Split pipe, can anyone name it

Vince Pepper · Post by **Vince Pepper** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:24 pm

The guy doing the welding on my bx rang today, told me I had a fluid leak and needed a new pipe, I popped round to take a look and it seems to have split when the big green tank was moved to gain access for welding, it is one of the two thicker pipes that come out of the green tank, it has 3 offshoot pipes that go to the rear of the car and the main pipe itself goes under the inlet manifold to a small sphere, my bx is a ph2 gti 16v
Is this it ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-Hy ... _734wt_689

If not, any ideas what it called.

Post by **Defender110** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:12 pm

Yes this is it, otherwise known as the octopus

Vince Pepper · Post by **Vince Pepper** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:25 pm

Excellent, thank you, I imagine this is not a 5 minute job

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:25 am

Depending where the split is, it is often repairable.

Vince Pepper · Post by **Vince Pepper** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:56 am

it has split the main pipe but one of the smaller pipes has split at the union with the main pipe too, looks like someone beat me to the ebay one listed above as it shows as sold.

JayW · Post by **JayW** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 4:19 pm

Sorry Vince

Didn't realise anyone else from here was after it as it was a "buy now".

tim · Post by **tim** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:25 pm

Mine broke while I was replacing the octopus (which is on the chassis crossmember, nowhere near the fluid tank). Any of those can be repaired if you can get at it by inserting a piece of suitable tubing (nice tight fit) into the hose and making a bridge. 30 second job. One of those hoses I recall doesn't actually go to the octopus and is fitted directly to the rear solid pipes going aft.
Mine sheared off flush with the rubber junction box but there was enough meat there to insert said piece of copper pipe.
Yes, this is a sign of old age and an early heads-up to replace the whole length, but it will get you out of trouble and mine is still working fine after 3 or 4 months.

Vince Pepper · Post by **Vince Pepper** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:25 pm

It's ok, I was going to buy it last night but it got too late, I have sourced one from somewhere else this morning and it should be here Tuesday, £30 + £6.50 postage

JayW · Post by **JayW** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:35 pm

tim · Post by **tim** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:46 pm

My idea was cheaper! I think Mr Mattila is right, and the sooner we get round to making our own junctions and unions the better.

JayW · Post by **JayW** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:23 pm

tim wrote: I think Mr Mattila is right, and the sooner we get round to making our own junctions and unions the better.

Not really worth the bother TBH, most Octopussies have lasted 15-20 years, so you only have to change it once and that's the car sorted for the rest of it's life!

The vast majority of BX's left in circulation have already had a replacement including 95% of those in the owners clubs.

People only generally moan about changing it because they've never done it before and see it as a big deal rather than a simple maintenance job. It's all part of enjoying the car.

Vince Pepper · Post by **Vince Pepper** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 7:56 pm

JayW wrote:
tim wrote: I think Mr Mattila is right, and the sooner we round to making our own junctions and unions the better.
Not really worth the bother TBH, most Octopussies have lasted 15-20 years, so you only have to change it once and that's the car sorted for the rest of it's life!

I view my BX's as classic cars now, they are a rare sight on the road these days and always inspire comment, a lot of people have had a BX at some stage and feel the urge to tell you how good/bad theirs were, so i'd like to keep mine as original as is possible, I understand the need to cut corners to make a car viable but will stick with oem for as long as they are available.

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:35 pm

JayW wrote:
tim wrote: I think Mr Mattila is right, and the sooner we get round to making our own junctions and unions the better.
Not really worth the bother TBH, most Octopussies have lasted 15-20 years, so you only have to change it once and that's the car sorted for the rest of it's life!

The vast majority of BX's left in circulation have already had a replacement including 95% of those in the owners clubs.

People only generally moan about changing it because they've never done it before and see it as a big deal rather than a simple maintenance job. It's all part of enjoying the car.

I hope your theory of that timeline holds out

Whne I got the TXD I asked the question "have you replaced the octopus" and he had no idea what I was refering to. Once explained the answer seemd pretty clear no. Although given he had no idea it is possible it has been replaced by the previous owner 15 years ago

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:51 pm

Janice.

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:17 am

Kitch wrote:Janice.

I was gonna say Cyril, but i guess Janice is okay.