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Hydraulics May 15, 2007 The hydraulic pump and regulator seem to be in good shape. The main accumulator sphere is quite recent After a little cleaning, the hydraulic tank is now nice. The brake accumulator sphere (behind the tank) seems ok With new front boots and buffers, I should not have any trouble There is still some work on the rear suspension. Boots would have to be replaced and, ideally, the hydraulic cylinders should be overhauled (the front ones too)

Servicing Program May 15, 2007 - Replacement of the suspension buffers - Replacement of the suspension cylinder boots - Brake circuit bleeding - Possible hydraulic cylinders overhaul - Fix the headlamp steering mechanism (the left headlamp doesn't turn any more)

Front Suspension Buffers and Boots May 15, 2007 Suspension buffers are important. When this car first arrived in Canada, I had problems because of these buffers. It was difficult to move the car manually because the rear wheels were touching inside the wheel arches. I initially suspected brake problems but it appeared to be a buffer problem, the lower buffers were simply missing so the lower suspension position was too low. With or without this particular problem, damaged or missing suspension buffers cause unusual strength on the cylinder boots, which eventually cause boot breakage. On the left side, the lower buffer is missing. The buffer housing is in direct contact with the stopper Same thing on the right side, the buffer is missing. Upper buffers are here and in good condition Here is the left buffer in place. Inserting the buffer in its housing is not easy Same thing on the right side. Notice that I didn't even took time to clean, it's a shame ;-) The low position is now more standard, you can see the difference on the pictures. The next step would be to replace the cylinder boots because they are leaking a little bit. After the rear side, I switch to the front. I remove both fenders to have a better access to the suspension parts, to grease everything and replace the buffers. The left fender is more difficult to remove, there is a lot of wires and hoses around it What a good access to the suspension now Damn! One of the windshield washer tank screws broke when I removed it On the right side, the voltage regulator is causing some troubles when removing the fender The protecting steel sheet behind the wheel is a real trap, I found in this compartment an old screwdriver and a lost spark plug ;-) The inside paint of the right fender is looking different from the other side, I don't know why, one fender probably was repainted or replaced some day Here is the front of the car "naked". I should ideally remove the wheels but my driveway is not flat so I don't want to try As usual, it's an opportunity to clean On the left side, I discover a leaking cylinder boot and a very dead upper buffer (the bottom one) On the right side, the cylinder boot is still alive but the upper buffer is also dead, probably because of a previous leak I replace the cylinder boots without removing the cylinders themselves. I push the cylinder piston manually to be able to remove the inner axle Once the axle removed with its boot, I have sufficient space to replace the lower buffer (the top one) I do my first "Ligarex" clamps with my brand new kit ;-) Here is the right side ready for new adventures... I hope! The two upper buffers, in a very sad condition. It seems that they don't like the hydraulic fluid I took benefit of an easy access to the anti-roll bar to grease it. I started with an "all purpose" grease but then I used an "extreme pressure" molybdenum grease, which should do a better work. The goal of the greasing operation was to eliminate a noise, but unfortunately this noise is still there after that.

Rear Suspension Boots May 12, 2008 Early in May 2008, the SM is now inside my garage, I can work on it more easily and inside, so I immediately work on replacing the rear suspension boots. I thought it would be a preventive work but in fact it was already too late, both boots were very damaged. Working inside the garage is of course more practical than outside Surprise, the right boot is badly damaged and it's the same on the other side I remove the rod and everything coming with it but I leave the cylinder in place Here is one of the boots, its bad condition is impressing, I wonder why I found only a few LHM drops on the ground General cleaning, new boot and new ball grease And tada! It seems simple but it took me a few hours ;-) Same problem on the other side... ... but of course, it's much quicker the second time, that's experience ;-) I hope I'll have no problems with these boots for a while. We'll see if I'm good in making Ligarex clamps ;-) On some of the pictures here you can see some damages on the exhaust pipes, this is the only damages I found after the car almost fell from the tow truck when I went to get it after its arrival from France in January 2007 (see the complete shipping story here).

Rear Height Adjustment July 19, 2008 The rear suspension needed a height adjustment because the driving height was too high. I knew it and then Marcel and Othello told me about that when we were driving to the Saratoga's RendezVous, it finally motivated to do the adjustment. I started by making space in the trunk Here the aluminum sheet hiding the fuel tank connections, it's in wonderful condition Behind the aluminum sheet, everything is in great shape also The aluminum sheet under the carpet is also very nice This is inside the anti-roll bar compartment that I had to work On the right side, this is the headlight height controlling rod On the left side, this is the height corrector controlling rod. This is the one I want I adjusted the rod position on the anti-roll bar and after two tentatives, I got a height that appeared visually ok Here is a job that, for once, was not ten times longer than expected, that's not common ;-) I now have a good height I think, even if I didn't took any precise measurement. This intervention was the opportunity to see that the rear compartment is in excellent shape around the anti-roll bar, that's great news.