Rev counter a little temperamental

ohms · Post by **ohms** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:09 pm

Hi All,

I'm new to these forums and have been away from BX's for some time, but as with all good things in life, am back for more!

I've just purchased a '92 TZD turbo estate in silver with a 121K on the clock. For the most part this is easily my best TZD to date, having only had one owner from new and coming with the most meticulously detailed service history of any car I've ever owned! There are over 6K's worth of receipts for work carried out to the car, and the nasty jobs have all been fairly recently carried out. Rear arm bearings, head gasket, water pump, new spheres and fuel pump rebuild etc etc etc. However, It's not without it's faults and the most annoying so far are a dodgy tach signal, and one creaky front strut.

The rev counter works perfectly until the car is fully up to temperature, at which point it gives up the ghost and goes on permanent strike until things have cooled down again....Generally the following day! Any ideas?

And also, the O/S front strut is very creaky, the near side has been replaced and works like a good un but the one right in front of me, is very noisy. I've had this situation on previous BX's and ended up buying new struts at great cost. Any way of silencing it permanently?

Thanks chaps
Bryn

dumbtime · Post by **dumbtime** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:41 pm

I know nothing, except this http://www.bxclub.co.uk/diy/struts/ It works well.

ohms · Post by **ohms** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:38 pm

will give it a go, can anybody confirm if they've had success with this method?

mountainmanUK · Post by **mountainmanUK** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:47 pm

If the strut isn't badly worn, i.e. the shaft hasn't had a 'ridge' worn into it, this method will almost always quieten things time for a while. How long it lasts will depend on the original cause of the groaning! If it's just become dried out then you may get a long time out of it, if it's actual physical wear, then don't expect it to stay quiet for too long!
New struts cost in the region of £155, but it is possible to buy a repair kit for about 30% of that. If you really do need a replacement strut, then you could do a lot worse than posting a "want ad" on this Forum! Many people here have all kinds of BX spares tucked away in their sheds etc.!

ohms · Post by **ohms** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:53 pm

I'm pretty fortunate in that I work for a motor factors and as a benefit get cost price parts. I'll price some up tomorrow and see what the damage is,:D

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:57 pm

You can pick up struts from your motor factors????, let us know if you can get some cheap ones. By the way, a very inexpensive way of elimenating the creaky sounds is to squirt some 3in1 oil in the round hole at the top of the strut where the sphere is attached (that top section).

Leave it overnight & then see if thats any better.....

Post by **docchevron** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 3:28 am

All good advice.

Re the rev counter, get the car on stands, support it so that if it drops it wont turn you into road kill (all the usual warnings etc etc)
Get under car when your happy it cant end your life prematurely.
At the back of the engine you'll find a wire that goes to a sensor that goes through the back end of the block towards the flywheel / gearbox.
The clamp is secured with a 10mm bolt. Loosen bolt, push sensor towards flywheel till it stops.
Do up 10mm bolt tight.
That should resume normal service with the tacho.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:27 pm

With the rev counter it may be the sensor that is failing when hot. New ones are about £17 from Citroen. But it's got to be worth moving the sensor before you start spending money.

Post by **docchevron** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:57 pm

TDC sensors are very robust things, they will take more abuse than a heavyweight boxer, or a desperate druggie.

You'd be very unlucky to have a duff sensor....

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:24 pm

So perhaps when I bought the new sensor and it cured the problem, it was actually the act of locating the sensor that fixed it?

ohms · Post by **ohms** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:05 pm

Thanks for the input chaps, will try and have a play at some point over the weekend.

Have not tried to get struts yet, didn't have time today, but will enquire in the morning. Got to give our supplier a call to get hold of some new caliper bleed screws and some hydraflush. They can get pretty much anything that's available on the open market, although the last lot I ordered from GSF came in citroen boxes, so we shall see.

Post by **docchevron** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:09 am

mat_fenwick wrote:So perhaps when I bought the new sensor and it cured the problem, it was actually the act of locating the sensor that fixed it?

Almost certainly, I've fixed bloody hundreds of diesel tacho's that are dead by just adjusting the sensor air gap and doing the bolt up tight.
Never had to change a sensor yet. Ever.