Octopus??? Help!!!

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Baldbazza
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Octopus??? Help!!!

Post by Baldbazza »

Apologies if I'm asking the obvious but I'd rather be embarrassed here than discover all too late that I've ordered the wrong (expensive) bits... :roll:.

This morning I had a simple crack in a rubber return pipe on the GT, just above the subframe, behind the offside front wheel. We tried to splice a new bit of pipe in place, but gave up due to lack of room. So traced the pipe back to the reservoir so that we could replace the whole lot. The other end of the pipe was attached to a sort of tee-piece affair at the reservoir end ... but not for long :oops: . Came off in me 'and, Guv. Honest!!!

The 1st crack is labelled 1 in the diagram below; the oops crack is labelled 2. The diagram more-or-less shows the hydraulic system looking from the front of the car with the reservoir bottom left. (Acknowledgements and thanks to whoever originally produced this diagram by the way).

Image

To be honest, most of the return hydraulic piping looks a bit dodgy. Quite reasonable given that the car has its 21st birthday soon 8) . Seems to me that I ought to replace all of the stuff, as I wouldn't be able to trust it to get me anywhere at the moment.

So the question is, what bits do I need to buy? Can anyone verify that this diagram is correct, in that the infamous octopus consists only of the pipes shaded red in the diagram?

If so, do the yellow, blue and green pipes have commonly-identified names and are they available?

I've found the octopus on the GSF site @ £28 + VAT. Anyone know if they do the other bits? Or does anyone else? (Can't find anything in Euro Car Parts or AEDirect). Do Cit main dealers :shock: still sell BX bits?

Grateful for any advice :D .
1985 BX 19 GT
2007 Alfa Romeo GT
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Adam
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Post by Adam »

Hiya Barry, I was in the main dealers the other day and they said it's possible they can get bits but very limited and very expensive. This is the number for Medway Citroen 01634 849609, Oscar and my dad recommended them and Phillip (owner) and his son are very helpful and appreciate anyone saving BX's. :D
Previously Owned
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Baldbazza
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Post by Baldbazza »

Adam wrote:Hiya Barry, I was in the main dealers the other day and they said it's possible they can get bits but very limited and very expensive.
Thanks Adam. Looks like replacing the lot might be a good idea as they might not be around much longer :(
1985 BX 19 GT
2007 Alfa Romeo GT
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Barry -

Exactly that hose I use to replace with a bit (1m) of rigid steel pipe. The hose stud on the HC screws out - and you can get in the usual flare nut and seal.
And the other hose - to rear HC - is the one that joins to a steel pipe on the rear of the subframe.
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ellevie
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Post by ellevie »

EuroCarParts sell the octopus for £23.09:-
620545795 BX OCTOPUS RETURN PIPE (+PAS) IF NIL SELL CIT96030258

It helps a lot if you can give the Citroen dealer the part number --- for example the octopus is 96 030 258.

I think the other pipe you are looking for is Citroen p/n 95 603 421
David

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BX19TRS auto abs 96k F Reg
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Baldbazza
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Post by Baldbazza »

ellevie wrote:EuroCarParts sell the octopus for £23.09:-
620545795 BX OCTOPUS RETURN PIPE (+PAS) IF NIL SELL CIT96030258

It helps a lot if you can give the Citroen dealer the part number --- for example the octopus is 96 030 258.

I think the other pipe you are looking for is Citroen p/n 95 603 421
Thanks ellevie. I obviously didn't look hard enough on the ECP site! I see you're local to me - do you know if any of the local Cit dealers still stock BX stuff?
1985 BX 19 GT
2007 Alfa Romeo GT
ellevie
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Post by ellevie »

Yes I got some stuff from Freeborn Southampton recently, but it definitely helps if you can quote the correct part number.

The return pipe part numbers can be found on page 177 of the BX parts list which can be downloaded from :

http://rammstein.dfmk.hu/~xminfo/bx2_19.pdf
David

BX19TRS 118K E Reg 1992-2008
BX19TRS auto abs 96k F Reg
BX19TXD 150k K Reg
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Baldbazza
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Post by Baldbazza »

ellevie wrote:Yes I got some stuff from Freeborn Southampton recently, but it definitely helps if you can quote the correct part number.

The return pipe part numbers can be found on page 177 of the BX parts list which can be downloaded from :

http://rammstein.dfmk.hu/~xminfo/bx2_19.pdf
:P :P :P :P :P Thanks again ellevie. Parts list downloaded for safe keeping (along with the XM and CX just in case...).

Now, I don't suppose anyone knows where I can download a series 1 parts list for those bits that aren't common between series 1 and 2? Searched on Google but the only one I almost found, on Citroenz.com, was a dead link (although didn't specify which series it was for).
1985 BX 19 GT
2007 Alfa Romeo GT
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Baldbazza
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Post by Baldbazza »

Thanks for your help Guys. Got all the rubber return pipes I need from an extremely friendly guy at Solent Citroen in Portsmouth, who even fetched the old microfiche from the back of the cupboard to double-check part numbers.

Octopus was in stock, he got hold of another pipe the same day (but it was £53 + VAT :shock: ) and the last one the following day. There was one other pipe which I'm not yet sure I need; if I do want it, it can be specially ordered from France (I think he even said made to order).

All in all, I'm extremely impressed that I can still get bits for a 21-year-old car from Citroen, even if they were a bit pricey. I might even write and tell them so! Can't imagine getting this from certain large manufacturers. A spare part for any machine more than ten years old is pretty amazing (my Mum's having to scrap her washing machine because the small part it needs isn't made any more by Servis).
1985 BX 19 GT
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cauchoiskev
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Post by cauchoiskev »

Baldbazza wrote:All in all, I'm extremely impressed that I can still get bits for a 21-year-old car from Citroen, even if they were a bit pricey.
That's a very good comment. We tend to forget this car was designed a quarter of a century ago. I wonder how long parts will be available for Daewoos and Kias ?

The main reason that BX parts are still available is the incredible amount of BXs still ploughing the roads of rural France : about 350000 at the last count (2004 I think). However, this number will dwindle very quickly as even the most recent models start to have problems, so get your parts in while the going is good...
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