My Brothers BX has died; has anyone got any initial idea?

[adamskibx]

Basically, I don't need a car in London, but old cars are my hobby, so I do have a 2CV now, but I gave my BX to my brother as he needed a more reliable car as he lives in a small town. The BX made a strange sound on overrun from the gearbox. It was like this when I bought it and never changed in 4000 miles. It was as though a shaft had too much free play, and you could hear the muffled sound of what sounded like gear teeth against each other rotating, but only on overrun; ie; while slowing down.

He said he has pulled out of a junction, gone into second, and now the front of the car vibrates severely if you put any power down. He drove 2 miles home at 20MPH. Until I fix my 2CV alternator and go and see him, I am at a loss as to what this could be. I am hoping it's ignition related and nothing to do with the gearbox But I fear the worse. I don't mind fitting a new gearbox, but my concern is tracking one down.

To recap, the BX is a 14TGE with 110,000 miles and was very reliable when I had it.

I am relying on my local GSF having a 2CV alternator as my injured Dad (horse accident) is in Glasgow and needs collecting from Birmingham airport tomorrow. I find out in the morning if they do and if they do I'll also be able to see the BX on Saturday too.

Many thanks for any ideas,

Adam

[adamskibx]

Well I found a gearbox on Ebay. £94 delivered sounds fair to me!

[citsncycles]

I'd also check the driveshafts - a failed joint can produce vibration under power.

[adamskibx]

That's a very good point. I guess a little drive will probably tell me everything I need to know. Hopefully a failed joint is fairly obvious to spot too...

Thanks for the suggestion!

[adamskibx]

In fact, I would say that it's more likely that the sound it made for all that time was in fact a driveshaft. I hope so!

[JayW]

This is also the same symptoms i had when the diff ate itself on the old GTi, mind you, that was caused by lack of gearbox oil!

[adamskibx]

Bugger. I never thought to check that because it changed gear beautifully. Oh well, you live learn!. Oh well, a new driveshaft is more expensive than a used gearbox and I would need all the same tools anyway..

[Kitch]

Driveshaft, though the diffs are on the weak side on those.

[Dollywobbler]

Probably too late now but you can drive a bloody long way in a 2CV that isn't charging - as long as you don't turn the engine off (alternatively, start it on the handle!).

[sdelasal]

or ...unless it's at night ! - I've been there!.

[adamskibx]

I feel so stupid. I reluctantly work in IT but I can't figure out how to quote people ...

Anyway. Thanks for all the idea's guys. I got to the BX after collecting my Dad from the airport. It was dark by this point but I had a good feel of the driveshafts. Nothing obvious wrong, so I went for a short blast up the road, and my god was it bad. The steering wheel violently snagged to the left, then the right, and there were several big bangs. Parked up and had another feel of the shafts. It turned out to be the inner CV joint on the offside, long driveshaft just after the intermediate bearing. There was significant play. I have ordered a secondhand shaft off Ebay and I will fit it next Saturday, so I am quite happy that all is good with the gearbox and it was this joint making the noise all along Does anybody remember what size socket the hub-nut is?

As for the 2CV, I have fallen in love with motoring all over again. It's got to be the strongest patchwork quilt on the road Ian I am sure your right about making a very long journey with no alternator, but sdelasal is bang on...At night it can be a bit of an issue I had gone to see the car and the battery was not good enough to turn it over, so I took it home in my rucksack to charge it up. Not trusting it completely, I invested in one of those jump starters for £35 and took that along too. From Portsmouth to London, about 80 miles, the 2CV drove well, if a little slow (55-71 depending on gradient, which in fairness is probably about 5MPH down after 25 years, so not bad really), but ten miles from London, it started to misbehave and then failed to pull away from some traffic lights. The jump starter started it, and I balanced it in the engine bay to get me home, so I was quite lucky especially as I have made it my life mission never to join the AA!

The BX is at least looking good, although my brother has managed to break the glovebox lid - no surprises there then! It also felt extremely comfortable, as 2CV seats really aren't the best to say the least. Well next weekend it looks like I am doing the driveshaft replacement so another 300 miles again in the 2CV will be a real test of ancient French engineering...I enjoy the challenge of such a small engined car, but heck they use the engine in light kit aircraft so I have every faith; Certainly a lot more faith than I would have in a Fiat X1/9 which was my last aquisition, which I am quite glad I sold.

All the best,

Adam

[Dollywobbler]

If the alternator wasn't charging, you should have just removed it. Less drag on the engine! Makes a hell of a difference! (well, in my case, the bearings were shot!). Removing one headlamp bulb may help a night... a bit...

I've got a bench seat in my 2CV. It's superb! I ache less after a long journey than in a BX. I must drive it a bit more actually. I've spent too much time playing about with BXs lately...

Hub nut is 35mm which is the same as almost nothing else.

[adamskibx]

Thanks Ian! I'll know which socket to buy now. I used to have one but no idea where it's got to.

A bench seat in a 2CV sounds good. Is that from an early one like they used to have in the 60's and 70's? I think it would be fine if I can find a decent pillow to support my lower back.

My alternator, frustratingly just had worn brushes, but I could not find any motor factors and it was a bit of an emergency, but £80 including VAT was much more reasonable than GSF's £105!

[Dollywobbler]

It is an older seat, with German-spec head restraints. Well posh. Though having head restraints in something as flimsy as a 2CV is a bit like protecting yourself against lion attack using a toothpick.

Hope the hub nut comes undone easily. I ended up buying an electric impact driver to get the one off the Green Tiger. Superb tool though, and it only cost me £50...

[adamskibx]

Ooo; German spec seats; I like the idea of those! I am sure I have seen those before but assumed they were off another type of car.

"Though having head restraints in something as flimsy as a 2CV is a bit like protecting yourself against lion attack using a toothpick" -- I like that analogy! I thought about this though; yes in a rear end shunt your in trouble, but the reduced speed of a 2CV mean's that even if you did crash, your unlikely to be doing more than 45 by the time you do crash, a speed at which a human body hitting a brick wall without any car around it could survive..maybe Having said that, when I first learn't to drive and was very tired I was doing 75 in a Dyane in the fast lane of an A road when a car and caravan with no working caravan indicators decided it was turning right from the slow lane (either that or I was too tired and it was in fact the opposing traffic lane .. I squeezed through luckily.. it was all I could have done).