Looking for advice on BX purchase

Anything about BXs
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SLH
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Looking for advice on BX purchase

Post by SLH »

Although still thinking about the trip to Fleetwood to purchase Mr. B's TZD, particularly at the new attractive price, I have taken a look at a 19RD closer to home today. In fact 5 mins. away.

"G" reg July 1989, in Silver only 49k on the clock and some service history. Body is in excellent condition, no signs of rust anywhere, in fact not even a dent. Interior is good, no evidence of any water getting in which is amazing considering the weather we are having in South Wales at the moment. Heater/ventilation direction control needs fixing, don't think it was demisting as well as it should have.

Drove really nicely and seemed to pull well up the hills, ran straight and handled nicely, no bounce or adverse signs from suspension. Only concern was the "Stop" light displayed on dashboard, along with the suspension warning light. Lights went out for a couple of seconds intermittently once the car was moving around a bit.

Problems started when I got back from test run and started to play around with the suspension height.
Dropped it down to the lowest setting and it went down fine after 30 seconds, but it wouldn't come back when I returned the height selector to the normal driving position.
Tried moving the lever up and down the range of settings and had no response. However, when we switched off the engne and started it up again the suspension rose back up. The car height only seemed to change, particularly on the way up, if the engine was switched off and restarted. Also there was a lack of any ticks coming from the system, which I found very strange. On rising the rear of the car seemed to come up before the front, and on the way down it seemed to go down front first. Checked the handbook re the warning light, so I did the "Yellow disc" check on the LHM reservoir and it was above the to red lines when the car was on the highest setting. Suggests that the system needs topping up, but would this cause the problems experienced with the suspension? Apparently front spheres have been done in the last 6 months, rear ones looked in good condition as far as I could see.
Any thoughts on this one?

The guy wants £325. I told him if he wants the best price for it he should stick it on Ebay, to tell the truth despite its good condition I think he's going to struggle to shift it at the price he wants, but there is someone else who has called about it and not seen it yet.

Advice welcome!

Cheers
SLH
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Way2go
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Post by Way2go »

If the body is rust-free and in such superb condition along with driving well, then it would seem to be a good bet.
The suspension can be sorted I'm sure and may be no more than sticky linkages on the front height corrector (back too?) or perhaps the pump belt is slipping? The light sounds llike the LHM is low as you say and as it sloshes in the tank, it can come & go. (Don't ignore it though :wink: )
May well benefit from the hydraflush operation that has been successful for many.
Good luck! This may be a bargaining point on the price. :D
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tim leech

Post by tim leech »

50000 miles on a BX diesel for £300? Sounds cheap to me, it may just need the LHM topping up, did the STOP light come on when you dropped then raise the suspension?

If its just that I would snap his hand off
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MULLEY
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Post by MULLEY »

Sounds like a bargain to me, might be sticky front struts, again can be resolved, see our diy section on that....

There's not many about that havent got scraped or bashed in panels, & that low mileage is very rare for a diesel.....

All we need now are some piccies, incase anyone on here is interested if you decide not to go for it...
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Suspension sounds a bit strange to me.

The level is probably on no significance to the functioning of the system. There's best part of a gallon in there and the float system controls about the top litre. Its not a good idea to drive with a low level but unless it is really low (float right down and warning light permanently on) it should still rise and function properly.

Spheres won't stop the car rising or achieving any of the height setting. In fact if they're totally flat the thing will rise very quickly.

The hydraulic system is extremely powerful and a stiff strut will not prevent the car rising. It may prevent it falling - but the thing will rise regardless.

So having eliminated fluid level and spheres - what's left.

Height correctors - providing the linkage is intact it should be possible to raise and lower the car manually. The corrector linkages do need lubricating and when stiff the car may not achieve the correct height automatically - but this will be due to the corrector remaining shut - so the light will be off as the thing is not calling for LHM.

Now we have the regulator/accumulator, flow divider, pump and power assisted steering.

Regulator should cycle but can take a long time. However if LHM is used it will cycle. If the accumulator is flat it will cycle often.

If the PAS works the pump is probably sound. The belt must be VERY tight - and would cause most of the problems if it was not.

The system doesn't appreciate air - the hose between the reservoir and the pump is the only place air can get in - and so the ends esecially must be good.
SLH
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Post by SLH »

Thanks for the advice guys, the suspension height control issue and the warning light were the only things that was causing me concern. Apart from that it does seem a very good car.
Jeremy,
The warning light was on more than it was off. I must confess I didn't keep an eye on it while adjusting the height as I was outside of the car looking for signs of life at the time! I guess that if the LHM level was drastically low the car would not attain full height on the top setting.
I still find it strange that I couldn't hear any ticking from the pump, my past experience with BX's, and they were relatively new ones, was that they would be quite happily ticking away as the suspension rose and settled to full height. I didn't hear any of that today, but once the car had actually attained a particular height it did seem to stay there.

I think I'll sleep on it and give the guy a call in the morning.
I think it would be a good cheap car to start out on, particularly when you consider that BXBob's TZD went for £775 on Ebay this week. That's before any work that may have needed doing to sort out any suspected suspension leaks.

Cheers
Steve
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ken newbold
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Post by ken newbold »

It sounds like a good buy to me as well.

It does sound like it's a bit low on fluid. It probably will have a slight leak somewhere. Front strut return pipes :?
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Post by jeremy »

I bet its the pump belt
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ken newbold
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Post by ken newbold »

Did you check for pressure in the water system?

It's normal to have a small amount of pressure, but not excessive amounts.

If this is OK, it sounds like a decent car. :P
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SLH
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Post by SLH »

Ken,

To be honest the weather was so bad here that I didn't get to inspect under the bonnet for as long as I would have liked. Basically got the engine going and had a look round for anything pissing out of anywhere that it shouldn't be, got the feeling that it has seen maintenance on a regular basis. Sounded much like my old Peugeot 205 XLD 1769 motor did, except this is a 1905.

Think I will have to take a gamble and sort things out as I go along. I'm sure there's nothing too bad there.
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MULLEY
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2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN
1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
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Post by MULLEY »

Good luck, if there are probs & your unsure, just post them up as there's lots of experts in diagnosing problems & offering solutions....

Look forward to hearing how you get on...
SLH
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Looking for advice on BX purchase - Update

Post by SLH »

Well I now have a BX sat on my driveway! :twisted:
Haven't had time to play with it since I picked it up this afternoon, weather is still unbelievable over here!! It did seem slow to rise when I picked it up, took about minute and a half for the back to come up to normal position, but it seemed OK on the way home.
There is a bottle of LHM in the boot so as soon as I get a chance I will top it up and see how we go from there. Need to replace missing indicator unit on front left to make it "legal" (hand signals don't go down too well in Cardiff).

Will update you once I have more news and some pics. (when the rain stops and daylight returns).

Thanks for all your comments.

Cheers
Steve
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ken newbold
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Post by ken newbold »

Don't bother with handsignals.

Just stick a BMW badge on the back, then it's perfectly OK :lol:
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kermit the frog
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Post by kermit the frog »

If you get a break in the weather and you are able to remove the top of the LHM tank (the bit with all the pipes attached)
Stick it in a plastic carrier bag and check for water in the bottom of the tank.
There is a plastic disc in the bottom to allow the water to collect in the small bulb at the bottom.
Tip out the LHM into a container and clean out the tank (be VERY careful the rim of the tank has very sharp burrs on it)
You should be able to save most of the LHM but pour it into a clean container through a cloth or some tights to trap any crap.
Refit the LHM tank and pour in the LHM from your clean container.
Carefully remove the top from the bag making sure you have lots of rag under it to catch the drips.
You will find two filters a D shaped one this is the return filter and will probably be clogged up on the inside.(This has a small metal clip S shaped)
The other is a conical shape and is in the tube under the pick up pipe to the pump turn it through 90 degrees to remove it.
was out both filters and dry completely refit to their original positions
(white spirit is pretty good for this)
Refit the top to the LHM tank top up and start the engine you may need to crack the valve on the valve block three or four times. (cant remember what its called) to allow any air to return to the tank.
this should improve the time it takes for the car to rise.
however due to its low milage a hydra flush would be a good follow up to the above it probably hasn't had a change of fluid in it's life

Hope that wasn't to long winded for you.

Regards Kermit
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SLH
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Post by SLH »

Thanks Kermit,

Will give that a try at the weekend. They are threatening dry weather. :D
I'll let you know how I get on.

While I'm on here can somebody confirm something for me? If I want a Haynes manual for my car will I have to get the "Petrol" version and buy a separate Diesel motor handbook? Trust that the Peugeot version would surfice in the event of not being able to find a Citroen version?

Cheers
Steve
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