Just bought my first BX and........

[Cresco750]

Well, my fiance hoped this day would never come but I have just bought my first BX; a 1990 BX19 TZS Estate. I've owned / own a number of other Cit's including a gaggle of DS's, an XM and a CX25 GTi.

Anyhow, although I'm very impressed with the ride of the car I suspect that the accumulator may be had-it as the regulator clicks every seven seconds, the back end starts sinking soon after shut-down, and (one which caught me by supprise), there is a deffinate pulsing felt through the steering wheel when a large amount of lock is applied. This is waaay more prominant when the car has just been started after sitting over night but only occasionally noticable when the car is up and running.
Does this indeed sound like a slack accumulator?
I've got a new accumulator in the shed for a DS; are they the same for the two models or does the BX have a different spec?

The other question I have is; the car appears to drive along on a slight lean to the left, ie the whole L/H side of the car sits very slightly lower than the R/H side. The steering doesn't seem to pull in either direction. What would be the cause / fix?

[Magpi]

there is a deffinate pulsing felt through the steering wheel when a large amount of lock is applied. This is waaay more prominant when the car has just been started after sitting over night but only occasionally noticable when the car is up and running.

is it clicking or is it poping

if its making clicking noises its most likly your cv joint is warn and may need replacing

[Cresco750]

No, deffinately not the CV joint. There is no noise associated with it, simply a rapid pulsing felt through the steering wheel during tight locks even when the car is stationary. My uneducated guess is that the pulses I feel are directly from the regulator since there may not be any dampening of the pump / regulator if the accumulator is flat?

[Magpi]

No, deffinately not the CV joint. There is no noise associated with it, simply a rapid pulsing felt through the steering wheel during tight locks even when the car is stationary. My uneducated guess is that the pulses I feel are directly from the regulator since there may not be any dampening of the pump / regulator if the accumulator is flat?

may also be the stearing ram
check the bushes and they the return lines on the ram are nto leaking dragons blood

notice your in kiwi land
try the same question on aussie frogs

there are a couple kiwis there
atlest 2 i knwo who own bx's (chris is a good oen to talk to there)

[Aerodynamica]

Hi welcome, I think the accumulator should be changed anyway as it's essential that it is in good order.

Clicking every seven seconds is too frequent and could be a flat accumulator - fairly easy fix. It can also click frequently if there's a leak inside one of the many hydraulic devices in the car allowing leak through that the accumulator has to keep topping up. Best way to trace these is to remove the return pipes at the LHM tank and look for excess flow from one pipe (not the main return from the regulator/FDV though as this DOES have a regular flow)

As for the steering at full lock - this really depends - try the accumulator change first and see if that helps the steering too.

I had a pulsing in the steering of mine but not only at full lock - mine was pulsing if you moved it at all. It turned out that the hydraulic pump was deader than 3 day old roadkill and only say 2 of the 5 pistons inside were delivering.

The rear suspension lowering -can- be caused by the brake valve sinking the pressure from the rear suspension if the brake valve is worn - I think there is a thread on here about it, just do a search.

[Vanny]

Pulsing through the steering wheel at full lock is a result of fighting directly against the hydraulic pump, which shouldn't happen. The accumulator and FDV act to damp the pulses, in this case the FDV would make limited difference.

As the pulse would no more be damped by the piping, steering pinion or the power steering ram than it would by the FDV, I suspect your most likely looking at the accumulator being duff. You might also have an issue with low fluid, or poor quality fluid. However, based on the other HP cars you've had, i suspect fluid level and fluid condition where the first things to be checked.

[Way2go]

Well with the low cost and ease of changing of an accumulator it's a bit of a no brainer really! Change the accumulator and re-assess whether there is a problem after.

[citronut]

the pulseing could also be down to dirty/blocked thank filters as it might be strugling to find fluid, and definetly fit a new A/C sphere,

also the lean to one side could be a leaking strut/suspension unit

regards malcolm

[kiwi]

Is this the BX Estate thats been advertised on Trademe for some time?

If it is the one I am thinking of then I would certainly look at flushing out that LHM reservoir and replacing the LHM with Hydrcrainge for a few thousand kilometres. Before replacing anything.

[MULLEY]

Sounds like in order as the other guy's have said:

1) Accumulator then
2) Remove old lhm & clean the lhm tank & filters then replace with
2) Hydraflush

When i started using the hydraflush, it cured my steering which pulsed & also the power steering would come on & off at random, which was a bit disconcerting whilst driving. Now its cured.

I also emptied out the hydraflush & filterd it with some coffee filters, then put it back in the lhm tank again to do its good work again. If you do a search for "coffee filters" (i think thats what the thread was called), some of us have fitted an additional external filter to catch more crud in the system to hopefully avoid it going into the main tank again. I'm going to fit one to my Gti which i've now got back on the road.

[docchevron]

also the lean to one side could be a leaking strut/suspension unit

If the strut was leaking enough to do that then it would have blown the return pipes off.

More likely uncentered or bent ARB.

[Cresco750]

Thanks for the input, guys. I've just fitted a new accumulator and what a difference! The regulator has now gone from cycling every seven seconds to about every 55 seconds, the back doesn't sink under hard braking anything like it used to, rises quickly on the suspension and the steering pulsing seems to have disappeared. The back end still sinks a little faster that I would perfer when the car is shut off (2-3 hours) but I can live with that.

I've always been a bit nervous of using any sort of flush fluid in the hydraulic system. While I'm certain that it will do everything it's supposed to, and more, I've also heard that it can/will cause older seals to start leaking.

KIWI, yes this is the one off Trademe. Do you know of it personally? If so, any other advice / recomendations? It was a bit of a gamble buying it sight-unseen (strictly against my own advice!) but I got it at the right price .

Re: brake valve causing possible rear end sinking: are these (the brake valve) an overhaulable item or a chuck out and replace? Easy job?

Cheers-----

[kiwi]

The back end still sinks a little faster that I would perfer when the car is shut off (2-3 hours) but I can live with that.

I've always been a bit nervous of using any sort of flush fluid in the hydraulic system. While I'm certain that it will do everything it's supposed to, and more, I've also heard that it can/will cause older seals to start leaking.

KIWI, yes this is the one off Trademe. Do you know of it personally? If so, any other advice / recomendations? It was a bit of a gamble buying it sight-unseen (strictly against my own advice!) but I got it at the right price .

Re: brake valve causing possible rear end sinking: are these (the brake valve) an overhaulable item or a chuck out and replace? Easy job?

Cheers-----

If it is dropping after 2-3 hours I would not be worrying about replacing that Brake Valve just yet. The 19TRS I have drops pretty quick and there is more play than I like with the brake pedal compared to the TZS yet is passes a WOF and Brakes well anyways.

The cost new especially in NZ is well less said the better. Not sure if overhaulable just do a search for it on here I am sure it has been mentioned before. I have sneeky feeling my username will come up?

As for that cleaning fluid well lets put it this way I am running it currently and if it finds a leak well it will need replacing soon anyways. Then again the newer additives in fuel does some wonderful things to your fuel system as well.

I dont know you car personally just feedback from someone who looked at it if I had a Trademe account still I probably would have chased it myself Am I correct in thinking it has had a couple owners in the last 12 months? Theres not many Estates in NZ and this one seems to be like one from several months back as well.

Certainly I would be flushing that Fluid out and putting new in.

Incidentally I brought a BX off TM sight unseen myself cheaply (my 19TRS) the intention was parts and well it is still going strong actually stronger than the TZS

[Cresco750]

Hi KIWI.

The Estate was being listed by a kind-of online car dealer. He traded it off a guy who owned it for ten or so years (according to carjam) and who supposedly always had it fully serviced by Archibalds and Mecano Motors (so far he has yet to produce any records of this!). It had been listed on Trademe on and off for a while which made me a little suspicious, but it was worth the punt.
The car is not mint but is pretty tidy. At some stage it will need a CV jount looking at, and of course this leaning-thing sorting out but otherwise it appears to be in pretty good shape. Certainly no regrets buying it.....yet

BTW, I'm on the hunt for three of the little rubber shock mounts that mount the engine breather / oil filler and the fuel filter. Don't suppose you have any lurking about?

Are you around Ohakune / Nat Pk?

Cheers---

[MULLEY]

Hydraincage is made by Total who Citroen recommends, not heard about it causing seals to leak, as far as i'm aware it just cleans out the crud in the system.

Infact on a different forum some people have been using the stuff in sole preference to lhm for their duration of ownership with apparently no problems. If you're worried, just do a 1000 miles & see how you get on, i've not noticed any undue problems, the drips i have now are the exact same when there was lhm sloshing through my car.