LHM Change Warning – ‘Cracking rubber, Grommet’ and a loose ball

[BXMad]

Having looked after several BX’s over a number of years, I thought other owners would be interested in the issues I came across doing a ‘simple’ LHM change. Getting the LHM tank out of a TD is awkward even after unbolting the fuel filter housing and the clamp retaining the two larger feed/return pipes.
What I hadn’t experienced before was the distinct sound of something metal dropping out as I lifted the tank out. The initial thought was some redundant nut/bolt had been dislodged, though I couldn’t see anything underneath.
The fluid change proceeded as normal and I started the engine. After a minute or so the pump clicked into action and I did the normal check for leaks. Unfortunately, a steady stream of fluid was dripping on the floor from the main octopus area! In order to see where it was coming from, I removed the front wheel and found it emanated from the bundle of pipes running down from the LHM tank, grrr.
The source turned out to be from the ‘flexible’ 4mm pipes that are integrated into the large main return pipe. It had obviously been disturbed when removing/refitting it. No spare to hand, so I tidied up the flexible bits and lower pipe ends with a razor blade, then joined them with 4mm plastic barbed connectors & secured with mini ties.
When replacing the front wheel, I then found the metallic object that had fallen out when extracting the LHM tank; it was a 6mm ball bearing. Turns out this had come from the small right-angled rubber pipe/valve that connects to the tank. Mine was cracked underneath which obviously provided just enough room to release the ball, as I extracted the tank. Luckily I had a reaspnable used spare to replace it. So a couple hours messy job turned out to be half a day of fiddling. At least the sun was shining.
Tips – be wary of any maintenance that involves moving aging rubber hydraulic pipes about and make certain to maintain a stock of 4mm silicon pipe, straight barbs and some small ties!