rear end return pipes - help!

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tim
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rear end return pipes - help!

Post by tim »

Just been having a long and fruitless struggle to get the White Ones' right-hand rear suspension strut to hold fluid. Failed completely....but by great good fortune I managed to find a new strut (last in captivity?) which I've just fitted. However, I'm not sure the return pipes are in the right place. The black pipe from the gaiter has popped off its stub (and needed replacing anyway) which I can just see nestling on top of the subframe but predictably it's impossible to get the new pipe to push back into this and there is no way of getting a grip of it. It would be easier just to replumb the whole lot but it is impossible to see where the various junctions are. Has anyone got a drawing of this setup so I can work it out? I'm not taking the subframe off!
I need to know where the rear h.c. return goes, the black plastic pipe and the clear pipe from the strut.
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Re: rear end return pipes - help!

Post by rutter123 »

maybe if you could post up some pics it would give a better idea of what you're up against.
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tim
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Re: rear end return pipes - help!

Post by tim »

Sorry, there's no access to take pictures up there, everything is buried (most of the problem). Anyway, it's clear enough what the pipes are for and what they do. If I could eyeball them and handle them it would be a two minute job to reconnect them. I was being a bit dense, with another BX alongside all I needed to do for the black pipes was to look underneath and it seems that the black ones are only for air release and so are pushed up into the holes in the subframe, nothing more.
My main query is the two clear plastic return pipes that are routed along the righthand side of the car. You can see these where they emerge just above the subframe; after that there is obviously a block clip or two to hold them which if the condition of the scrappy is anything to go by will be rotted solid. I have to reconnect the height corrector and both strut tubes to these; it isn't a problem to cut, connect, reroute etc. but I need to know a) if each of the two tubes has a specific destination that can't be mixed up and how do you i.d. each one or can either of these be linked to either of the feeds? As there are two return tubes and three inputs I assume that the rear strut pipes have a T-block and a single feed into one pipe, and the height corrector goes into the other. But that's a guess!
tim
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Re: rear end return pipes - help!

Post by tim »

PS If my memory is correct (and it may well not be!) both these pipes go to the octopus. One certainly does. However, the colour schematic of the octopus which we all refer to doesn't mention returns from the rear struts. Car needs to be used tomorrow so any advice appreciated. It's a quick fix once I know what to do.
citronut
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Re: rear end return pipes - help!

Post by citronut »

i dont have a drawing of the pipe layout, but only one pipe from each rear cylinder goes back to the front of the car, the other one on each cylinder is just pocked into a hole in the sub frame cross member/section, and is only a vent,

the second rear to front plastic trickle/seepage return is from the rear height corrector,

im 99% sure it is possible ( just ) to access these without dropping the sub frame

regards malcolm
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David
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Re: rear end return pipes - help!

Post by David »

There are 2 pipes coming from each rear cylinder. One is a breather which goes in to the rear axle, & the other 2 connect together with a 'Y' piece & go to the octopus.
The height corrector then has its own return, which again goes to the octopus. Access is very difficult, I looked at all these when I changed the axle & at the same time replaced the 'Y' piece.

If your car is off the road then your best bet would be to remove the fuel tank then you can see what you are doing. Otherwise just re-route them.

Good luck.
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tim
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Re: rear end return pipes - help!

Post by tim »

Thanks for that. Car is very much in use, not off the road! I have found an old schematic off this forum dated July 31st 2010 (by JayW) which shows a line drawing in two parts of all the various pipes, although without any labelling of parts. Never mind.... it seems from this that yep, the height corrector has the sole use of one return pipe and the struts go into a t-piece and use the other. However, my question still stands - which of the two identical pipes goes to which unit, and does it matter if they are crossed over?
The problem is that by the time I have wrestled the pipe ends from their clamp on top of the subframe I will simply be looking at two identical ends; they are both clear plastic. I suspect the T-piece has disintegrated anyway. So I'd repeat the question - can these pipes be crossed over or not; I'd think not as the height corrector returns share a common union inside the octopus. I think the green 5mm tube on the colour schematic is the one to the rams but I'm fairly sure they are both 3mm on the car... I hope I'm wrong as this will make the reconnections simple. oh well, more crawling about underneath! Arse.
citronut
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Re: rear end return pipes - help!

Post by citronut »

were the two rear to front plastic seepage return pipes go into the octapusssy, one is slightly bigger in diameter than the other,

Tim why dont you register on service citroen, then you can look at the drawings,

http://service.citroen.com/docpr/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

regards malcolm
curent ride
K reg BX 17TD TZD est
also own
K reg D special

no longer have
H reg CX saffari 2.5 TRI (now gone to Malaysia)
R reg xantia 1.9TD est (gone to meet its maker)
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