the car to see just how high/low it can go. When I drove off this morning I must not have raised the car enough as it was really bouncy and low at the back. I was only driving for about 2 mins, but shouldn't the suspension have raised itself to normal hight in that time automatically? and will it do damage driving with the suspension that low? I pulled over and raised it to normal hight using the big button on the boot.