Is the writing on the wall?

Anything about BXs
mds141
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Post by mds141 »

Bring back the microfiche I say. Malcom Lockwood still uses one. :D
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Is it just me or is everything shit?

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Post by Kitch »

Mike E (uk) wrote:I have a rule of thumb that says 'In a shop, always ask for help from the guy who is older than me '

trouble is, I am getting older and the shop folk are getting younger so its getting harder to get good advice.

Mike
You wouldn't have got very far with me when I was working in parts then! And I was generally the only one who was willing to try to do it manually.
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citsncycles
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Post by citsncycles »

I'm sure you're right. I remember a classic instance of that sort of thing in a Land Rover dealer a few years back - I was after a hose from the water pump on an early Range Rover engine.
Dealer: Sorry sir, the computer only goes back as far as 1990.
Me: Well, can't you please just have a look on the shelves and see if there is anything matching what I have in my hand?
Dealer: Sorry, we have far too much stock, and it's so old we certainly wouldn't have it in anyway.
Old guy wandering in from the storeroom: Is that off a Rover V8?
Me: Yes...
Old guy: Is it the hose from the water pump to the inlet manifold?
Me: Yes!
Old guy (to the original bloke 'serving' me): Well that's part number FRC such-and-such, you'll find it on the second shelf down, third from the left.
I have much the same issue with my local Land Rover dealer, with the added fun of the younger staff insisting they need a registration number. As my series 1 is running with parts from almost the whole series range from 1956 to 1980, the registration is not much use, although the right person can get me what I want simply from my description. One major advantage Land Rover have over Citroen is that most late series parts are still available - I suspect that my local Citroen dealer wouldn't even know what a BX is!
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electrokid
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Post by electrokid »

I am getting older and the shop folk are getting younger
Tell me about it Mike :lol:

I think it depends on the dealer concerned. I no longer even bother to phone my local Citroen dealer - Bollingmores, Sheerwater, because they don't have the parts department at that branch anyway and the guys don't seem to know how to use the computer system either.

To try to keep ahead of the game I've bought the 'Citroen TIS' parts disk on ebay which is clunky but usually gives you parts numbers to give the dealer if needed. I've also got the microfiche but haven't used it yet.

So having stopped with clouds of smoke issuing from the bonnet last Wednesday (long and boring story !) I needed to get hold of a new alternator quickly.

So I phoned the dealer I now use for parts - one who is helpful if possible - Charters of Aldershot. Having given them the part number it was 'nil stock' - and PSA have a system for one parts dept to check the stock in all the other parts depts in the country - so you only need to find ONE dealer who is helpful.

Gave them the part number for another alternator which wasn't the one specified but should fit ok - also 'nil stock' - also nationwide.

And the last part number - for one that should fit - probably... and they had nil stock but the PSA system found just the one - in Carlisle - they gave me the number and I called it.

Ordered the alternator Friday lunchtime and it arrived Royal Mail first class 21 hours later - brilliant :)

So many thanks to Charters of Aldershot and to Harry at Telfords Carlisle for selling me the alternator at a discount 'because it had been on the shelf for so long' and for getting it in the post so promptly.
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Post by Kitch »

Even with discount I would imagine an alternator from a Citroen dealer would really sting? :shock:
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electrokid
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Post by electrokid »

Oh yes - lots of sting...

List price was £282.09 + vat :shock:

Harry charged me £215 + the usual surcharge for not returning the old one with postage and vat - £310.25

So I'm glad it's the rather nice Mitsi 80 amp version :D which is what I wanted to swap it for sometime anyway.
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Post by Vanny »

I managed to bag a brand new mitsu 80amp alternator for £90, but it take take 3 years to find one at that price. I think you did well!
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mat_fenwick
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Post by mat_fenwick »

I was in France back in 2006 when I had an alternator failure. Went to the nearest dealer and explained with lots of pointing and gesticulating what was wrong. They had one on the shelf (which was a good thing as it was 6pm on a Friday) and fitted it the next morning as I didn't bring any tools with me.

It would have been €350 fitted, but they waived the €100 labour after I nearly cried. That was back when the pound was a bit stronger, so not too bad I guess. The bonus was I managed to pay out of the joint account without Lana noticing!
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electrokid
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Post by electrokid »

I think you did well!
Yes I'm happy with the price - could have bought recon or secondhand but it's good to have a decent piece of kit that's likely to last a while. And with power to spare there's no reason why I shouldn't go with some of my pipe-dreams - like an electrically heated washer bottle and pipework etc - assuming 32 hour days of course :lol:

Re getting hold of part numbers, I'd guess that some of the info on the BX is steadly being removed from the Citroen TIS being seen by them to be less relevant today - so an older copy of the TIS might be more useful. Out of...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=c ... m270.l1313

I think I'd be inclined to go for the 2008 version...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-EPC-T ... 19cf4b4843

although the listing says that XP and Vista may have issues - that's understood anyway - IMHO the last fully stable Microsoft OS was Windows 2000 Pro :lol:

There's usually a patch you have to fit to fool the computer into thinking it has some sort of port available. I think the TIS I have is the 2009 version and if I try to use it while I'm on-line it asks me to download Isoview (the drawing package it uses) while if I'm off-line it just loads Isoview from the package and just gets on with it.

I noticed on the TIS that the alternator front bearing is often listed separately as a spare and it looks to be a common part across most of the range - so that's worth investigating as it's likely to be a common size and probably still available easily.
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toddao
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Post by toddao »

If you can get access to the Service Citroen website then it's possible to get all the part numbers as well as availability. Without this service I would not have been able to restore my yellow BX last year. Even with access to this site it still requires some head-scratching to locate the right part number sometimes.

I also have a sympathetic and helpful contact at the nearest Citroen garage who finds it quite a novelty that someone is still keeping BXs running. If I've got the part number and order before 11am, it's there the next day at 10am


Edit : it is quite depressing to see the hundreds of items that are 'NFP' on Service Citroen though, even if they've kept all the diagrams there, such as a complete BX body shell! But at least most pipes are still available.
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Post by Vanny »

I think its rather promising that they have bothered to update so many part numbers over the years. The BX parts should start 95 and have a long name format eg 95 xxx xxx but if you go look at the Service.Citroen or EPC catalogue you'll see quite a lot are in the format xxxx.xx which means they've updated the part number. I realise that for the most part this is only on fixings (nuts, bolts, washers) that have commonality on newer models, but they bothered!

Longer term, there isn't anything too taxing on a BX. Body work can be fabricated, HP pipe can be sourced and terminated, i've found source for all but a handful of connectors (again the Tyco/AMP reps have been very forth coming with data). So parts might not be available off the shelf, but i think we are a long way off run out!
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toddao
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Post by toddao »

It's typical that I previously wrote that most pipes are still available, then I look up a front brake pipe I need for the 16v ( another crusty relic) and it's 'NFP' so.. the writing is indeed on the wall, it says : time to buy some pipe making equipment :roll: Any ideas?
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stuart_hedges
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Post by stuart_hedges »

While we're recounting such stories....

A couple of weeks after I bought the Olympic Blue estate (RIP) it burst a water hose and chucked the coolant everywhere. By chance, it happened outside a branch of Halfords so I pulled into their car park, pulled off the split hose and took it inside.

I knew they wouldn't have the part itself, so I asked for a length of flexible hose in the right diameter, a sharp knife and a pair of jubilee clips.

I'd explained the problem to the child behind the desk and he was absolutely convinced that I wouldn't be able to fix it. As far as he was concerned, if I couldn't get the exact part (ie a shaped hose) I couldn't fix the car.

Of course I could - I had to snake the new flexible hose through a slightly different route than the old shaped part, but it worked until the day I had to scrap the car!
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