Er broke the FDv

Aerodynamica · Post by **Aerodynamica** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:54 pm

I tried to cure the heavy steering again of late (heavy in both directions) by removing the FDV again and this time slightly tightening (lengthening) one of the springs.

Back together and it took forever to get everything to pressurise. Finally worked but seemed to have problems - sounded like the pump was forever running. I got concerned that it was doing harm so whipped FDV out again and removed spring to resize it back - done and refitted.

Now I have the old problem of the regulator will not click at all, red light stays on and suspension will not rise - all unless you move the steering (which works fine now!) to full lock where everything springs to life.

I'd like to swap in a second FDV if anyone has one for grabs.. pleez!!

jonathan_dyane · Post by **jonathan_dyane** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:01 pm

Bad times...

I have a spare, but it's been lying around for years and is very much condition unknown. It's yours if you need it.

Aerodynamica · Post by **Aerodynamica** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:12 pm

Please Jonathan! if anything it'll have the spring in it that is unmessed with!

I'll PM you.

G

Aerodynamica · Post by **Aerodynamica** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:42 pm

Well, as an aside I note that if you leave the car for a while and return to it - start up and it seems to work fine - regulator reaches cut out and red light out. It remains this way fine. It only now seems to go wrong if you put the suspension to high where it goes up half way than the red light comes on and stays on unless you put it to full lock.

I'm sure its the FDV so I'll swap out this one for the one Jonathan sends next week and report back on my immensely interesting findings.

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:14 pm

Are you sure you put the FDV back together the correct way?

Simple little mistake like putting a Filter in the wrong way will cause you all manner of weird problems but also seem to work fine on others.

Aerodynamica · Post by **Aerodynamica** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:56 pm

Yes it was reassembled correctly because I only removed one end cap and one spring this time - it was not a full tear down. I'm certain the spring is the problem - I really should've just left it alone!

Aerodynamica · Post by **Aerodynamica** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:57 pm

"s'OK dave....... Ah, fixed it.."

So I whipped the FDv out one last time as the red light would not go out and the car wouldn't lift up unless you moved the fully operable PAS to full lock and held it.

I noticed that when in it's phase of not letting the light go out and not rising up that if I pushed one of the end caps of the FDV in against its spring it madd a hiss and sprang to life but it would again go back into the bad cycle in short time.

I dismantled it and removed the main slide valve and fixed the spring. I found that the nylon inlet filter I'd only cleaned about 3-4 months ago was again full of black crap!

Turns out to be lots of little chunks of black rubber.

I cleaned these out and inspected the inside of the FDV - there were wee bits in there too! indeed there were two lumps that were in a position to easly cause the slide valve to jam due to the super fine fit of the valve. I spent a long time cleaning this all. Once I was happy I reassembled and meticulously checked the cleanliness of the bits going in. Also reset the spring to its original 32mm length and made sure it was totally straight.

I checked the second filter and it was clear.

Refitted in the car, got running and tightened the 12mm regulator bolt and it pressureised and clicked as normal. The red light was out and wouldn't come back on even going from low to high and the PAS is fine - very light actually but it is on gravel.

So It's fixed.

I wanna know though: how is the PAS on other members' BXs. Is it super light while stationary? is there some resistance? how 'assisted' should the BX PAS actually feel?

jonathan_dyane · Post by **jonathan_dyane** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:40 pm

Really glad you got it sorted, and thanks for the PM letting me know.

With regard to 'heaviness' (man) I would describe mine as 'light' when stationary, in fact almost identical to the power steering on my late 306 (which given that they use an identical design of rack isn't surprising). Could it perhaps be that you are so used to the super-light when stationary CX DIVARI that the BX seems to be heavy by comparison? I have to say, every BX power steering fault I have yet encountered could be categorised as 'jerkiness' (with power fading then returning) rather than a uniform 'heaviness'. If the steering is indeed consistantly heavier than normal, personally I'd be looking at a mechanical fault before I looked at the hydraulics.

You're welcome to drive my car (on which I am pretty sure the steering works as it should) if you do get down to Stratford.

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:35 am

got an obvious question, where did the rubber come from?

Aerodynamica · Post by **Aerodynamica** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:22 am

- I am not certain. This filter is for the high pressure inlet directly from the pump.

There's a miro possibility that it came as a result of a pinched bit of the pipe seal when it was last fitted and ended up caught in the filter.

I want to know how some lttle bits got into the slide valve to jam it - the filters were in perfect condition - no holes and there is no other way into the FDV from the other pipes as they are all 'outie' pipes - the two 'innie' pipes both have a filter.

Not a clue

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:25 pm

My Gti is much lighter on steering than the txd, no idea why, perhaps the hydrualics were looked after better?

Aerodynamica · Post by **Aerodynamica** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:58 pm

Ah, so there are differences to be seen between BXs

Hey, Mulley would this difference between the two be when driving or stationary (or both)?

Aerodynamica · Post by **Aerodynamica** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:59 pm

Ah, so there are differences to be seen between BXs

Hey, Mulley would this difference between the two be when driving or stationary (or both)?

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:18 pm

Both, now whether its because the diesel engine is heavier than the petrol or that there's still plenty of gunge in my txd as opposed to the gti, again i'm unsure.

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 5:34 pm

the diesel is significantly heavier, and should feel heavier under steering than a petrol vehicle.