General advice Cooling system Citroen BX

[Dickster665]

Hello fellow BX enthusiats. I am new to this game (I have recently acquired BX19GT) so I apologise if the questions that I ask have appeared before.

I am in the process overhauling the cooling/heating system of a 1985 Citroen BX19 GT and have the following questions;

I would like to replace the hoses (both on the heating and cooling side), GSF are unable to supply them except for one. Does anyone know a source for replacement hoses?

I have looked into utilising either hoses with external or internal springs to form the requisite hose shapes and they look like a possible solution, but I am unable to find a method to create the tee in the bottom hose. Is there anyone out there who has overcome this obstacle?

I found this article by accident on the net which is technical advice by Valeo on failing heater coils http://www.valeoservice.com/data/master ... df?rnd=956 Which will probably be of interset to some members. Having read this it appears to be of paramount importance to look after your radiator and heater coil correctly. Could members please tell me which products are recommened for flushing and protecting the system from corrosion? I already have a holed radiator and would like not to have another one.

Thank you for any advice.

[Linegeist]

I may be able to answer one of your questions. My French GT rotted out its Tee-pieced hose, and a replacement was unavailable. I got around the problem by using a similarly curved rubber pipe from another car (found by rummaging in a parts bin in a friendly Renault dealer's nearby), cutting it at the tee-piece point, and inserting a large brass sleeve piece with a 13mm side exit hole that I bought from the French equivalent of B&Q's plumbing section and soldering a 13mm piece of copper pipe into the hole.

Securing this in with jubilee clips was a surprisingly easy job (6 years ago now, so memory's fading) and it was still working fine several years later.

FWIW, I later adopted a similar approach with the top hose, to which I then fitted a sender for a temperature gauge.

HTH

[Gibbo2286]

I was pointed to this company some time ago, I haven't tried them so can't tell you if they're any good or what their prices might be but they claim to make one off radiator hoses to pattern. Gibbo.

http://www.sstrandd.com/7.html

[Oscar]

When you've got the rad off, run a weak solution of hydrochloric acid through it, or pickling vinegar, and it will clean off a lot of the limescale.

[electrokid]

and it will clean off a lot of the limescale.

Ouch ! You only get limescale from tapwater... Only de-ionised water should be used.

Tapwater will all but destroy the inhibitors in the coolant (pre-mixed with the antifreeze) and bung up the heater matrix and auto choke sensor - only use tapwater in a car you don't like

[Oscar]

yes, I know that, but not everyone else does. You should have seen the flakes that came from my rad.

[electrokid]

yes, I know that, but not everyone else does.

That's true Oscar - and I used tapwater before I knew better - probably most of us did.