Contains the Activa Register, Buyers Guide and Activa "finds" on eBay and elsewhere. Post Activa-specific items that do not fall naturally into the Citroen Forum.
Peter.N. wrote: 25 Oct 2017, 12:03
My experience with creaking on most Citroens has usually been the rear suspension bearings but there would normally be other warning signs.
Peter
It's a different sort of creaking Peter, often akin to .. erm.. imagine a big heavy wooden door in a horror film creaking open or a big old farm gate. It's not the crackety-creak of arm bearings
Well described Mike
Jim
Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Had creaks on the rear end of our RAV4. Put the car on ramps, went underneath and did some 'press-ups' against the underside of the car, lifting it a few cm. Found a creaking silentbloc (!) bush at one end of a tie-bar. Same noise as you describe.
I did a bit of investigation into this at the weekend. As some of you probably know I'm now the (extremely proud) custodian of Jim's Activa. The creak is quite noticeable at low speeds when parking or when travelling at low speeds over an uneven surface (or road is lockblock rather than tarmac). It's almost exactly the same noise that the Lada makes, somewhat amusingly! Especially as that's been driving me mad by coming and going all summer. In that case I know the cause is a binding steering ball joint...they very commonly do it, but they're only a tenner each.
It's definitely related to strut rotation *not* raising/lowering of the suspension. It is silent when bouncing the corners of the car and when raising/lowering the suspension. When moving at low speed it does feel/sound almost like a worn antiroll bar bush, I think that's an illusion though as I'd expect that to be obvious at speed too.
I do wonder if the other models do this as well but it's less obvious on account of the Activa being so unearthly quiet inside at idle, rather than a certain amount of noise being covered by the thrum of an XUD through the bulkhead...
I had a good poke around while the steering was rocked and the noise was by far the most evident from the strut tops - driver's side by far the most.
Not having a diagram in front of me showing which bits move and which don't I'm not sure how useful this is...but it kept me busy for half an hour!
Current fleet:
07 Volvo V70 SE D5, 88 Renault 25 Monaco, 85 Sinclair C5, 84 Trabant 601S, 73 AC Model 70, 62 Rover 110.
Zel, did I leave a spare set of strut tops in the boot?
The rubber in the strut tops flexes quite markedly on steering... You can't really see it off-load but under load it's amazing just how much they move...
I'd swap strut tops and see if it materially changes it...
If I did not leave you a pair, I certainly have a pair here you can have... You can swap them around here too but I'd advise giving the replacements a good coat of paint to preserve them first...
Jim
Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Anti-roll bar bushes could be quiet at speed (=sudden bump) but creaky when moved slowly - just like a creaky door.
Strut tops might have shearing/separation of the rubber from the steel, but no obvious vertical tearing. Could try checking dimensions of the spare ones against those on the car. During failure, they normally do it quietly - until the final moment, that is.
On ARB bushes, I've found that polyurethane (aftermarket) bushes* considerably outlast some OE 'rubber'. PU recommended to be smeared with silicone grease when fitted.
I don't think there were strut tops in the boot, think it was just the old hub assemblies. Will check when I next have a chance to confirm, as the bag was transferred over to the shelf in the garage without me really examining it properly as I was in a rush.
Definitely isn't a big deal, and can wait for the weather to improve. Ideal opportunity to clean up and treat any replacement parts though.
Current fleet:
07 Volvo V70 SE D5, 88 Renault 25 Monaco, 85 Sinclair C5, 84 Trabant 601S, 73 AC Model 70, 62 Rover 110.
I'd be near certain, assuming that the Suspension set up is similar that its a dry bush on the rear of the OSF Wishbone, located in the case of daughter's 106D pretty much directly below the Pedal-Box.
I lubricated it with WD40 or similar once and the noise went away for a couple of days, but was soon back. I also sourced a complete s/h replacement, but the bush never wore out and there was never a need to fit the replacement arm in the year approx that she kept the car beyond that (she was doing 9k a year).... still on the DVLA computer but now neither MOT'd or Taxed
For the purposes of peace of mind, have a good squirt with some WD40 if you can be bothered, but elsewise, just ignore it.
On the subject of Suspension / Drivetrain etc, I note that the vendor from whom I just bought a pair of CV Gaiters for the 405 guarantees them for 3 years.... at just £4 each delivered. Bargain! (tenner cheaper than the usual Factors)
