LHM leak....could have been prevented!

mike st gilles · Post by **mike st gilles** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:45 pm

My faultlessly performing '93 BX 19 TXD disgraced itself last night. On my way home from work I noticed the stop lights illuminate; something I had not seen on the car since I changed the LHM a few weeks ago. Stopped the car, got out to investigate under the bonnet and immediately noticed a large 'trail' from whence I'd come as it were. I checked this and found it to be LHM (about 9 quids worth by my reckoning) managed to get it the mile and a half home (still had suspension and brakes but no Power steering) had a look this morning in the light, put some new LHM in and found that the pipe that runs from the Acc spere assembly ....back to the Acc sphere assembly had a very tiny pinhole in it.......but at the sort of pressure this bit is under it was emptying at a fast rate.
Took offending part off and could see that this part is made up of a metal end with a junction that connects to the Acc Sphere assembly and this is joined to a piece of rubber tube with a proper union then back to pipe and then to rubber pipe and then to pipe again with the normal junction to reattach to the Acc sphere assembly.

bit like this; union/pipe/rubber hose/pipe/rubber hose/pipe/union.
Hoping to get a piece the same from a local french specialist scrappy near to me tomorrow.
Reason for my post is that the metal pipe in the middle of all this has only leaked becuse it has been rubbing for a long time against something else in the engine compartment (looks like the jubilee clip on the top hose to me) it has worn down so that the pipe is actually flat on that side and has actually worn through causing the leak.
Got to be well worth a look to see if yours is in the same state and if so then cut a piece of old hose and put it round the pipe to prevent the rubbing....
Weird thing is that this pipe actually only needs to be about 12 inches long (if that) to reach from where it starts to where it ends up yet Citoen have made it this long, does anyone have an idea on this?

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:40 am

it is the power steering pipe and they used to be around 90 squid from citroen, if you have no luck from the specialist scrapy, try PCR of LANCING weast sussex on 01903 767676, as they to are cit/pug dismantlers,

it runs from the regulator to the flow valve, and the arch half way along should be in a plastic hook shaped clip on the chassis rail
regards malcolm

mike st gilles · Post by **mike st gilles** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:11 am

Thanks for id'ing it for me malcolm...just off to see if i can get it from the scrappy...ta again.

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:33 am

If you have a picture, I might have one

mike st gilles · Post by **mike st gilles** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:01 am

cheers Ken pm'd you.

DLM · Post by **DLM** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:39 am

Have seen something like this happen before on Ed4ferret's first(?) BX - a 19TGD.

Here the abrasion was against a big metal-mesh-covered air intake pipe. Luckily for Ed I was in the middle of dismantling a BX diesel for parts at the time and could give him a replacement.

I think there's a clip or two on the pipe to try and avoid this - but it's well worth a check from time to time for peace of mind.

There's an equivalent pipe on a some Xantia PRs but I don't know if it's a direct equivalent - I hesitate to say so given the different pump-and-PR-location and consequent piping differences on the Xantia, though AFAIR some of these differences involved PR sub-assemblies mounted in a position rotated through 180degrees relative to the BX configuration.

A PR-and-loop-pipe assembly from a Xantia certanly isn't a direct swap without further work - I can say that from experience - and there's possibly the added complication of the 6+2 pump on Xantias - as per the setup on some very late mainland Europe BX19D models documented in my copy of the BX Diesel Revue Technique and which I've referred to before on this or other forums.

Alastair · Post by **Alastair** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:51 am

I had the one rub thru that runs under the gearbox and is a slightly different size than the rest...I went to the scrappy and found others were on there way too!

mike st gilles · Post by **mike st gilles** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:52 am

Sorry for the delay in posting re this; went to the scrappy and picked up a pipe and rechargeable sphere with all the gubbins attached for the princely sum of £10. Fitted only the pipe and all ok...... this one did still have the loop of plastic/nylon that attaches to a point on the car that stops the rubbing

and so duly fitted . However I did find that as in another post that my top rad hose had been severely scored by the constant rubbing of the air hose from the filter and I think I've just managed to save it in time. I have reassembled all the pipes etc with a judicious amount of gaffer tape so as to avoid any reoccurrence of said rubbing

. Hope this might just help others to avoid a catastophic loss of LHM or a potentially disastrous coolant leak.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:14 am

to move the plastic air pipe away from the top rad hose, loosen the jubile clip at the engine end of the air pipe, and rotate the the pipe until it arches upwards away from said rad hose the re/tighten the clip

regards malcolm

mike st gilles · Post by **mike st gilles** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:18 am

Thanks Malcolm