Mat's BX Blog

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:20 am

Well, there is a kind of perverse satisfaction about protecting yourself from the elements, and carrying on regardless. Not always enjoyable as such, but maybe more satisfying afterwards.

Just got in after spending a few hours under the MINI - a couple of the exhaust rubbers looked a bit fragile so at about 11 o' clock this evening I thought I would spend 20 minutes replacing them. Easy job; each rubber is held on by two nuts and studs. I started to undo the last nut, pleased with how easily they came undone and I had just enough time to think "That's a sudden loss of resistance to turning" when the stud sheared off. Bugger.

Up with the boot carpet then, and I could see that each pair of studs were welded to a plate. Unfortunately the plate was spot welded to the boot floor so I had to drill out the spot welds, remove the plate and then cut off the remains of the stud. I then had to drill and weld a bolt in place of the snapped stud. Finally I used Sikaflex to bond it in place, and fitted the new rubbers. Talk about a small job growing into a big one!

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:56 am

A couple short videos of what I got up to at the weekend....air temperature was 4°C and the water didn't feel any warmer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuY760w1IMs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbcd7wOD-lI

The occasion was a friend's stag weekend, and we followed the usual hangover cure fried breakfast with a day of mountain biking. That didn't end too well, as only 4 of the 10 made it to the end!

Post by **Defender110** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:26 pm

mat_fenwick wrote:A couple short videos of what I got up to at the weekend...!

Should I be relieved my company security settings won't let me veiw these????????

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:55 pm

No need to worry, most flesh is covered up by tight fitting neoprene! That sounds even worse now...

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:25 am

Had quite a productive weekend, as it didn't rain on Saturday and most of Sunday!
Started off by taking Lana's horse to a livery yard where he can spend a few months, to give our grass a rest and for him to get more training. Then took the van up the track for a bit of exercise, and managed to find the source of the slight top end rattle - it seems to be the vacuum pump. Also cut a few weeks worth of firewood as we were getting low.

Last weekend I had noticed a minor misfire on the Discovery under load on gas (which always highlights any weakness in the ignition system). I had been meaning to replace the distributor cap and rotor arm for a while, but gave up when I discovered the rotor arm was siezed on the shaft (I know from experience that pulling too hard can result in the need for a complete distributor strip down!). Anyway, I managed to break off the old arm and replace - problem gone!

Other issues that had just cropped up were another water leak, and the cruise control had stopped working. Neither ideal problems to have when heading down to France in a week's time, I'm going to be doing 1500 or so miles in 3 days so would welcome a bit of comfort. Fortunately the cruise problem was just a split hose (although awkward to get to) and the water leak was duly sealed up. Last night's rain didn't manage to get in, so fingers crossed there.

Also I cleared a spot of brambles/stumps etc to increase the parking area (if they're out of sight then she can't complain!). Then yesterday I got a call from someone who'd suffered brake failure after an emergency stop in his Vauxhall Omega. Apparently it didn't feel right straight after, and by the time he'd got home the fluid was empty and no brakes at all! One rear brake line had been replaced during the MOT 2 months previously, and sure enough the opposite side had burst. Fortunately I had pipe and joiners in stock so could fix it fairly quickly, but I didn't think much to the MOT 'repair'. The new copper pipe was completely unsupported across the full width of the car!

Mike E (uk) · Post by **Mike E (uk)** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:36 pm

It's very true that LPG shows up any ignition problems.

Not an ignition problem, but I had an annoying problem on the Peugeot where it would not reliably switch over to LPG when warm, sometimes stalling on switch over.

Bought some injector cleaner last week, which says on the bottle specially designed for LPG injectors. £15 from ebay. Gave the Injectors blocks 2 treatments and all is well.

Plenty of cleaner left to do the job again in another 3 years too.

I was so pleased that I treated the car to a new exhaust system.

Mike

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:32 pm

One tip I've heard for keeping LPG injectors free from heavy ends build up is to ensure they are mounted vertically so that any gloop can run into the cylinders and be burnt off. Raising the changeover temperature can help, but it obviously means more time running on that nasty expensive petrol stuff!

I've writing this whilst down in France (first time abroad with my elderly laptop). Used lots of fuel during the 800 mile trip down (although I much prefer the French/Italian LPG filler nozzle) but no real problems. A little bit of a scare whilst on cruise control up a hill and suddenly lost all power - fine when I put my foot on the pedal.

It turned out the ball on the linkage had split, but quickly fixed with a piece of wire. Only seen one BX so far this trip - a white estate leaving the motorway so no chance of a photo.

Weather has been surprisingly warm, and the snow is looking a bit slushy down at resort level. On the upside visibility is good - Mont Blanc in the background.

Mike E (uk) · Post by **Mike E (uk)** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:40 pm

Looks very pleasant there.

Interesting you mention delaying the petrol/gas switch over point to overcome the dirty injector problem, I was doing that manually to continue using the car.

I like the French LPG hose system too.

Only problem I have had in France with gas is finding some supermarkets on Sunday have unattended pay at pump systems, and no method of paying for LPG so they shut off the pump that day.
So fill up on Saturdays!

I would be nice if the BX ran on LPG, but it has not done 2000 miles since the BXagon so it is not worthwhile converting it.

Mike

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:07 pm

No pic of the hovercraft. Fail!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:36 pm

Very jealous of the Ski-ing, it's an all time favourite sport of mine & i didn't go this year

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:46 pm

Mike E (uk) wrote:Interesting you mention delaying the petrol/gas switch over point to overcome the dirty injector problem, I was doing that manually to continue using the car.

I think that the higher temperature would mean any heavy ends gumming up the injectors (and hence delaying their response time slightly) would be more fluid. I'm not sure where the injector rail(s) is on your 406, but I've heard it recommended to avoid anywhere cooled by incoming airflow to keep them as warm as reasonably possible.

Kitch wrote:No pic of the hovercraft. Fail!

It was dark, and we had a ferry to catch (I was being slightly anal after the last two trips away when we got there before it sailed, but they said we were too late to be let on). We did see the hovercraft though, and had forgotten how HUUUGE it is!

We haven't been skiing since early 2009, so were a bit rusty to start with - soon came back though. Would be nice to go every year, but it's getting ever more pricey!

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:36 am

This week's task is to fit a replacement gearbox I have to the red BX, as well as go through the whole front suspension and replace whatever it is that's clonking over bumps. One of the ball joints has a split boot, but I can't feel any play in it whilst assembled. Plus someone is bringing a pick up for me to fit driving lights to.

In other news, was down at a wedding at the weekend and on the way back up a stone got thrown up and cracked the screen on the Disco. Bad news is it's not covered by the insurance, and the quotes I've had in so far are between £700 and £1000

I may have found one in Mansfield for £100, brand new but collection only so might have to make the long trip east one evening.

Don't think I'll be watching much TV for a while!

Mickey taker · Post by **Mickey taker** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:51 pm

Mat if you need somewhere to crash to break the journey give us a shout or even if you just want a coffee break

BX Meteor · Post by **BX Meteor** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 2:07 pm

I think Mansfield is closer to Wales than it is to MK

Mickey taker · Post by **Mickey taker** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 2:36 pm

oops, where is Mansfield , (Ive never been there) I thought it was near Nottingham

All I know is MK is east of Wales (then again so is most of civilization

)