my xantia making a creeckibg sound

[jacksun1987]

My xantia t reg hdi exclusive making some funny noises when parked up plus it goes down really fast to at the back

Thanks

[Peter.N.]

If the noise occurs as the back is going down it could well be the radius arm bearings. Look at your rear wheels and see if they are leaning inwards at the top.

Peter

[rory_perrett]

Sinking at the back will due to a leak back of hydraulic fluid to the reservoir. Other than preventing a quick getaway (leave the engine running if you are using it to rob any banks) I would leave it alone, the cost and effort in trying to sort it out is probably not worth it.

As for the creaking, front struts can do it when they "settle" and rear arm bearings can be another cause.

How many miles has your car done? On my BX when the rear arm bearings went (about every 100,000 miles) looking from the back of the car the back wheels very clearly looked like this / \ rather than | | however on my Xantias there has been no sign of wheel lean. On the first car it was strange uneven tyre wear, reminiscent of the pattern you get with a faulty shock absorber, that first alerted me to failed arm bearings at about 200,000 miles. On the current car I got knocks from the back (especially going over speed bumps) and the same strange tyre wear pattern after about 170,000 miles but again no obvious rear wheel lean.

[CitroJim]

My Activa creaks and always has. I've never nailed down the problem precisely but it seems to come from the strut tops although they are both in excellent nick. You can hear it if the car is rocked to and from with the handbrake on.

My advice, unless it's loud and accompanied by lurches is to let it be..

Rear radius arm bearings can be diagnosed by listening as the car rises from low to high and vice-versa.

Front struts can be lubed by going to high, pulling down the gaiters and wiping the exposed piston rods with fresh LHM.

[RichardW]

It's probably the standard Xantia groaning noise from the front which can sometimes occur when you get out - not really anything to worry about, but if it does it every time, then it's suggestive of some hydraulic malady somewhere bleeding off the reserve pressure quickly - ie the back going down! Likely this is the hydractive valve leaking internally. Can be fixed, but may be more hassle than it's worth.

[jacksun1987]

Another thing I noticed then the back end sinks down one side seems lower then the other side then a few minutes more the other side sinks down

[CitroJim]

Another thing I noticed then the back end sinks down one side seems lower then the other side then a few minutes more the other side sinks down

That's unusual. Normally you only see that on an Activa!

I'd say your rear corner spheres may be flat and/or ruptured. When in that state they can in my experience cause rear end sinking. On a Hydractive car it is easy enough to miss rear corners going flat as provided the centre sphere is fairly good you notice no great loss of ride...

So, worth giving the rear corners a check...

[wurlycorner]

That could also be knackered rear arm bearings, causing one side to 'stick' until it gets enough load to overcome it.

With the suspension inflated, try bounce testing each rear corner in turn to see if there's any difference in how easily/smoothly you can push it down/get it to bounce back up?