and it was all going so well....urgent brainstormin' please!

[tim]

Well, I hear what you say...true enough about lack of internal pipe corrosion, hadn't thought it through. But as I understand it the ram is under considerable pressure, and if a wall of crud and corrosion was all that was stopping the thing from a blowout, I can't see how this could prevent it, anymore than if you glued a patch over the hole and expected it to hold. The corrosion hole in question has been eaten clean down to the bore of the ram.
The two scrappy ones are not perfect but they've been given two coats of polyurethane varnish and will get a dollop of grease for good measure when they go back in. Ally welding would not be expensive but the heat might well distort the bore which is why the rebore would be needed. I'm no expert so perhaps those with experience could comment, we're talking a quick 'blob' filler rather than a consistent weld. I do know that when this is done e.g. on a motorcycle fork leg to add an extra bracket or lug, this process definitely can distort the bore of the leg and they are usually machined after the process, otherwise you risk the stanchion jamming in the leg. That's what made me think of it.
Moral here, strip yours out when you have a dull five minutes. It's not difficult to do and as you can't get them any more as far as I know, a stitch in time might well save a lot of problems.

[citronut]

the crud is not holding the pressure back, but just prolonging the moment were it breaks through the cylinder wall,

disturbing the crud is just the last straw,

i think its also possible raising the suspension to high after disturbing the crud could aid the cylinder in failing,

as it may be at normal ride height the piston is behind the corrosion, so it is not subjected to direct high pressure,

regards malcolm

[tim]

Well, OK - I think it would have gone very soon regardless as the car goes into high on a regular basis for fluid checks etc. The amount that came out, it wouldn't have gone far after the light came on.
I notice that the rams have internal rubber seals - are these still available? Perhaps replacing these would be a good move though I'll need to move fast on that, should have thought of it before but I didn't notice them......have you got a part no. for them, Malcolm?

[citronut]

service citroen do not show the seals on there own for a BX,
but they do for a XANT which shows three seals not two as in the BX cylinder,

8
0348 K2
O-RING
DIAM 35X3,6

09
5 473 075
NFP
STEERING PISTON SEAL
35X40,8X2,45
RUBBER - C001-

10
5 473 082
STEERING SLIDING SEAL
34,9X36,6X0,85

you will need to compare these dimensions to the BX seals you have


regards malcolm