Picked up my BX last night

[SamWise]

Got in it at Z this morning, drove about 60 miles to Woking, did a full days work and then drove another 150 odd miles to Norfolk (posting on my Blackberry from a hotel room). Figured that was a good enough test run!

The BX behaved impeccably, and I'm less convinced I have a performance problem now. Issues spotted so far include saggy headlining round the sunroof, a floppy accelerator pedal, no interior lights on when I open the drivers door, and an intermittent left side dash light, so nothing to crippling. First impressions of driving are that you sit up on it, compared to feeling more tucked down into my XM. The seats aren't as comfortable as the XM, and the pedal box is more cramped, but both are infinitely better than the AX, and the headroom is lovely! I'm 6'3, very little of which is legs, so my head was crammed in the sunroof aperture in the AX, and whilst the XM is better, it's still marginal. The BX gives me loads of room! The lights are so much better than the XM too, which was a comfort around the backroads of Norfolk. Consumption looks very promising, despite my not resisting the urge to give it the odd good squirt, and despite the country roads bit, which neccesitated changing down a lot. I've been spoiled by getting 75 mpg in the AX, but this looks promising for over 60 even though I've by no means driven at my most economical (my record in the XM is 55). I'll let you know the final mpg score, and post pics, after I get home late tomorrow. I appreciate all the advice, and it's nice to be back behind the wheel of a BX!

[Geoffrey Gould]

Hello Sam Glad you are enjoying it,any lack of performance could well be the pedal box they are not made of very strong metal and tend to split so the pedal tilts to one side and does not open the pump up to full throttle. will probable need welding and a bit of strengthening done, an out rigger bracket to the floor works well. Mine was flat out at just under 40 !! because of that.
Would that Bedford have a 466 by any chance?
All the best.
Cheers.
Geoff.

[DLM]

Got in it at Z this morning, drove about 60 miles to Woking, did a full days work and then drove another 150 odd miles to Norfolk (posting on my Blackberry from a hotel room). Figured that was a good enough test run!

A short stroll for a BX TD! Glad to hear it's behaving.

Issues spotted so far include saggy headlining round the sunroof, a ,floppy accelerator pedal no interior lights on when I open the drivers door, and an intermittent left side dash light, so nothing to crippling.

saggy headlining round the sunroof

As it's aftermarket item it'll be entirely down to the competence of the fitter. If you're lucky there might be some kind of inner edge to remove, but then it's hardly a serious prob.

floppy accelerator pedal

Geoff's spot on here I'd imagine - especially if there's a deviation of the pedal to the right-hand-side and you end up pressing it "around the corner" right-to-left. If the floppiness is up-and-down, take a look under the bonnet for slack in the throttle cable.

no interior lights on when I open the drivers door

The switch on the lower a-pillar can get corroded due to ingress of water, or just needs a bit of finger-poking exercise. Alternatively it could be corrosion in the switch or the bodywork where it's mounted and earthed. Have almost certainly got a spare switch if you need one.

Intermittent left side dash lightbulb

You'll be needing the standard BX post-purchase dashbulb check-through then - and the BX ownership rite of passage of first-time removal of the instrument pod.

The bulbs are a good check as to how enthusiastically the BX has been looked after. The bulb holders twist into the back of the dash and sometimes flop around if not completely located. It's sometimes surprising to discover how many of the bulbs have blown...

[BX Bandit]

If it will fit, you are welcome to a complete sunroof mech/motor and roof lining Sam but I'd be surprised if the aftermarket one has the same size and positioned aperture!

[SamWise]

Thankyou, but 1) I doubt it would fit, and 2) I don't want anything with motors. The less opportunity for CEF in an old Citroen the better, I reckon! Like most of them, my XM has a completely inoperative electric sunroof......

[DLM]

The only time I've ever driven an XM, I pressed the sunroof button for some reason before the owner could warn me not to. There was a clunk, a click, no movement, and then silence.....

[BX Bandit]

Oddly, the sunroof motor is the one thing I've never had a fault with!!!

[SamWise]

The real problem is when they open but won't shut again. I had that with a window on my XM. It suffered a dangerous evening open to the local wildlife, and we had a very damp and draughty ride home before discovering that it was a 20 second fix to transplant a switch from a rear window. I really must replace that one at some point.......

[SamWise]

Hello Sam Glad you are enjoying it,any lack of performance could well be the pedal box they are not made of very strong metal and tend to split so the pedal tilts to one side and does not open the pump up to full throttle. will probable need welding and a bit of strengthening done, an out rigger bracket to the floor works well. Mine was flat out at just under 40 !! because of that.
Would that Bedford have a 466 by any chance?
All the best.
Cheers.
Geoff.

The Bedford is indeed the unjustly maligned 466. Lovely, lazy, understressed engine, with none of the propensity to blow up that the turbo-ed 500's have.

The pedal does indeed lean to the right, and I have to shove it left with my foot while pushing down to get the last bit of travel (which may, indeed, not be the last bit of travel). I do own a welder, with which I am very good at making spatter patterns, and holes. I think I'm going to need help on this one! In fact, that reminds me...... (scuttles off to tech forum)

[SamWise]

A short stroll for a BX TD! Glad to hear it's behaving.

saggy headlining round the sunroof

As it's aftermarket item it'll be entirely down to the competence of the fitter. If you're lucky there might be some kind of inner edge to remove, but then it's hardly a serious prob.

Yeah, I think it just needs fiddling with. The surround has dropped on 3 sides, but if I can figure out how it fits, I should be able to bodge it back.

floppy accelerator pedal

Geoff's spot on here I'd imagine - especially if there's a deviation of the pedal to the right-hand-side and you end up pressing it "around the corner" right-to-left. If the floppiness is up-and-down, take a look under the bonnet for slack in the throttle cable.

See above! Definitely looking for someone who can help on this one.

no interior lights on when I open the drivers door

The switch on the lower a-pillar can get corroded due to ingress of water, or just needs a bit of finger-poking exercise. Alternatively it could be corrosion in the switch or the bodywork where it's mounted and earthed. Have almost certainly got a spare switch if you need one.

It could also quite possibly just be the bulb. I need to have a poke at that.

Intermittent left side dash lightbulb

You'll be needing the standard BX post-purchase dashbulb check-through then - and the BX ownership rite of passage of first-time removal of the instrument pod.

How difficult a job is that? I've always managed to put off such things with other cars.....

[mat_fenwick]

How old is your BX? Later ones (post '92?) are quite a bit easier to remove the dash binnacle on...

It's held on from behind by either 11(?)mm plastic nuts (early), or plastic wingnuts (later ones). Access is by removing the clock tray and the switch panel for the electric mirrors by the driver's knee.

Not a bad job really!

[SamWise]

It's a 1993 - this sounds encouraging.....

[DavidRutherford]

The Bedford is indeed the unjustly maligned 466. Lovely, lazy, understressed engine, with none of the propensity to blow up that the turbo-ed 500's have.

Or the unbelieveably pathetic "performance" of the 300.

Drove and did a fair bit of work on a Bedfort TK horsebox with a 300 engine in it. Slowest vehicle of evAr.

As for the pedal box.. Easy fix.

The main issue: Have you got somewhere to do work on your vehicles, or are you restricted to "whatever can be done at the side of the road"?

[jonathan_dyane]

How old is your BX? Later ones (post '92?) are quite a bit easier to remove the dash binnacle on...

It's held on from behind by either 11(?)mm plastic nuts (early), or plastic wingnuts (later ones). Access is by removing the clock tray and the switch panel for the electric mirrors by the driver's knee.

Not a bad job really!

It really is a suprisingly pleasant job.

My 1991 car has the wingnuts, so I'm sure yours will too.

The only real thing to be careful with is the speedo cable, which requires care to unclip/reclip; the end of it is brittle and you can crack where the clip attaches to the cable outer. Otherwise a good straightforward, satisfying and confidence giving little job!

[docchevron]

The Bedford is indeed the unjustly maligned 466. Lovely, lazy, understressed engine, with none of the propensity to blow up that the turbo-ed 500's have.

Or the unbelieveably pathetic "performance" of the 300.

Drove and did a fair bit of work on a Bedfort TK horsebox with a 300 engine in it. Slowest vehicle of evAr.

As for the pedal box.. Easy fix.

The main issue: Have you got somewhere to do work on your vehicles, or are you restricted to "whatever can be done at the side of the road"?

I love the "performance" in quotes!
I imagine the TK had a calendar rather than a speedo??!!

The 466 is rather nice, no 680 mind, but not bad.
Although all pale into insignificance compared to a Cummins 6CT-211 or the sexiest road going diesel ever the Cummins L10!

Certainly sounds like the pedal box is not helping the warp factor in your car.. Easy enough to do dependant on circumstance as mentioned above.