The Final Chapter of the Stripey Saga - RIP supermachine

Tell us about life with your BX, or indeed life in general!
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Dollywobbler
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by Dollywobbler »

Good stuff. Throttles are always quite heavy in these I find, though I must concede that the one in the Green Tiger has always been a bit too heavy. I took to wearing shoes with a stiffer sole. Perhaps if I'd fitted a new cable aeons ago, the pedal box wouldn't have broken...

The clutch should bite much more strongly than that one, which is why I suspect it's worn out. If you do a hill start, you'll see what I mean. It certainly wasn't slipping though, so on the to do list, but not urgent.
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vulgalour
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by vulgalour »

The clutch bites quite strongly as it is, certainly I've not been in a vehicle with a stronger clutch.

Hah, well I went to go out to put some fuel in and the clip on the throttle cable snapped the other tine off, which I was expecting but was hoping it'd at least wait until after I'd got fuel, didn't even get as far as moving the car before it went. I'll get a new one tomorrow, if there's one in stock at my local supplier.
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mat_fenwick
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by mat_fenwick »

It's also shared with 205s and I would imagine many other PSA cars of that era, if you get stuck finding one. Whenever I've had a leaking washer bottle it's been from the grommet to seal the pump to the bottle. Simply re-seating it has done the trick!
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vulgalour
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by vulgalour »

I'll do what I did with the Princess - ended up using a Peugeot 106 or a 1007 or something cable for that - and take the old one in with me to get the nearest match if they haven't got a BX one on the shelf. Autosupplies are usually pretty good on parts and they tend to not be too pricey.
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vulgalour
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by vulgalour »

Went out and got a new throttle cable today, the pedal moves without stiffness and driving the car feels completely different to with the old cable. I'd say that's a good thing. I don't understand why they had to change from the simple old design as below...
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...to this new design which came with no instructions and made a five minute job into a half hour job whilst Dad and I figured out how it should work.
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You have to line up the tabs, compressing the spring to do so, push it through the hole in the bulkhead and then twist it to lock it in place. I'm not looking forward to ever having to remove it. Other than that, it was a very easy thing to fit really.
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I think I may have disturbed something in the engine bay too, and I need to find out how to sort it. The oil pressure gauge used to shoot all the way to the right before settling back down to wherever it fancied sitting when you turned the ignition on. Now, it just sits at the left hand side with the warning light dimly lit. I don't get any other warning lights come on and the car isn't making any noises or doing anything untoward that would make me think there's a problem. There's plenty of oil in the car and no oil underneath the car so I'm hoping I've dislodged a sensor or similar, ideas welcome on this one.

The other thing I've noticed is the abnormal wear on the front drivers tyre, being more worn on the inside edge than anywhere else. Coupled with a vagueness around the middle of the steering and the intermittent fault I'm wondering if the pump might be at fault or the steering rack itself. The car doesn't pull left or right when driving or stopping so I don't think it's a tracking issue as first suspected.
Last edited by vulgalour on Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dollywobbler
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by Dollywobbler »

The pump wouldn't cause uneven tyre wear, and I'm not sure the rack would either. It has to be an alignment issue. Doesn't have to be feel-able at the wheel - I hadn't noticed it pulling either. I can't for the life of me remember where the oil pressure sender is!
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citsncycles
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by citsncycles »

I couldn't tell you where the sensor for oil level is (I don't have one on mine), but I'd imagine you've dislodged the wire that connects to it.

I'd check the suspension joints before condemning the rack. Having said that I got a reconditioned rack for mine (they're currently just under £100 on Ebay, although I paid less then that for mine) as the valve was leaking, both gaiters shot and there was play on both track rod inner joints, all of which are included on the rack and not much less to buy separately.

If you do end up changing the rack, I recommend checking the heater hoses, fuel lines and hydraulic lines while you're under there as some of it is easier to get at with the rack out.
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vulgalour
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by vulgalour »

@DW: Do you know if/when that tyre was replaced last? All the rest seem to have nice even wear on them. There's also a funny shimmy noise, like a pump that's struggling, but not all the time which I'm guessing could be the power steering pump. Stripey got a compliment from my brother too, he said it feels like a really good BX, better than the last one he drove which looked to be in better condition than this one, and for all he has sometimes questionable taste in cars (I'm one to talk!) I do value his opinions on how a car feels as he has that much more experience than me of working on and driving so many different types of cars.

@cits: I'll have a good poke around, see what I can see. I really should get myself a manual, this is the first car I've worked on without paper guidance.
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by Dollywobbler »

There is no power steering pump. There's a hydraulic pump that powers the steering, suspension and brakes. It should chirrup every now and then to pressurise the system. It was on about a ten second tick-time I think. Not brill, but just about good enough.

I've no idea when the tyre was replaced. What make is it? I put a set of Hankooks on it in 2009, but think I put a pair of Sava Perfectas on it in late 2010.
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vulgalour
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by vulgalour »

Unlikely to be pump related then, tick time is up at around the 15-20 second mark these days and the suspension rises and falls in good time. I don't know why it's improved, but it has and I shan't question that. I'll have a look at the tyres, I don't think it's a Hankook from memory so it's probably one of the SPs on the front. I'll get the tracking done somewhere anyway, see if it helps.

Niggles:
Interior lights - work manually, but the door switches don't work, probably mucky contacts.
Central locking - Passenger door unlocks both front doors, only rarely locks both front doors. Driver's door unlocks/locks driver's door only. Tailgate doesn't lock at all. I'm guessing this is also down to mucky contacts so I'll go around and investigate those.
Telltales - battery light doesn't come on, oil pressure gauge playing up. The former our local Citroen dealer said they'd look at free of charge, the latter is probably a loose plug I need to reconnect.
Electric windows - They seem a bit sluggish, don't know how fast they should be.
Tailgate - Rams are tired, the tailgate is a bit of an effort to lift, but it does stay up once opened.
Power steering - Intermittent, but otherwise okay. A flush might solve this.
Starting - Sometimes have to prime, sometimes don't. Replacement hoses and a clean out of the filter is on the cards. I'm expecting to find water and jelly in the filter.
Glow plugs - Sloooooooooow, usually.
Rocker Cover - oil leak. Easily sorted.
LHM - small weep (not really a proper leak) on the driver's corner. I still haven't found out precisely where from, but the return pipe seems the likely culprit.
Bodywork - There's some dents, the rear passenger door is pretty battered. There's some paint missing here and there, stone chips and the like, but most of it is easy to resolve.

I'm struggling to find anything seriously wrong with the car and overall it feels better than the Maestro I had, not as sturdy perhaps, but certainly a nicer place to be.
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mat_fenwick
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by mat_fenwick »

vulgalour wrote:The oil pressure gauge used to shoot all the way to the right before settling back down to wherever it fancied sitting when you turned the ignition on. Now, it just sits at the left hand side with the warning light dimly lit. I don't get any other warning lights come on
The oil level sensor is at the back of the block, fairly near the top, at the flywheel end. Only the GTi and 16v got a pressure gauge - after startup on lower models the gauge does nothing. Two terminal connector - Bosch injector style so unlikely to be knocked out of position. The oil pressure warning light is unrelated to the level sensor, and what should happen with no oil pressure (i.e. ignition on before startup) is that all other warning lights should come on as a test. Do they still? Blind guess would be the 7 way connector on top of the gearbox has one or more high resistance contacts...
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vulgalour
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by vulgalour »

Interesting. I did have to disconnect a hose that runs along side the route of the throttle cable for access so I'm wondering if moving that hose has dislodged/moved something as it runs around the back of the block near the top. By "high resistance contact" do you mean I have to clean up some contacts to make things work again?
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by Dollywobbler »

Glow plugs always do take a long time, especially compared to more modern diesels. That's how the relay is set, so it can't be helped. A BX diesel would make a crap getaway car!
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by hilarystone »

You can get quicker glowplugs made by Bosch, Bosch Duraterm which reduce the startup time to about five seconds. I've used them with great success on Citroen CX diesels…
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Re: The Stripey Saga Continues

Post by Dollywobbler »

I'm intrigued! I always assumed the relay dictated how long the plugs were on for.
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