Snapped camshaft.

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:37 pm

Dont break it David.
What type of aircon is it ? An aftermarket bolt on or a factory fit type of installation with the conventional sliders on the dashboard.
If it really does get broken I will have the aircon bits.

Those idler pulleys are always problematic. They are best left off in some cases. My GTi does not have one and the belt does not slip as a result. The diesel alternator is in a different position however making an idler pulley more desirable, but not really essential.

Once again this situation makes me wish I had somewhere to store a few cars so that I/we could at least keep some of the good ones in circulation.

A local farmer has a sign up saying ' barns to rent for storage ' I think I will go and see him and find out if his and my ideas of the cost of barn rental are anywhere near the same.

Anyway, if you decide to fix it up - as an incentive, I would be happy to come down for a day or two to help get back on the road.

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:49 pm

Very kind of you to offer.

I think the consensus is that it won't be broken, and if anything I will break the (somewhat more rotten) 19RD on my driveway instead.

The Aircon has been removed from another BX by the look of things and retro-fitted into this one. Most of it is present and correct, just a few clips and plastic bits aren't quite right. The controlls are indeed the "proper" sliders on the dash, and other than the crap belt arrangement, it works fine.

I think I need to spend a couple of days having a think about exactly what the best plan of action is, and then do it. Handily, I do have a spare head ready to be overhauled and fitted. Very useful!

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:43 pm

Great news that you have decided to save this BX.

Re: the 19 estate that you posted elsewhere about rear wing replacements.
Beevers still list BX rear wing repair panels - but not for the estate unfortunately.
John Greaves in Leeds was a source of panels but he seems to have gone out of business.
So the options are slowly closing down for us. The Europe wide £2000 pound incentive to scrap your oldie is not helping either.

Post by **docchevron** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:14 pm

Ahh, the old shredded aux belt syndrome..
That seems to be happenign alot lately.
Ok, in this case the cause was self explanetary I guess, but we've had loads down the garage lately with shredded aux belts ending the engine game.

If you do want shut of it, let me know.

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:32 pm

After the conversation I had with my landlord earlier, I might indeed need rid of it sooner than I might have hoped.

Not quite sure how much it's worth in it's current state.....

Post by **docchevron** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:06 pm

Ooh, I think I know how that conversation went....

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:37 pm

DavidRutherford wrote:Quite why the factory A/C belt setup wasn't used I'm not entirely sure, as it's identical to a 405 with PAS but no A/C (on that spec of 405, the PAS pump is where the A/C pump would be)

I would be quite interested to know more about that set up - does it look like this?

That arrangement was pinched from a 405 petrol, I can't remember if it had air con or not but it has one fixed idler pulley and one tensioner pulley, all part of the same assembly. Unfortunately since the valver sump swap, it no longer lines up with one of the tapped stand offs on the sump, and as it's getting a bit noisy, doesn't seem worth modifying to fit.
The Haynes BOL shows (on page 166 for the diesel engine only manual) a seperate tensioner pulley bolted to the sump, and an idler pulley bolted to the block. I will keep a look out for suitable bits next time I am in a scrapyard...

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:45 pm

The idler arrangement pictured there is from a 405 with Pas AND Aircon, whereas what's needed is the one from a vehicle with PAS only. The tensioner idler is similar, but not identical, and the fixed idler isn't used.

The other main difference is that the alternator is solid mounted rather than having the tensioner on the top.

What's been done on this BX is that it still has the alternator tensioner, and two extra fixed tensioners that line up with bugger all. I'm going to remove all the fixed tensioners and set it up properly.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:34 pm

Thanks David. When I was looking for a tensioner assembly (the donor BX for the air con swap didn't have anything) I just looked under the bonnet of a 405 with air con, didn't even think of checking out a more basic model. I may still keep the adjustment on the alternator, as adjusting from the top is easier when it's raining...

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:55 pm

I have to say, on the 405 I've got which I've set up with Aircon and no PAS, I've not bothered with any of the idlers and sliding tensioners that were standard. I've just run it around the three pulleys in a triangle, and left the alternator tensioner in place. Works fine, and there are no tensioners or idlers to cause problems.

DLM · Post by **DLM** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:42 pm

On the TZD aircon setup on Grolliffe, which Tom transferred from a factory-fit installation on a 19TZi, there are no tensioners that I'm aware of.

As I've said elsewhere on the forum recently, I'm pretty sure I would have become aware of any when going through a sequence of alternator change then subsequent refits last September.

Can't find my camera anywhere at the mo, otherwise I'd post a pic. Incidentally, on ECP's recently revamped website, they claim to have various major BX aircon parts 'available to order'.

Father Ted · Post by **Father Ted** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:31 am

AFAIK the air con on this partuicular BX came off a 16v saloon, however the person who installed it (Bernie) hasnt been on this formum for ever such a long time so I cant be 100%.

Dave B would be the next best person to chat to about it as I know he spent time and blood on it trying to stop the belt squealing when cold.

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Wed May 06, 2009 10:16 am

Yes the simplest arrangement as David says is to have the alternator belt running in a triangle without any idlers, especially if you dont have any.
As long as you dont hear any belt squealing then that is satisfactory.

The purpose of the idler is to increase the wrap around the crankshaft pulley to increase the grip and to some extent around the compressor too although this is much less likely to slip. If there is misalignment - which can happen if the compressor has rubber top hat type mountings which tend to wear on one side then this slipping on the crankshaft pulley is much more likely to happen.

My GTi with no idler and a 4 groove belt with good alignment never squeals. My TD with an idler, 5 groove belt and alignment issues does slip and needs tightening once or twice a year.
Not very cool.