Citroen DS sphere pressure check

Today I attended a Citroen Car club tech day.   Since most Citroens are equipped with hydropneumatic suspension, the club has equipment to pressure test spheres.   It has been five years since I tested my spheres, so they were well overdue.   The sphere pressure check equipment consists of a hand pump and pressure gauge.   The club is also equipped with re-gassing facilities, although those were not available today for the rebuildable spheres in my DS21.

The tech day did have a hoist available, but my preference is to remove the spheres at home first.   As with last time I removed them, a strap wrench is easiest.   The spheres are different front/rear so it is important to mark where they came from on the car.

The tech day was held on the central coast, a good opportunity to take the old Pacific Highway in the 560SEC.   The car seems to be performing well after the EHA adjustment.

There was a good mix of Citroens at the tech day, including a DS, CX, and some modern Citroens.   The CX is becoming a rather rare car.   Quite a few spheres were tested, mostly the one piece units on the later models.

My spheres had readings in the low 40s for the front (42 & 45) and 28 in both the rears.   Specification for a DS front sphere is 44-64, with 59 being the ideal pressure.  Rears should be 16-28, with an ideal of 26.   I will not be able to wait another 5 years to do a sphere pressure check.  It would make sense to re-check them in another 6-12 months and potentially have the re-gassed.    I also learned a neat trick today – the plastic take away containers make great transport units for at least the single piece spheres.  I will need to check them for the rebuildable ones.

As well as doing the sphere pressure check, I also purchased 5 litres of LHM, the hydraulic oil used in the DS and other Citroens.   The Club sell it for around half the price it is available retail.

If only the hydraulic cells used in Mercedes suspension were re-gassable like the Citroen ones are!