BX 4x4 GTI

[Nat]

Hi

I've recently bought myself a BX 4x4 GTI (I know, it'll break in a few miles but hay, I love it, I've always wanted one since I was small, yes, I'm insane)

I am having a few problems, I didn't pay much for it and I knew all the problems before I got it, the major one being a blown head gasket.

I've taken all the parts off that need removing and I've come to taking the head off but the thing wont move. no matter how hard I try I can't move it, hit it with rubber hammers (not to hard, don't want to damage it) but it still wont budge.

any suggestions? I was thinking of putting a jack under the inlet manifold and jacking that up to break the seal, is this a really bad idea?

The next problem, I have is the ABS, I've identified which sensor's faulty (front nearside) and went to a citroen garage only to find theres only 1 left in the country and as a result they are charging £92 for it (a little on the expensive side), anyone happen to have a spare, no where I could get one etc etc currently I'm looking at taking the bulb out the dash but that would be a pitty

other problems consist of steering column felixable joint but I'm told thats common and easy to fix; mild rust but nothing a quick sand and paint wont fix, oh and the front nearside break hasn't got full free movement (another annoying MOT failure) any suggestions for an easy fix for this?

oh, and the oh so predictable exhaust problem, yay

so, my high quality BX 4x4 GTI / fun little project that I can spend a fortune on for no apparent reason

any suggestions on how to solve the problems would be greatly appreciated, thanks

[Vanny]

taking the head off, i hope you've covered the following;
* cam belt off
* head bolts out (all 10 of them)
* exhaust manifold unbolted (it bolts into the head AND the block)
* intake manifold off
* pump and belts disconnected


i'd suspect that one of the above have been missed? Never had a head that didnt come off easy. Have you had anything in the water (like K-seal) to block up the hole? i guess that could potentially weld the head to the block?

ABS, dont take the bulb out you will fail. In the engine bay find the connection to the sensor disconnect and plug a 1kohm resistor in place of the sensor. This will fool the ABS unit into thinking the ABS is okay and the light will go off (it will come back on if you brake over 10mph) and should pass the MOT. It is a pretty simple case of swap the sensor/hub over to repair and £90 is a pretty good rate.

Quick fix to the sticking caliper is to swap it out for a known good one!

[Nat]

hummm, this is different to the haynes manual, it doesn't say anything about removing the intake manifold or exhaust manifold, this could be where I'm going wrong. (I'm sure you're right)

I've noticed a few bits of missing information from the haynes manual, presumably because it for the 1.6 rather than the 1.9 GTI so doesn't have all the same parts but it claims to be for both engines and makes no comments about differences, am I missing something?

[Vanny]

which version do you have, you probably need the grey one. I'm not sure its a total requirement to remove the intake and exhaust, but the intake is easy to remove, and the exhuast manifold can catch the back of the block, and i'm sure the very lowest bolt is into the block as well.

[Way2go]

The Blue Haynes Manual contains the GTI info for the D6A engine and the head is covered starting page 2B*9 section 8.
It does mention to unbolt & detach the exhaust downpipe but there is no mention of the manifolds.
Removal it says by using two bars through two of the bolt holes and rocking towards front of vehicle.

[Kitch]

Don't think you have to disconnect the E/manifold from the haed (it's a bitch to get to anyway) but definately the downpipe connection.
I always remove the inlet manifold on mine if I take the head off, or even remove the engine. It just gives you much better access to everything.

I would suggest checking that there are no bolts connecting the cambelt cover (inner one) to the block AND head. There are on the 16v and they're easy to miss.

Short of that, everything is glaringly obvious. I've had a car where the dowels in the block had corroded as the previous owner didn't know what antifreeze was, so the head was stubborn in coming off, but I used the exhaust manifold as leverage (was a TU engine...much easier design).

[mat_fenwick]

I've not taken the head off a petrol XU, but was caught out by the cambelt tensioner the first time I did the head on an XUD - it bolts into the block AND head...

[DLM]

I'd double-check on the bolt front. I was caught out the one and only time I've removed an XUD head as there was one extra bolt - not a main head-bolt, but enough to fox me for a while all the same. Whatever you do, don't force the head if it doesn't want to come.

[Nat]

ok, I've managed to get the head off (managed to miss one of the engine mount bolts, easy mistake, honest.

Next problem is that I'm taking the head apart to change the valve stem seals, I've taken all the bearing caps off and the gasket that sits between the therostat housing and the end bearing cap got damaged when the cap came off, part was left on the cap, part on the therstat housing.

does this matter?

[Brian King]

I have got an exhaust system for this car. I would be quite happy to lend it for a copy to be made, but won't sell it, because someone else will need one etc etc etc...........