LHM leak ! what to do ?
LHM leak ! what to do ?
My good old BX !
a week ago the Stop and hydraulic light suddenly came on. I immediately parked the car at home. I had to go abroad for a week and today I had a closer look. I started the car and had a look underneath. There is a LHM leak at the front drivers side.
What can I do? Is it easy to fix ? would a mechanic charge me a fortune ?
please see photos
a week ago the Stop and hydraulic light suddenly came on. I immediately parked the car at home. I had to go abroad for a week and today I had a closer look. I started the car and had a look underneath. There is a LHM leak at the front drivers side.
What can I do? Is it easy to fix ? would a mechanic charge me a fortune ?
please see photos
former BX 16 TGS Meteor Auto owner. No space or time to do own repairs. My BX is now owned by another member of this forum.
- ken newbold
- Over 2k
- Posts: 4408
- Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:53 pm
- x 5
- DavidRutherford
- BX Digit man!
- Posts: 2706
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 5:07 pm
- Location: Placing comments on YouTube.
I'll fourth that, but with the proviso that it could be the small octopus where it connects to the front height corrector, or the rubber/metal join for the rear height corrector (which is in the same area)
Put it on a couple of drive-on ramps, in high, and have a look underneath to see what you can see. The leaky pipe should be reasonably easy to find.
Put it on a couple of drive-on ramps, in high, and have a look underneath to see what you can see. The leaky pipe should be reasonably easy to find.
this might be a signature
I had the doseur return pipe go. Loads of LHM under it and dripping on the ground rapidly.
If you've got only one leak you may temporarily be able to repair the pipe - with suitable components (small steel pipe for sleeving, fuel tube, clips etc. How long temporary is - I don't know as obviously if one bit has rotted - others are close behind.
If you've got only one leak you may temporarily be able to repair the pipe - with suitable components (small steel pipe for sleeving, fuel tube, clips etc. How long temporary is - I don't know as obviously if one bit has rotted - others are close behind.
Thank you.....this sounds to complicated for me to do by myself. If you say half a days work for a beginner, that means 2 days for me.
I will ask my trusted indipended garage if they like to do it.
I hope if I top up the LHM I will be able to drive to the Garage, it is about 4 miles away ?
I will ask my trusted indipended garage if they like to do it.
I hope if I top up the LHM I will be able to drive to the Garage, it is about 4 miles away ?
former BX 16 TGS Meteor Auto owner. No space or time to do own repairs. My BX is now owned by another member of this forum.
Useful to know David thank you. My past experiances of the Octopus failure has been shall we say very fast draining, Funny enough the 19TRS just added to my collection has a leak from the same area, as soon as I saw my leak the alarm bells started as a bitch of a job.DavidRutherford wrote:I'll fourth that, but with the proviso that it could be the small octopus where it connects to the front height corrector, or the rubber/metal join for the rear height corrector (which is in the same area)
Put it on a couple of drive-on ramps, in high, and have a look underneath to see what you can see. The leaky pipe should be reasonably easy to find.
Maybe worthy of a patch up jobby me thinks.
1991 BX19 TZS 04/01/91 (Deceased)
1990 BX19 TRS 27/10/89 (Reborn)
1992 BX19 TXD (Ex UK - K 744 SDF) 15/06/92
1990 BX19 TZS Auto 06/11/1989
1992 BX TZD Turbo Estate (Ex UK) 1/07/91
1990 BX19 TRS 27/10/89 (Reborn)
1992 BX19 TXD (Ex UK - K 744 SDF) 15/06/92
1990 BX19 TZS Auto 06/11/1989
1992 BX TZD Turbo Estate (Ex UK) 1/07/91
- DLM
- Our Trim Guru
- Posts: 1620
- Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 6:41 pm
- Location: Gosport, Hampshire, UK
- 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. - x 9
...and it's always worth taking a look to locate the leak first if you can. Usual Citroen under-car safety procedures apply.
Just sometimes it's one of the plastic tubes from the rear which have popped off the rearward "tentacles" of the octopus. However it's normally leaking further back onto the rear edge of the front subframe if this is the case....
Just sometimes it's one of the plastic tubes from the rear which have popped off the rearward "tentacles" of the octopus. However it's normally leaking further back onto the rear edge of the front subframe if this is the case....
Back on two wheels and pedal power for the moment.
Thanks for all the help. I have topped up the LHM level and driven the car to the garage. The stop lights did not come on again. I will find out on monday how much the damage will be.
keep you posted
keep you posted
former BX 16 TGS Meteor Auto owner. No space or time to do own repairs. My BX is now owned by another member of this forum.
Huh...
My garage confirmed that it is the octopus. (they described it as the part with 6 pipes) but don't do the work.
I phoned one specialist nearby whose 3 hour labour cost alone would be nearly £ 200.
Can anyone recommend someone....the 100+ still sounded ok.
Help
My garage confirmed that it is the octopus. (they described it as the part with 6 pipes) but don't do the work.
I phoned one specialist nearby whose 3 hour labour cost alone would be nearly £ 200.
Can anyone recommend someone....the 100+ still sounded ok.
Help
former BX 16 TGS Meteor Auto owner. No space or time to do own repairs. My BX is now owned by another member of this forum.
As you infer the labour rate is the killer from a lot of Garages, all you can do is check with those who know Cits and ask what they will do the Octopus for if you discount doing it yourself. The guy I used was ex-cit and set up as an independent, not even registered for vat at that time but it was a couple of years ago and he's quite distant to you.
There's a recommended list on the Main BXClub Site:
http://www.bxclub.co.uk/specialists/
Hopefully you will find one close but I guess you are faced with London prices unless you drive the car elsewhere. If you put the suspension in intermediate, you are likely to find you can make a journey with little loss of LHM except for when you turn the engine off and the car settles.
There's a recommended list on the Main BXClub Site:
http://www.bxclub.co.uk/specialists/
Hopefully you will find one close but I guess you are faced with London prices unless you drive the car elsewhere. If you put the suspension in intermediate, you are likely to find you can make a journey with little loss of LHM except for when you turn the engine off and the car settles.
1991 BX19GTi Auto
I booked the Garage for next week, because I did not find anyone who would do it earlier. I have already booked my Airport parking for this Friday, so I really would like to drive to the Airport (about 35miles away) Since I discovered that there is a leak 2 weeks ago, I have only topped up about a quarter of a litre. (The photo above shows the car after it has been standing on the same spot for 8days) and I have driven for about 25miles. I guess I will be ok with a spare bottle of LHM and just keep driving it and topping up if necessary. or does this sound like a bad idea ?
former BX 16 TGS Meteor Auto owner. No space or time to do own repairs. My BX is now owned by another member of this forum.
- Philip Chidlow
- Over 2k
- Posts: 11594
- Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:08 pm
- Location: Chelmsford, Essex
- x 25