Gidday from New Zealand

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kiwi
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Gidday from New Zealand

Post by kiwi »

Well I am glad I found this site :)

I live in New Zealand centre of the North Island to be more precise after emigrating from the UK 4 years ago. Back in October I stumbled upon my first BX that I could afford since leaving the UK and the beloved BX I had back there.
Lost count of exactly how many BXs I have owned since leaving Plymouth and I got to admit I miss the knowledge of my trusted Citroen Mechanics at Euroservice (shameless plug).
First BX I owned was a 1984 14RE back in 1990 which was demolished by a uninsured driver slamming into the back of me at a ped crossing. Got myself a Black BX19GT which came to a fiery end thanks to some toe rags. Then came the BX GTI the first was a real dog got shot of that one real quick before my Mechanics found me a sporty Red 1988 GTI which unfortuantely I sold to finance a 18 month Trip to NZ and Australia.

In its place I got a 1984 16RS which I only planned to keep a couple of months but my parents kept it going for my return. Unfortunately she failed a MOT on some rust and had to go. Her replacement had a faulty head gasket and did not last long.

My last reliable BX was a 1989 BX16TRS Automatic, my very first Auto and the lowest milage BX I owned with just 55,000 on the clock. This little beauty took my wife and I to southern France and back we would have liked to have brought her out to NZ but unfortuanately she failed to mmet the front impact standards that NZ now has on imported cars. We gave that car away to a friend who still owns it.

Now after 4 years of resigning myself to saving money and driving a reliable 1989 Korean version of the Vauxhall Astra (MK1). I finally convinced the wife that our 2nd Car should be a BX and with that we spotted on Trade Me a 1991 BX19TZS for what works out at 600 pounds. Yea have to be plantnium plated in the UK huh?

She has 170,000kms on the clock and last owner was another Englishman who works for Citroen NZ. Great thing about this car its Registered as New Zealand New in 1993 and was sat in storage for 2 years. One of the features is Air Conditioning which I have never had other than open windows and Sunroofs :lol: We had a bit of a scare with loss of coolant after changing the antifreeze but that radiator leak seems to have been fixed with a bit of additive. Been no signs of the leak since however it has been drinking coolant which the local mechanic says could be signs of early Head Gasket. I hope not because the Van we had suffered the same fate this winter.

It only seems to occur after running the Air Conditioning, never owning Air Conditioning just wondering if that could be the cause?

Other than that a couple of small paint blemishes, New Zealand does not salt its roads so corrosion is a none issue really. Its been well maintained except for that Auckland dont need antifreeze attitude, but I have my doubt on the Octopus pipe being replaced yet.

And the best part is steaming past the Subarus that think they own the roads 8) Few people get a shock at the BX performance.

Well that a long introduction and hope to have the pleasure of advice when needed.

Colin
Stewart (oily!)
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

Hi Kiwi, welcome to the club, re your cooling problem, it sounds like the popular blocked radiator to me, when the engine is up to temperature feel the rear of the radiator for cold bits, I will wager that the bottom half will be cold (blocked) the extra heat from the aircon exchanger will make this even worse, if the rad is not replaced then the head gasket wil fail, the BX reputation for weak Head gaskets is in fact down to the blocked radiators, in your climate running the system on water rather than real coolant will only make things worse.
Stewart
TZD 19 TD one of the few
Xantia Td estate, going soft
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Barnsley BXer
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Post by Barnsley BXer »

Hi Colin,welcome to the club.There's some very knowledgable people on here,I'm sure you will find answers to any questions that you have
1990 GTI 4x4
1992 TZD
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BX Bandit
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Post by BX Bandit »

Nice one Kiwi...welcome to the club mate.... :D
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docchevron
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Post by docchevron »

Aye, welcome matey!
There are indeed loads of very clever peeps on here, and those of us that dont know nothing, so we just take the pi$$!!! :lol: :lol:

Have you come across www.aussiefrogs.com ??

Cheers
Chris G
Smokes lots, because enough's enough already!

Far too many BX's, a bus, an ambulance a few trucks, not enough time and never enough cash...
kiwi
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Post by kiwi »

Stewart (oily!) wrote:Hi Kiwi, welcome to the club, re your cooling problem, it sounds like the popular blocked radiator to me, when the engine is up to temperature feel the rear of the radiator for cold bits, I will wager that the bottom half will be cold (blocked) the extra heat from the aircon exchanger will make this even worse, if the rad is not replaced then the head gasket wil fail, the BX reputation for weak Head gaskets is in fact down to the blocked radiators, in your climate running the system on water rather than real coolant will only make things worse.
Stewart
Thanks for that Stewart, When I next take the car for a drive I will check that out. If I take it up the mountain I work on that normally finds any faults in cars which is how I found the leak. Going from 400m to 1600m Altitude the Air Pressure shows up any weakness you wont find at sea level. Plus the drag of the step climb in 15 kms.

As for the climate well yes I can understand the comments, the car lived in Auckland and they dont get more than a mild frost if any. Where I live and work -10c or lower on the mountain during a blizzard is not unheard off. In fact never is frost in February the height of summer :roll:

We like a nice 25% mixture of antifreeze in this neck of the woods I prefer 50%. Only snag is the antifreeze is Green as well so spot the leak is a challenge.

Thanks for the welcome guys glad to know there are a few nutters and knowledgable folks around.
Stewart (oily!)
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

Hi Kiwi, the way to tell the difference between green antifreeze and LHM is the taste :) antifreeze is super sweet while LHM has little flavour, though some garlic helps :) , let us know how the roadtest goes.
Stewart
TZD 19 TD one of the few
Xantia Td estate, going soft
kiwi
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Post by kiwi »

ROFL after 15 years of BX ownership I know the taste and smell of LHM....yummy.

What gets me is no matter what you do the BX always seems to have a small leak of LHM somewhere. Minor leaks I can live with considering is 3 hours drive to the nearest dealer and probably a two week wait for parts from France.

The test is going to come in Late March when it goes to get its Twice Yearly WOF (MOT). I am guessing unless I talk very nicely to the mechanic its going to fail because of a leak?
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