Came to fit new vent + overflow pipe to the bottom of the front struts today. Only a clip round the strut and two flexible pipes to push on thought I.
Old one came off, no problems.
New one on, well it would be if I could fasten the clip????
tried a pair of moles but couldn't quite get hold of the little raised bits on the clip to enable me to close it!!!
10 minute job, spent ages and ages still no success!
resorted to large jubilee clip but I'm not confident it will do the job because the shape is wrong.
Is there a tool for this? or can anyone suggest an efficient way of doing this please.
But the tool that I use is shown below, you can also use a carpenters nail remover type pliers, or modify a pair of pliers, just grind sharp edges on the jaws.
If its leaking much the chances are the strut needs overhauling or replacing. Other signs of strut deterioration are stiffness, creaks and groans etc. If the car sinks and rises jerkily when raising and lowering it (as opposed to a gentle rock back and forth)
Thanks for the advice, will look round for a pair of what we used to call pincers!
There's nowt wrong wit struts, just the rubber on the pipes which connect to the rest of the system os so old that what with going up and down they've perished.
Hands aren't as strong as they used to be, so thought there might be a tool with plenty of leverage which gripped the bits that stick out on the sides, presumably they are there to help pull the clip round the strut.
Well as Brian said cobblers tools!!! Even simple jobs have a way of taking toolong.
Looks a neat idea, but probably a bit of a faff when the returns are so cheap from GSF and are so quick to fit.
I also notice that you haven't fitted the air-pump valve that is in-line in one of the old rubber tubes.
I was thinking that this was just for emptying the leakage LHM from that particular strut but it may be that the air-pump effect of the lower struts is used on the other LHM through the octopus to assist in lifting it to the reservoir level? Any views?
My Cars: Historically, lots of BX hatches/estates in the 90s/00s - 16/19i/17td/19d Recent scruffy diesel n/a estate - "The Red Shed" - is no longer mine.
I think the theory is that as the strut extends and contracts it displaces air - which is used to pump spilled LHM back to the reservoir. The valves in the system assist.
My Cars: Historically, lots of BX hatches/estates in the 90s/00s - 16/19i/17td/19d Recent scruffy diesel n/a estate - "The Red Shed" - is no longer mine.
Apols for my short and rather cryptic post. Jeremy's post is quite correct - an expanded version of what I was trying to say is summed up below, with some extra thoughts.
The main thing to think about is what the design goals were for the return system, and then about how these goals may be compromised in practice as the systems age.
1. Various return pipes converge at the large octopus in three functionally or flow-related groups.
2. These come together at three main junction points inside the octopus assembly, each with a single return outlet to feed lhm back to the reservoir tank: these three junction points are not interconnected within the octopus.
3. One of these junction points - the middle one if I remember correctly - takes both of the air/vent pipes from the front struts. I can't remember if this also takes in lhm return feeds as well.
As Jeremy says, there are good reasons to have a valve or valves to control vent or lhm flow:
(a) If there is a standard return pipe feed converging on the octopus junction fed by the vents, then a valve could be used to "pump" returned lhm to the reservoir tank from either a "weakly-flowing" leak-back return, or an intermittent-flow return-pipe.
(b) Also, a one-way valve could also prevent unwanted suction or siphon effects from pulling lhm or air back through vent/return pipes.
(c) As air is compressible, and lhm is not, unwanted back-flow of air could build up uncontrolled forces, with unpredictable destructive and fatigue effects. This unwanted pressure build-up would be controlled so that lhm and air would only mix in the octopus-side sub-section of the return system.
(d)lhm is non-compressible, but if contained in a rubber pipe under pressure, the rubber of the pipes tends to expand because of the increased pressure, causing problems at push-fit junctions. Problems also occur at clamped joints where where rubber joins to metal pipes in a clipped-down arrangement - that's why nearly all such joins in the BX's plumbing have a secondary rubber collar for pipe protection and seal longevity. The main exception - due to lack of space around it - is the operational return from the front height corrector - the section which normally fails first in an octopus!
(e) As the systems age, you need to add the following words to all of the above: IN THEORY. In practice, leaks and greater return flows occur though various causes as the systems age, e.g. worn strut internals cause strut return-pipes to pop off, and perished strut return-pipes leak or suck-in lhm/air. Any valves would also be prone to blockage through particles suspended in dirty lhm, or dirt entering the return system though suction from a leaking or porous return.
Back on two wheels and pedal power for the moment.
or can anyone suggest an efficient way of doing this please.
