rear hydraulic pipe failure - where next?

[citronut]

Tim
o also use a length of timber across the jack head, to bear thesub frame onto as its lowerd/re/installed,

you will have to find the balance of the sub frame on the jack/timber, this might be easier as you are removing the trailing arms before hand,

when re/installing it does need all the mounting studs to enter the boby at the same time, or you will struggle

regards malcolm

[tim]

Thanks Malcolm.... however, another glitch has just looked me in the eye - on the r.h. gusset, plate or whatever you call it, the fuel tank is bolted to it and the bottom edge runs at 45 degrees across the top half of the hole - so I can't use the pole! The tank will simply be crushed. I suppose you could remove the tank but it's getting a bit silly now. How do you get round this - there must be a way cos you've done it.

[tim]

Just contacted Malcolm and he hadn't repiped a late BX like this with the extra tank. So a bit of a puzzle - I was hoping to avoid axle stands under the sills if only for access to the pipe run. And exactly how much can you trust these 'reinforced' sections? They don't seem to have much more meat than the rest of the sill and the whole weight of the car will be transferred throuigh them. I love BX's but they ain't worth dying for...... Yes, I can and will add some extra stands underneath as a safety net but you see the problem.

[citronut]

i had not though about cars with the extra tank, and no i would not just crush the tank,
and yes the rear jacking points on a BX have very thick metal in between the sandwich of skins, and can be relied on to support the car,

its just i was always taught not to jack on body work unless there was no other option,

probably a throw back to working on and around the likes of the Austin 1100,

we were welding door sills up on them when they were just a couple of years old

regards malcolm

[tim]

Thanks, that is really what I was looking for..... reassurance! I don't think there is much option. Interestingly, I ordered pipes from Martin at Pleiades this a.m. and he said he'd never taken a subframe off to do these pipes! He reckoned that you could in fact see enough to get at the relevant stuff. Well, we'll see. He's done a few. As I understand it, the danger of not routing the pipes 100% carefully is that they may be rubbing something and only dropping the subframe gives you enough access to be sure of this. So I'll play this one by ear. Once the car is safely up enough, decisions can be made......

[citsncycles]

I've not had a problem with either the rear or centre reinforced parts of the sills on a BX, although the front one on Timex started folding over when I was using it the other day - I've currently got a stand under the rearmost front subfame mounting on the basis that there's enough metal there not to bend anything (I hope!).

[Dollywobbler]

Given what's just happened to mine, and what a nightmare they almost always are, I'd start getting some penetrating oil into the rear brake caliper bleed nipples for when you start putting it all back together again. You'll need to bleed the system once you're done.

[tim]

Ah, the nipples. Yes, I hadn't forgotten them though I suspect they will shear off anyway. Andy and I spent a while in the pissing rain experimenting with various combinations of ramps and we've decided to do it thusly - my place (level concrete), run up on small ramps so front is accessible. Jack up back as high as poss. All the unions look to be readily accessible without dropping the subframe and we only have to take one wheel off then,so that's how we'll go. I will trust to my delicate little fingers and a bit of tlc to make sure the pipes are not chafing. We did debate about going up the big ramps backwards, and putting axle stands on the ramps under the rear sills, which would give good access all areas, but I haven't got room for that lot and Andy's outside surface is rounded stones, so if the front end moved forward we'd be in the shit, given that the stands would be on a tilt to start with.
As an aside, I've been using Andy's non-turbo as a stand-in (thanks mate, beer and diesel on me) and the first time I went up the bypass methought, ' this one's a bit of a slug, I recognise this one .....' and sure enough, when we looked tonight the pedal bracket had fractured along the full length of the seam between the vertical and horizontal planes. So yes, they all do that......

[Mothman]

Luckily i have a spare pedal bracket!!

Andy

[Way2go]

All the unions look to be readily accessible without dropping the subframe

Not the issue or the reason for hingeing the subframe down! It's the complex bends of the pipe that makes it nigh on impossible to thread the pipe through that area from the back of the sill to the rear void that calls for this solution.

[tim]

fair point, but we'll see. If I can't do it we'll soon know. The car is now jacked up ready to go, it just needs to stop raining...... dropping the subframe is still an open option.

[tim]

Well, so far it all works. And yes, the subframe does definitely need to be dropped down, it was just a hope rather than an expectation. Everything is now loosened off and once I don't have to lie in a puddle of water the subframe can come off and the pipes replaced. If it were cleaner it might help but I can see that the area above it is packed solid with the crap of ages, which has to be cleaned out. Nipples have been soaked but I'm prepared for them to break off. must buy some metric taps.... so far, this looks to be a slightly tedious but not too difficult job.

[tim]

Well, progress of a sort. Now that the puddles have dried out.... I dropped the subframe, and by 'drop' I mean undoing all the nuts to the end of their travel. The frame went down a good inch under its own weight, no levering or anything at all required, and you can now access the big clip just before they turn across the subframe. So hopefully this will do the trick.
Bleed nipples - both solid, but careful drilling down and tapping out did the job. So it can be done, just don't break through the cone at the bottom. It will fall out when you remove the bit. The rear arms were beyond stuffed so they've had a rebuild while the rain fell. One caliper bolt snapped off and had to be burred out (too hard for a drill bit!) However - one is getting there. Pics to follow when the job is finished.
I am also going to need a seal kit or two for the calipers - seen one on fleabay, any suggestions as to where else to get them?? Also, both cover plates on the calipers have rotted away to nothing and didn't survive removal so ideas on that appreciated too. Though do you need them? Given the amount of shit in the caliper they weren't doing that much.

[citronut]

here is part No.'s and price's for the bits from citroen

Part Number Description Quantity Price excl. VAT Price incl. VAT Total incl. VAT Selection
95565090 BRAKE PISTON SEAL 4.38 GBP 5.26 GBP 5.26 GBP

95587148 BRAKE PISTON SEAL 1.32 GBP 1.58 GBP 1.58 GBP

96995632 BRAKE PISTON SEAL 0.54 GBP 0.65 GBP 0.65 GBP

5438689 GUARD SHEET METAL 1.40 GBP 1.68 GBP 1.68 GBP

ZC9617067U PIN 0.50 GBP 0.60 GBP 0.60 GBP

0000121006 BLEED SCREW 2.49 GBP 2.99 GBP 2.99 GBP

5438691 BRAKE CALIPER FIXING SCREW 6.50 GBP 7.80 GBP 7.80 GBP

0000693322 HEXAGONAL NUT 0.15 GBP 0.18 GBP 0.18 GBP

96108079 CONICAL SPRING WASHER 0.73 GBP 0.88 GBP 1.76 GBP


this company are very very good,

http://www.biggred.co.uk/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


they even gave me a call back out side business hours to confirm the order

regards malcolm

[mat_fenwick]

I've heard good stuff about Bigg Red too.

Fitting kits cheaply available from eBay if your local factors are struggling. Not sure about seal kits though.