BX excess, can it be a success?

[Thread Bear]

The Auto has been doing main duties for a week or so now. A motorway trip proved that clearing out the waterways was well worth the doing. No stress from excess temperature and the car did not miss a beat. Fortunately it had a traditional post refill BX burp before we left, with access trapped gas forced out of the odd places it gets stuck.
A new air filter again made me wonder at the induction/carb system. I had to wait for one to come in so it was fitted after I had the car spot on for tick-over, yesterday. Now if the tick-over speed had increased by replacing the filthy old filter, I could understand it. No, it slowed down, and now it stalls when hot. That is not logical - ignoring various bits of modern tosh hanging off the carb. So I now need to tweak a few more revs out of it.
Having the carb set to low revs, and dropping quickly to low revs with a cleaner gearbox has seen the gearbox behaving as I expected it should. It exhibits the slight drawback of the large gap for 3rd to top mentioned in advice, but otherwise is behaving in a civilized and reasonably predictable fashion, as I get used to it. Round town its now good. Fine for longer distance. The character of the box really only comes to the for in mixed traffic conditions. Well no surprises there and you drive one if that is what you like, or need.
So a good car, with plenty of potential to improve its visual condition, a couple of details to carry with it on the mechanical side to make the most of its cool running. Short oil service and another Dextron change. I do not feel I shall be keeping the car though as it does not really match my personnel motoring needs, in the way the turbo diesel does. Its use has allowed the Tropper to be serviced, matters arising to be sorted. It gained its MOT on Thursday and the first really good look underneath shows it to be an excellent purchase. Very clean, so needs to be kept so as early Troopers were terrible rustbuckets. Yesterday the KR200 gained its MOT. Still some stuff to sort out there but I might get to play in it over Chrimbo when it can put smiles on faces.

The cars shuffle today and the 1.4E is now exposed. First to deal with the water leak and then to find out what kind of failure we have on the LHM over the coming week. I am quite enjoying getting back into work mode, despite the cold or wet.

[Tinkley]

The carbs are generally very very lean in my experience. Watch out for any oil/mayonnaise (especially in this cold weather) clogging the oil filler cap and or entering the rebreather system. In the worst case vent the crankcase to atmosphere and bung up the hole into the air intake!. Otherwise not too much you can do, although worth mentioning that there is an odd warm up state usually between 1 and 5 miles where the car is likely to stall as the inlet tract temperature and the cold air mix is a bit inconsistent. Just the nature of the way the carb works on these engines. Once you get used to this trait and go beyond it is normally good. Also to start when hot the recommendation is just floor throttle... Which was not the same on the manual choke 1.4 btw.

I've had a m/cycle throttle freeze open at full throttle in 30+ degrees ambient before now for fun....
so the whole inlet temperature and mix along with breathing is pretty critical.

[Thread Bear]

Spot on, sir. It does those things. Will keep an eye on the Hellmans. Tick over is tweaking and we all enjoy a bit of that.

[Tinkley]

If your ever down this way TB, you might like to check this new micro brewery out....

http://www.frenshambrewery.co.uk/

[Thread Bear]

Several beer things booked up over the next few weeks. It is great to be able to write off the odd day to some beer, and winter is an excellent time to do it as its not so nice out. The cold has stopped progress outside. I am getting soft in my old age!

Also been invited to attend Asparafest at Badsey - near Evesham - over May 30/31 with a Messerschmitt by the landlord of The Fleece. He will have a hundred differing alcoholic beverages on offer, oh yes! The Wursals are playing, amongst others. Sounds like a great bucolic blowout. Might be a bit of some of you lot.

www.asparafest.co.uk

[Thread Bear]

Still trying to iron the last bug out of the 1.6. It has an intermittent electrical fault that seems to have been identified as HT lead break down. They are silicon ones with metal clips on. The metal clips not being well fitted. Not a fan of that technology, so I will switch to copper HT leads, and hopefully this will resolve the problem.

Having got stuck on the 1.6, it was time to have a look at the 1.4. Yep, twit been near it, so pulled most of the induction stuff off. Clean that up this evening and mount it correctly, new filter, with clips where they actually work and can be tightened. You would have thought that was not difficult!


This cleared the way to be able to access the heater pipe which has failed. Oil contamination, but not sure where from, has rotted the end of the pipe. With water secure, I can then identify the LHM issue. Had the car running briefly, and despite the reservoir being full it appeared to pump nothing through. Odd. The engine itself is sweet as a nut, and I think I will limit myself to a clean of the HT cable set, filthy.

I changed the oil and filter after the run up using a handy hole in the drive to put the bowl in! The oil coming out was not bad, but will be at least 2 years old. The air filter was considerably older, I would say.

The fuel line has an old filter in it, I think I will replace that and settle for a carb clean in situ, rather than disturb it.

The sunroof seems to only lack a rubber sealing strip, as the inner seal is good and supple. That can be cleaned and put back into action, tested for leaks. The after market window in the roof is often not the happiest of extras. I guess a complete factory electric set of bits could be put in?

The electrics tested up as all good, so a wiper blade would seem all that is required for an MOT, there.

The body is solid with little rust. Front inner wing/arch being perhaps the worst area. A good clean out and treatment might well be enough.

Battery looks to be dead, the poor starting experienced with jump leads was a loosely fitted battery union. It fell apart when I gave it some active stress. Now screwed back together. The earth is also poorly mounted to the body, but functioning. While I am in there, a job to prevent future hassle.

So off to get some HT lead, pipe and consumables for the two cars on Monday. Hopefully I will get some time to sort those issues to satisfaction and we can get back to driving the 1.6 and find out why the suspension on the 1.4 is inactive. If its simple, an MOT might not be far off. Andrew, my young friend, is attempting to talk his folks into allow him to have the 14 E, rather than a Ford Ka, as his first car. Cheaper to buy and insure. His AA mechanic Uncle is against it, as the 'hydraulics are unreliable'. Yeah, well that will be because the AA are not trained on such things now. Back to angry AA thread on the motorway!

An enjoyable day fettling.

[Tinkley]

Mmmm - intermittent HT lead fault? In my experience they tend to be continuous in that every time you ask the engine to take a bit of load it misfires. If the leads don't sort it, I'd definitely check the distributor cap and rotor arm, also ensure the Ignition module is clean earthed on it's mount face. Might even be the coil, though I've not had one fail yet on the 1.6, a couple on the old 1.4.

Mind you only takes one rough corroded lead or one arced out metal lump in the D/Cap to cause rough running. The 1.6 does not 'eat' leads like the 150 engine but you never know how roughly handled some monkey before may have been....

BTW having done over 250k in BXs' and having had only one hydraulic 'failure' a corroded through pipe after 165k on the 14 you may ask the AA man if he has ever changed a shock absorber on any other car in 165k?.. IMHO once you get used to the length of the BX over that of a short car like the Ka it is a superior vehicle in almost all respects.

[Thread Bear]

Mr Monkey has been to visit. The ends of the HT leads are falling off. Nonetheless I will have the lot off, clean it all up. Another suspect is the fuel cut off on the carb. These were very unreliable on my NSUs, indeed I used to bin them. My carb has two, no idea what the second one does. What happened to simple coil to dissy, sparko, that we have all this other crap. I could be happy but the wiring diagrams are not really very useful either. I do not doubt the source of the problem will be an own goal.

Well asking an AA man might be pertinent for up to date models of cars. I have found that with older stuff they are most useful as a very large tool box, and the guy stands by, while you fix the car, as he has not the least idea what to do on a classic. Comments like 'The valve has dropped', when attempting to sort out a two stroke, do not give me much respect. That and I know two AA men who have fake classics, but will not believe it. One is so obvious it just defies belief. A three wheeled bubble window German made Isetta. Never made such a thing, his shell should be on a horizontal suspension four wheeler chassis. That was binned years ago as it probably wore out, and trikes were cheaper to tax. This undoubtably pretty but wrong car does the rounds of shows, confusing folk completely. Yeah, the AA. They really know what they are talking about! Its a turncoat organization sold off by custodians entrusted to look after it for the benefit of drivers as a mutual resource, not a quick profit.

The fact is Andrew has me up the road. I am no expert but I have a brain cell. There are few genuine choices for cheap first cars and a BX is something a little bit different. I will let him have it for his Norman Nippy, so its cheap, no money changes hands. Still its his fight to get what he wants. I am thinking I might throw it round the roads for a bit. Might like it! Andrew likes the auto but it is about 45cc over the cheap tax threshold. be a bit more insurance too, probably. Bumbago!

[Tinkley]

If you mean the little solenoid on the side of the carb just undo it and clean it out. At least it has responded well on my Solex though you have the Weber. It is possible there is a little corrosion there but I've not really had much trouble if any other than a good clean out with carb cleaner.

The RAC 'expert' told me the distributor had gone on the 14 - it was of course the coil......
Well why not start with the most expensive part of the system?

You'll sort it OK. Last time mine ran rough it proved to be a corroded HT lead from Halfrauds. Although complete sets of HT leads are a little harder to find they are still around.

[Thread Bear]

Andrew came round so we braved the melting snow and attempted to put in my preformed rubber pipe repair on the heater feed. Its a bit of a job to work out the correct routing, and easy to leave the rear looping to near the exhaust. While doing this I took the chance to untwist the engine end of the wiring loom. It was in a knotted tangle having presumably been fiddled with as demand needed over the years.
Full of confidence I readied myself to fill the water/antifreeze. There was a leak. One of the old 'jubilee' clips had failed. Unusual as they are normally quite hardy stainless jobs. Second attempt the previously willing engine was having none of it. I double checked my re wiring suspecting an own goal. Nix. A bit of snill and the car ran, so fuel. Annoyingly when in town I forgot to buy a new filter. Pulling the carb / pump pipe off I fired a squirt into the Solex and it ran. So a carb clean out, then. Nothing in the book on the single choke but its a simple device... It was full of muck, so off to get a filter. Theory is modern petrol finished off the old gummed up dirt and filter sending a load of rubbish to the carb.
The jets in the Solex are sods to get back in. I ended up tapping them to a screwdriver to get them to line up and stay. IT was getting late but the engine now started and ran poorely for sometime as it cleaned itself out. AS it did so I got the coolant in. Then the heater pipe bleed nipple was blown out. Naffed thread. So a repair needed which was done just as it was getting dusk. #
At no time has the suspension made any attempt to lift. Never had that before. The LHM just sits in the reserve tank. No hissing, ticking or other friendly noises. Still we need to get the engine bung perfect and then I will worry about the LHM system.
No movement on HT leads. Seems few outlets sell HT wire. Your not supposed to make leads yourself anymore! I can check the solenoid, bloody stupid not to see how really.

[Tinkley]

Not sure which jets are a pig? if you have the carb top half off, the screwdriver slot part ie top of the jet(s) sit flush. If you did not have the top half off - 5 slotted screws or Torx depending on model year, yup would have been a pain. BTW when you split the halves be careful peeling the gasket between them, it can tear. The float chamber is a doddle to clean with pin being a slide out, don't lose it when removing - no serrated end to 'hold it'.
Obviously the two main jets are specific so don't mix them up..... . I just blow every orifice accessible once the top half is off, through with carb clean and the needle valve assembly.

The only 'pig' jet on my later Solex (Z1) is the idle mixture one which I believe is 'stuck', it turns and turns both ways but nothing happens. As it meets the emmissions easily, I'll leave well alone and in original position, yes I do count the turns!. The diaghram/accelerator pump part is easy. The autochoke part to clean is more tricky, the non autochoke carbs are the easiest.

Just take off the air filter input to the carb and spray with carb cleaner to get it to fire! it should then pump the fuel through enough. They can take a little while to replenish the pipe/fuel filter/quasi reservoir lump and fill float boawl. If you run out of fuel it could take 2-3 minutes to get the pump to feed new petrol from tank to the carb, don't ask how I know....at least the petrol station was only 100 meters away....

I tend to keep away from the plastic bleed nipples, they have become a bit fragile from age and heat cycling so I'd rather just use the top rad bleed screw and let it work itself out in the cooling system with a bit of pumping round. If they move easily, fair enough, but any need for force on those plastic header screws and I leave well alone.....

The motorcycle guys might well have HT lead, they certainly should have all the NGK lead ends. I've made my own some years ago and even used to keep a bit of wire and a few ends. The 150 engine is by far the worst I've ever known for destroying silicone HT leads, but your TU should be an awful lot better.

[Thread Bear]

Once again with out any real reliable reference info it was a case of setting up the cleaned out Solex carb by guess work. It had needed a second clean up, as the old filter must have failed, I think. A lot of crud had got in after the first clean. I should have pumped a few 100ml of fuel round and into a container. Damn. On putting the system back together again the engine was fired up. Running poorly with a cylinder dropping out. More likely an electrical issue?, though the car was chucking a lot of crap out of the exhaust. Still the HT leads need to be cleaned, a right old mess. That done I hope an Italian tune up might clear the system.

The repaired water system, on the other hand, was happy and water tight after a few more niggles were chased out. Anti freeze sure likes to find weak joints and clips. Several clips failed as soon as they were asked for a little more tension after being reseated. Have to keep an eye on the others, but I think we got them all. I made a new heater loop bleed bolt as the original was cross threaded and going to ruin the insert in the pipe.

Andrew put the air filter/induction tract back on. Nicely cleaned, up so that it spot on. A better system than the one fitted to the 1.6.

The suspension refused point blank to do anything during all this. So in with two jacks and up, without the spoiler on, so that I could get at the bleed screw on the regulator. This to prove the pump. Unscrewed a bit, nothing happening. Worrying! Removed entirely, with a rag awaiting, nothing - until the engine was revved up a bit, with which a few dribbles of rather nasty looking fluid sputtered out. We put the bleed screw in and a minor amount of sipping noises, but no real activity. So I removed the bleed screw completely again, back in with the catcher rag. With a gush the pump supplied a much more encouraging stream of fresher fluid and the ball bearing to first slip.
Now the problem was to get the ball bearing back in before the free flowing fluid pushed it out again. It being a two handed job the pop the bearing in and trap it in with the bleed screw in the other hand. I had not the angle to do this at the low height. I claim oldies rights, as I was by now to cold to continue, having been laid on the floor for some time, and coming in from the top on these engines means a burned hand on the exhaust, for any assistant. Besides I cannot see how the ball bearing could stall the pump on its own. Is there a spring in there? Has it been assembled back to front?

Need to get the car right up in the air. But if the fault has always been in the regulator it might be the rest of the system is not to bad. Sadly the old fluid looks like cats wee, so if its has a lot of water in it, that might be bad news. So Suspension to do, spoiler cleaned up and put back. One headlight to repair. I think everything else is sorted, if the engine settles down.

Before dark I pulled the Dizzy cap off the 1.6. I will rewire that, and clean up the ends. Not convinced its the problem, but with intermittent faults, illuminating possible probs is the only real way forward. That short of someone else spotting the deliberate mistake!

A cold, but fun, day, with a little progress.

[Gary]

On the 1.6 have you checked the low tension wires from the coil to the plug below the coil near the chassis leg.
I had a intermittent fault on my GT a few years ago were it would hesitate / misfire and sometimes cut out, I changed the coil and leads and thought it was cured until it broke down one night after going through a puddle I found that the connector under the coil area had corroded away thus giving the intermittent fault.

[Thread Bear]

Its a thought. It might be that there is a remaining bit of alarm system lurking there if there is a handy joint. Basically I will chase the wire back to the Ignition switch as this can nbe a problem too, apparently. My key is a recut one and only works one way round.

The 14 - one jet has no blank area to insert it in place. It goes direct to thread at a slight engle in the bottom of the float chamber. With my sausage fingers no room to get in there. The Solex is a very simple single choke one. Probably only on the base model. I do not doubt it can be replaced with something better from the scrappy, but it will do for the moment. It was stuck together but fortunately the gasket peeled apart when I split it.

It should drive OK, its just not sweet. Need to ID the suspension faults. More snow after a pigging cold day. Got building to do so probably mot going to get out until Friday. Hopefully clean both HT sets up and put the together before then.

[Gary]

Sorry I ment to say the low tension leads from the distributor to a plug under the coil / chassis area.