Stripey Technical

[citronut]

Not true! I've been happily using tie-wrapped strut return pipes for many years with no problems at all. I use the original metal spreader plate and two top-quality wraps (yellow ones as liberated from the Post Room at my old work - used for closing mailbags).

I also used good quality wide tyraps that fitted the spreader plate and although any leakage would have been negligible to non-existent Mr MOT man failed the car on this. He also insisted that they needed to be metal for brake security to comply with the MOT.
The point can be debated but I decided it wasn't worth the aggravation at MOT time as this item is checked every time. After-all it's not really a problem to use (& re-use) the metal clips.

i'd say your MOT tester is talking out of his/her BUM,
and i would use a MOT station/tester that knows citroens

regards malcolm

[Way2go]

Not true! I've been happily using tie-wrapped strut return pipes for many years with no problems at all. I use the original metal spreader plate and two top-quality wraps (yellow ones as liberated from the Post Room at my old work - used for closing mailbags).

I also used good quality wide tyraps that fitted the spreader plate and although any leakage would have been negligible to non-existent Mr MOT man failed the car on this. He also insisted that they needed to be metal for brake security to comply with the MOT.
The point can be debated but I decided it wasn't worth the aggravation at MOT time as this item is checked every time. After-all it's not really a problem to use (& re-use) the metal clips.

i'd say your MOT tester is talking out of his/her BUM,
and i would use a MOT station/tester that knows citroens

regards malcolm

Never did take it there again It was the one and only time I used Mr Clutch!

[vulgalour]

New problem that I think is probably an air leak somewhere, but thought I'd pick your collective brains anyway. Today I went to use the car after a 3 day hiatus, I've been running on 90% veg without issue in the weather we've got and have recently replaced the fuel filter with a new one and cured a couple of leaky fuel hoses by replacing one with new hose and giving the other a jubilee clip to seal it to the filter properly.

My new problem occurs at idle. The car goes from 1100-1000 revs and begins to drop revs to about 400 and then cuts out. This is usually accompanied by a strange airy whuffle, I don't really know how else to describe it, that seems to be coming from somewhere up front but I've not been able to pin point it. Get the car started again - which it's sometimes reluctant to do - and all is well until after a while it'll repeat this behaviour. Normal driving there's no issue, the engine runs and pulls nice and clean and evenly, it's only at idle and occasionally when approaching junctions.

I suspect that there might be some crap sucked into the fuel filter again because I ran the tank quite low before refilling so I shall have a look in there and there's probably a perished rubber hose or corroded metal fuel line somewhere, the weather is not conducive to me investigating further what with it being rather snowy outside today. I'm experiencing no lack of power or peculiar running otherwise, no misfires and no strange smells or noises other than what I've already mentioned.

[MULLEY]

Sounds like the veg oil viscoscity has alterd due to the change in temperature, don't forget that air temp & wind chill are quite different, so it will be quite a bit colder. Only solution will be to remove the veg oil, or put in a few litres of petrol to lower the viscoscity of the veg. A tip would be to use sunflower oil instead, it can go to a lower temperature before it starts to become more viscous.

[Dollywobbler]

90% sounds very risky for this time of year. Don't forget that even plain diesel needs additives to remain usable at this time of year. Saves having to light a fire beneath the car before you drive anywhere...

[vulgalour]

We did stick some petrol in to thin things out which improved things a bit. I had been running about 75% veg, but risked the increase to 90% because I hadn't anticipated snow in March. I'll probably stick a bit more fossil in and see if it improves things further, I noticed over on Autoshite that a few other mingebaggers like myself are having similar veg issues so I guess this one can probably be blamed on the environment.

[MULLEY]

When you were revving the engine when it was being lumpy, was there quite a plume of smoke coming out of the exhaust? If there was, then its deffo the veg oil having thickened up

[mds141]

Why not fill up a 1lt pop bottle with varying ratios of veg oil/petrol and leave it outside. It will then be easy to ascertain the degree of fuel waxing.

[MULLEY]

That is a v-sensible idea

[vulgalour]

That's a superb idea, actually. I tend to leave some of the veg in the car to gauge how much fossil I'll need to let it down with and I have to admit that the veg I put in had gone a teensy bit cloudy, but only really a hint rather than anything to get me worrying. Funnily enough, used veg oil (filtered, obviously) seems to be less prone to cloudiness than fresh, I'm not sure why that would be.

[vulgalour]

and yes, massive clouds of smoke when I finally did get the car to fire up after the first bout of tantrum running... smelled fantastic, but didn't look so good!

[mat_fenwick]

Funnily enough, used veg oil seems to be less prone to cloudiness than fresh, I'm not sure why that would be.

I would expect used oil to be thinner at a given temperature, as the molecular chains will have broken down to become shorter after a number of heating and cooling cycles.

[vulgalour]

[vulgalour]

Finally got around to getting my head under the car - axle stands, jack, ramps aplently - to try and sort out why the height adjustment lever is so useless. I can select normal and service height, but I can't select high or low. A look under the car reveals that the front half of the adjuster rod moves freely, helped at the engine end by the copious amounts of oil there - looks like my sump gasket might have gone too - but the back half is incredibly stiff and the main rod will bow under the strain if you try and force it.

Fiddled about getting the rear pivot point to move a bit more freely, but it's still stiff. That said, even when you do put it where the lever needs to be for high or low setting, the lever in the car will not stay where you need it to. I'm wondering if, looking at the illustrations in the Haynes book, if something has worn out or broken on this part as there's no notches where the rods join it as illustrated in the book.

I'm a bit stumped now, really, because the problem seems to be in the mechanical selector rather than anything hydraulic and I really can't figure out why it's still so ridiculously stiff requiring the handbrake to be released to get hold of the lever to move it with a full grip even when it's been loosened off. When I first got the car I could, just, select high and low and the lever was stiff but not abnormally so. There's nothing clogging up the rods, the move freely in the guides on the floor pan, but something is definitely amiss.

[mat_fenwick]

The pivot is actually threaded, so if you unclip the rods you should be able to unscrew it fully. Probably best to clean up both threads with a tap and die but even just a wire brush should help. Then grease thoroughly.