My BX14 RE- Sold.

[Fumbler]

That sounds like a wheel bearing and the grinding could be your brake disc rubbing on something it shouldn't.

Ah! Perhaps. I'll put the front in the air and give the wheels a wobble. When I had the front wheels off to do the steering rack gaiter I didn't notice anything fouling the wheel or the disc. What else could make a grinding noise and feel through the floor at low speed? CV joints?

[RobC]

Handbrake cables are also notorious for fouling the wheels

[Fumbler]

Handbrake cables are also notorious for fouling the wheels

Mine definitely are on full lock. I'll have a peek underneath tomorrow. Would bad wheel bearings groan only when going over bumps? Sounds more like a tired bush or something suspension related to me.

[white exec]

Brake discs/pads?

[rutter123]

Knackered wheel bearings generally rumble or make a humming noise (may not necessarily have any play) , might be worth checking c.v joints and intermediate drive shaft bearing, spin Yr wheels off the ground and on full lock, worn drop links or bushes will usually give a knocking on taking up drive and braking and when hitting potholes or the like.
Don't just wobble the wheel try give it a good spin and listen for the rumble or you may feel an amount of "notchiness" removing the brake pads makes things easier, if the bearings have never been changed I would be inclined to fit new ones anyway for what they cost
Theyre not too bad to swap out and the car will be noticeably quieter
May be worth checking the bottom ball joints as when they wear they can send a resonance through the subframe, again for what they cost swap them out as well if you can get the old ones out....
Wishbone bushes will look obviously perished or oil soaked but unlikely to cause a grinding noise, bushes are available separately from the arms for About £20 (4) if theyve had it
If you can d. I. Y then you should be able to do the lot for less than £100

[Fumbler]

The noise has been found. The strut doesn't seem happy at its job of being a strut. I do have a spare of unknown condition though, if worst comes to worst. What seems to be the problem here? Poor lubrication?

[Fumbler]

PXL_20210902_173056301.jpg

I forgot to add this earlier- is this supposed to happen?

[Fumbler]

I gave the strut a bit of a wiggle and there is the tiniest amount of free play. It's definitely worn some so I'll probably replace it with the spare I have and get it rebuilt, if rebuilding is in any way affordable.

[Fumbler]

...Now the height control linkage has failed somewhere. The front is near the bumpstops and the rear is sitting normally. The lever moves suspiciously freely between the normal and intermediate suspension positions, then there's an audible clunk before you can't move it anymore. It's a real struggle to move it to the high position and the car won't raise in height at all. What's happened?

[rutter123]

Low lhm?
Linkage broken?

[Fumbler]

It feels like it's broken somewhere upfront. I did replace the leakback pipe in its entirety, however, and confirmed the strut is incredibly stiff.

With this little event, I've sort of immobilised the car and I'm now lacking space to get it sorted. While I love the car to bits I think it'll need to leave me before winter arrives.

[white exec]

Although the surround to the strut top looks rusty, the distance between the shield and the body sheel looks much like ours here - gap of 39mm. I have not measured this gap on a new-condition strut, though.
.

Fumbler's FF struts.jpg

Advisable to check the underside of the strut top though (under the wing, with gaiter slid off) for rusting of the base plate.

If you do need to get the struts re-built, the company to go to is elastomer.eu.
Their website details the procedure and cost. They have done a large number of XM and Xantia tops over several years now, and we're not aware of any failures.

BX struts have the advantage (sfaik) of NOT bursting through the bonnet if the rubber shears away from the steel. XM/Xan failures can take the bonnet with them .

[Fumbler]

Sadly my time is up with the old thing. I've got to return to college and the car's not exactly in operating condition. A stranded car isn't a very nice thing so it's unfortunately got to go, a month earlier than planned. Had it not broken yesterday and I had appropriate time and storage, It'd be kept warm and dry somewhere. I'll write a proper sale article eventually, but I've already written one on Autoshite.com and only members can view the sale section

Full details on what I've done to it are here:
https://autoshite.com/topic/36188-fumbl ... me/page/5/

Ideally I'd like £1600, all the spares I've accumulated come with the car. Price very negotiable for hopes of a swift sale. I'm not putting the car on the open market just yet.

[Fumbler]

Hello again,
My family have suddenly said they would like the car to stay, and have booked it into a specialist:
https://www.kandmcitroen.com/

I dismissed them as long dead but they're still going and still prepared to service hydropneumatic Citroens. My dad knew of them from when his former boss had his BX's clutch replaced back in the 1990s. It's booked in for next Friday so they can have a look at it. It's still technically for sale, but it'll definitely stay with me a little while longer.

Strangely enough, the BX has started working normally, save for the goosed front strut. Hopefully replacement can be performed.

[Fumbler]

Great* news. The suspension now sort of works. How? Well, some moving of the height control lever caused whatever was out of position to click back into position again. This means I can raise the car up to maximum height, but when set to normal, this happens:

PXL_20210918_111308851.jpg

The rear raises, but the front doesn't.

When selecting the intermediate setting:

PXL_20210918_175351882.jpg

This happens:

PXL_20210918_111404301.jpg

So, at least, it's drivable. Sort of. This does help me understand what exactly has failed, but the specialists should understand what's going on. The fact it's not raising properly on the intermediate ground clearance setting suggests a mechanical failure in the linkage somewhere.

The nearside strut has stopped squeaking, but there is still a ton of horizontal play I don't like, so I hope it can be replaced fairly easily. I'll get a new strut return so I can refurb the new one at my leisure. It's only a matter of time until the nearside stops playing ball.