Tech Weekend Ludlow, August 24/25/26th

[MULLEY]

Sounds & looks like it was a great success, shame i couldn't make it afterall & would certainly be up for one of these weekends in the future. Its a great way to learn something new, even easy stuff Countryside looks lovely as well.

[Caffiend]

Sorry you couldn't come up Mulley - but as the guys said, it made sense to have the tech day yesterday. After having had abuse hurled at it for 45 minutes by Ian and Mike, my TZD sat and sulked for a good 20-30 minutes late yesterday afternoon after having its LHM filters and tanks cleaned and filled with fresh fluids. It would have been very stressful if the suspension had refused to lift for that long that late today, without thinking that there'd be the time to get it sorted the following day if necessary!

[MULLEY]

Did they bleed the brakes as well?

[Caffiend]

No, that was part of the problem - couldn't get at the pressure relief valve, and as we had no nipples spare, the guys didn't want to risk bleeding the brakes. There is so much crap in the system still that I'll run it for a couple thousand miles, then have another go at cleaning the filters and get the brakes bled then - would love to have a go at it myself as long as someone supervises me to check I'm not doin it all rong

Even with just the filters and tank having had a jolly good petrol rinse the car feels better. Now just need to get the bloody handbrake cable replaced ASAP - will get that and the flexi-hoses done in the next couple weeks when car goes in for MOT.

[MULLEY]

Shame you aren't a bit more localish, i'd happily give you a hand/guidance on doing it, i did paul296 car & i did mangle the rear bleed nipples, but they still did up. I'd buy some replacement nipples anyway, just for peace of mind. I'd also recommend that when you know when you're going to do the job, a few day's before, take the rear wheels off & clean up the bleed nipples & surrounding area a good clean with a wire brush & then get some lubricant that can penetrate the threads on the nipples onto them so that when you come to do it, you've got half a chance that they will budge. Mole grips work v-well, but you still have to be very careful to just get them moving slightly & keep going backwards & forwards whilst applying more lubricant to ensure that they are gradually undone & don't shear off. So what should be a simple 2 min job might take a lot longer, but as long as they can be re-moved & replaced if the mole grips are used, thats the main thing.

I bet there was a lot of brown sludge in the bottom of the lhm tank? Thats why i use hydraflush after doing this, to try & remove more crude thats silted up the rest of the system, but changing to fresh lhm is ok as well & its amazing the difference it makes, the car feels a lot younger as the suspension works so much better

[Dollywobbler]

It was sludged up. Someone had used engine oil in an emergency. It's had a Hydraflush and this was the first time the replacement LHM had been changed. All very black in there. The filter bodies were black let alone the filter bits!

Getting at the regulator was a nightmare. Had to do it by feel from below with Mike guiding me in with instructions from above. They ALWAYS take a while to come back up after you do this sort of a job though so I wasn't panicking. Another half an hour and I might have been!

[MULLEY]

Yup, its always a bit nerve wracking when the suspension remains on low, i alway's have the car supported on stands, that way you can access the regulator bleed screw, otherwise its a nightmare to get at as you can't see it. Anyway, its done now, so just needs the brakes bleeding at some point & then its sorted.

[Tim Leech]

Mike/Sandre, do you have any objections if I pinch a couple of your pictures for the Citroenian please!

[Dollywobbler]

I agreed that the brakes needed bleeding ideally but didn't fancy doing it in the field as the ground was rather too soft for my liking. I didn't consider a brake bleed critical as we hadn't drained those circuits, so there shouldn't be air in there. No ill reports after a test drive. However, given the state of the system, it'd be nice to flush those lines through with fresh LHM at some point. It's going to be some time until the remnants of the oil are out entirely though, so I think it was agreed that another LHM refresh in 5000 miles or so is wise.

[Caffiend]

It was sludged up. Someone had used engine oil in an emergency. It's had a Hydraflush and this was the first time the replacement LHM had been changed. All very black in there. The filter bodies were black let alone the filter bits!

^ WHS

I bought the car and instantly had full service done/all fluids changed, at which point it was filled with hydraflush. Just about 1500 miles later the little darling broke its octopus, saved emptying the hydraflush I suppose >.< - so, fresh LHM at that point. 3 ltrs fresh LHM this weekend - and I've only done about 4200 miles in the car since I bought it!

If all that crap is still filtering out, and that quickly, I'm quite keen to run it for a bit and do yet another filter clean and LHM change and bleed the brakes at the same time, probably in a couple of thousand or so. It's either that or take out shares in Total - I was really hoping it would just be filters cleaned and top up this weekend, so although I'd brought 3 ltrs LHM to be safe, really wasn't expecting it to be tank empty, but it was worth doing, the suspension is lifting faster and smoother and the car does seem to be better for it.

Tim - fine by me, there's a few more on Photobucket in case you prefer one/more of those.

[artic-steel]

Great weekend, Thank you all for making me welcome, huge thanks to Rich for the great food & hospitality, this event should grow & grow.

[Tim Leech]

Quite agree Andy, as the cars get older and more and more end up in the hands of enthusiasts this kindof event if ideal for keeping them on the road.

[citsncycles]

Mike/Sandre, do you have any objections if I pinch a couple of your pictures for the Citroenian please!

Help yourself

[saintjamesy89]

That looked like a very enjoyable weekend, tinkering with BX's, perving at other BX's, good company and beautiful countryside. Why didn't I go??? Would be very much up for the next one, by which time hopefully I can increase the GT count to 2

Fantastic views, and I don't usually prefer the estates, but that RD is rather lovely;





(ps who's was the camper van?)

[merlyn]

Next time I'll try and avoid a bank holiday weekend just after an enormous international Citroën gathering and book drier weather.

Sounds like a plan! I'm so disappointed that I couldn't stay around for the driving bit today, looks like some fantastic scenery.