removing a tough accumulator sphere

B-Hive · Post by **B-Hive** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:52 pm

any tips for removing a very tight accumulator sphere....a cloth strap doesnt work..and I'm trying a chain strap tomorrow with a whack to crack the seal....but it is very tight....any chance an early BX has a reverse thread on the accumulator??

Thoughts??

Post by **Tim Leech** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:35 pm

Daft question but you have depressuried the system first?

RobC · Post by **RobC** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 3:02 pm

normally best to crack it with the system pressurised (but supported on stands of course!) and then release the pressure before unscrewing it further.

or so i was once told, anyway.

it's definitely not a reverse thread by the way, but remember when you're underneath, peering up at bizarre angle, the* mind gets confused which way's left and which way's right

*my

B-Hive · Post by **B-Hive** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:07 pm

yes system depressurised and turning in the correct direction..

I hope the chain does the trick

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:14 pm

Not having the proper tool, a mallet and a chisel is often the next-best alternative for the acc sphere.

B-Hive · Post by **B-Hive** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:22 pm

rmattila wrote:Not having the proper tool, a mallet and a chisel is often the next-best alternative for the acc sphere.

hope it doesnt come to that...are they that hard to get off sometimes? the one on the TRS was relatively easy if i remember...last year so maybe my memory has faded...

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:20 pm

2BXORNOT2BX wrote:hope it doesnt come to that...are they that hard to get off sometimes?

Not necessarily so hard, but there's not too much room for pipe a wrench or similar around the accumulator sphere. However, the mallet-and-chisel trick, even though it sounds a bit rough, is actually rather a smooth and non-violent way to remove the sphere. Put the tip of the chisel along the weld seam, hit a couple of times, and it usually starts to turn.
Then continue by hand.

And, when putting in the new one, remember to put some vaseline to the thread, and tighten it only with your fingertips - no need to use any force to make it leaktight. (One sign of a well-kept BX is that the spheres come off without any tools!)

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:21 pm

the odd time i had probs whilst useing a 30cm pipe chain wrench,

it would not budge till i noticed the chain was snagging on the web in the corner of the crack case behind the sphere,

also it is the leg spheres you should crack off with the system under presure,

also in all the years i have worked on and around citroens i have never resorted to the hammer and chisle method,

regards malcolm

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:39 pm

I suffered some 15 years with pipe wrenches and such (even the chisel every now and then), but this summer I finally spent the couple of hours making the tool:

Thinking back my life, should've done that a long time ago..

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:04 pm

Just buy the proper tool? They're down to something silly like Â£20 on ebay. Worth their weight in gold IMO. Sod faffing about with chisels and chain wrenches etc.

Only ideal to keep pressure for cracking off wheel spheres, as it keeps the struts tighter. Only to get the first half a turn or so too, for gods sake don't wind them all the way off or you'll be getting green!

Makes no difference for the accm sphere....if anything it'll make it trickier to undo under pressure.

toddao · Post by **toddao** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:27 pm

I bought a 16v gearbox off some bloke near Bath for a tenner and he threw in a sphere wrench for free. It's just a strap with a socket drive but had Citroen tags on it. Bloody brilliant it is, saved a few issues of expletives, such as : Bugger!

JayW · Post by **JayW** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:43 pm

Well, despite having the correct tool, chain straps, pipe wrenches and hammers & chisels i've still had a coupe that STILL haven't come off.

With these, the very LAST resort is to drill a 10mm hole in the seam of the sphere, then insert a large steel punch or bar and use as a lever to turn the sphere and crack the seal. This MUST be done witht the system depressurised. It's also worth noting that the hole should be drilled as far AWAY from the direction of turning as you are able to insert the bar.

It's actually FAR less dramatic than it sounds, the steel is actually pretty soft (as steel goes) and once the hole is made it's "usually" a doddle (well, except from the one that stripped the accumulator thread)!

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:06 pm

Another ultimate solution - if everything else has failed - is to take the cap off the sphere and let the nitrogen out, and then weld an M30 nut to the base of the sphere. Then put a 46 mm strike wrench (such as in the picture below) around the nut and hit once with a suitable fine-tuning hammer.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:00 am

Kitch wrote:Just buy the proper tool? They're down to something silly like Â£20 on ebay.

these are not the proper tool, as the proper one is similar but the steel band has a split with a pinch bolt which pulls the steel band tight against the sphere,

i own one of these clamp it to the sphere and give it a little bash with a club hammer,

regards malcolm

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:47 am

I had to drill a 10mm hole through mine until I could drive a steel bar into it - then whacked it with a club hammer... and the car fell off my improvised axle stands.

I take it to the garage now