Team Green Tiger - BX19TGD - Back on the road

[Dollywobbler]

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She's cleaned up quite well. Lots of nasty green gunk in the top of the tailgate recess that I struggled to remove, and nasty dark stains all over the roof - some of which has come off. I've also spruced up the interior a bit ready for a trip to Cambs at the weekend.

[Philip Chidlow]

Ah, brings back memories

[Dollywobbler]

Indeed! After all, this is a car I've driven in England, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, German, Monaco and Spain. Most (but not all) of those during the BXagon Challenge!

[Dollywobbler]

500 miles clocked up this weekend. It's good to have the old girl back, though there are quite a few niggly issues.

1) The fuel gauge keeps sticking. I almost ran out of fuel! I've never been able to get 47 litres of fuel into a BX before. I do have a spare sender, so I'll try swapping them.
2) Steering wheel catches on the steering column and squeaks. I can pull the wheel up about a millimetre or so. What's up here?
3) Gearlever vibrates above 60mph - which was most of our journey. I've got a 2CV gearknob on there at the moment as the previous one had fallen apart. New knob time perhaps.
4) There's a clunk from the front end. Seems a bit too clonky for ARB drop links, so I suspect arm bushes.
5) Clutch still feels a bit weak.

Overall though, she went very well. We did five hours of straight driving (which I don't recommend!) to get to Lincolnshire. It is a mile muncher, albeit the engine is quite buzzy at motorway speeds.

[MULLEY]

Mine's very buzzy, thats why i just stick to 3000rpm on the motorways, satnav say's i'm doing 64mph, speedo reads 70.

[Dollywobbler]

I try and stick to a gentle cruise, but this one's always seemed happiest at an indicated 75mph. Leaves a bit in reserve if you need it (like when the coach in the left-hand lane wants to pull out to overtake and you're alongside the rear wheel) but is quite a nice pace. It was fine once we'd turned the stereo up a bit. It'll always be more relaxing on a motorway than the 2CV!

Forgot to mention the intermittent power steering. Kind of forgot about that on the straight sections, so the roundabouts of Shrewsbury were a bit of a shock! Must try and work out what's wrong there.

[MULLEY]

Clogged lhm filters along with dirty lhm? Probably time to do the full lhm change if you haven't already done it, & wait for it, hydraflush?

[Dollywobbler]

Could be. It was flushed and treated to new LHM (and filter cleaning) during my ownership, but that was probably 40,000 miles ago. Belt tension is good and the pump seems healthy so perhaps new fluid is the way to go.

[Dollywobbler]

Success! I wimped out of a full LHM change (the cost scares me and I've not long topped it up from pretty-bloody-low!) but pulled the filters out. They were pretty dirty. Cleaned them up with petrol, refitted them and the difference is astounding! A quick test drive resulted in perfect PAS.

In other news, I tried a different 2CV gearknob but clearly the BX doesn't like them. That one rattles as well. Anyone got a spare knob? TZD-style preferred, just because I like them, but a lowly spec one would certainly suffice.

I also investigated the steering squeak. There is definite play in the column, allowing it to move up and down. What would cause this? Wear in the U/Js? For now I've applied grease to the back of the wheel! I also took the opportunity to remove the self-cancel tag. I bloody hate self-cancelling indicators.

[mat_fenwick]

I have a spare knob; are you due up this way any time soon? If not then remind me of your address, although that I suspect 'big bearded man with lots of old cars, Devil's Bridge' would probably find its way to you...

[Dollywobbler]

It probably would actually...

No plans to be up north for a while. Too much on at the moment! I can see The Green Tiger is going to be clocking up the miles.

Incidentally, I do still have the Mk1 - I've just done pretty much sod all with it lately. However, I shall update that thread in the Gallery now...

[citsncycles]

There is definite play in the column, allowing it to move up and down. What would cause this? Wear in the U/Js?

I've not had a BX column apart but I think it's unlikely to be a UJ problem. More likely either worn upper column bushes or loose or cracked mounts.

[Dollywobbler]

Had a longer drive in it today. It's a car transformed! I can corner with confidence once more.

The clutch is concerning though, especially after reading the recently added FAQ! I'm not sure I have enough equipment to tackle it.

[MULLEY]

Glad that cleaning the filters has made all the difference, they must have been quite bad though?

[Dollywobbler]

They were pretty black. Didn't seem overly gunged up but perhaps they were.