Stripey Technical

[vulgalour]

I have to admit I'm a little worried that I could end up literally grounding myself doing this job, will it do any harm if I just leave it as it is for the short term?

[Dollywobbler]

Shouldn't do, but if the bar is bowing, I wouldn't bother adjusting the height for a bit. You only really need to adjust the height when working on the car - though ideally you move the lever fairly frequently to keep things from seizing up like that.

[mat_fenwick]

You've probably got other things to worry about!

You planning on any meets this year? I'm sure someone could give you a hand with a job like that

[vulgalour]

I've cancelled all meets I was hoping to attend, I'm not even using the car at the moment due to a lack of money, it's appalling having to wait until I get a positive job response.

[citronut]

the gate's/notch's for the height l;ever are under the center console, you do realy need to unhook the rear end of the height rod to free off the rear link/pivot properly

regards malcolm

[vulgalour]

I know about the centre console notches, but the pivot on the back has a Haynes book illustration showing that it too is notched where the rods go into it. Could just be Haynes being it's usual helpful self (sarcasm).

[vulgalour]

I can now select three height settings: low, regular and service. Looks like penetrating fluid and use is doing the trick, but I'll get the unit off, cleaned and greased to make it work fully. The next job on my list is the locks.

I'm assuming that the central locking only works for the tailgate and front doors on the BX, the rear doors seem completely unresponsive to the key and have to be operated manually.

Passenger front: locks and unlocks on key with a whirr and a clunk, as expected. Won't unlock or lock other doors.
Driver's front: locks and unlocks on key silently. Will unlock passenger door but won't lock it.
Tailgate: nada, permanently unlocked.

I'm a bit lost on this one, electronic systems are not one of my strong suits even when I'm willing to have a go. I'm guessing that I need to clean up some contacts and/or repair solenoids having had a read through the manual, but I also understand the control module in the centre console might have something to do with things, but I don't really understand how.

Am I correct to assume the central locking should operate tailgate and front doors in the driver's door both for locking and unlocking but not in the passenger door? If so, that's what I'm aiming to reinstate when I get trim panels off tomorrow/soon.

[mat_fenwick]

The central locking should operate all 4 doors and tailgate. All the BXs I've had apart from my red one (a ratio of 5:1) operated the central locking from the passenger door also; the red one only from the driver's door. I actually prefer it that way, so that's fine.

I would guess that the problem lies with the wiring to the door solenoids, so you could check they receive a 12 V pulse when the locks are activated. It may be too quick to register as 12 V on a digital meter, but a test lamp would do. The solenoids can also stick through lack of use, but first check would be wiring.

[citronut]

yes all doors and tail gate should lock/unlock via both front doors,

my TZD used to lock/unlock all doors and tail gate, but now for a reason not looked into as yet has stopped operating the rear doors all the time,

maybe the water in the rear foot wells/boot floor has something to do with it ( were'z that thread regarding this prob ),

otherwise it can sometimes be down to broken/fractured wires in between doors and body

regards malcolm

[Tim Leech]

On cars with a "plip" the passenger door lock will only lock and unlock that door, the drivers will do all of them.

[mat_fenwick]

Interesting to know that, although at least one of them did have working remote central locking. I'm guessing that it had been modified to unlock from both front doors.

[Dollywobbler]

Back in the mists of time, this BX used to have a driver's door that unlocked all doors and the tailgate. The passenger door would unlock all doors but the driver's door. When I got it back, the driver's door was very intermittent at locking everything and then packed up entirely.

Changing the solenoids is not too tricky if someone can supply a known good one but yes, sadly, broken wires can be a problem too - as I discovered with my six-year old Peugeot 306...

[vulgalour]

Couldn't do any checking, it's that windy that any open panel is at risk of being blown off or slammed shut. I tweaked the clutch adjustment instead so that I can select gears easier. I think a new clutch cable needs to be added to the list.

[citsncycles]

My central locking (when it works at all) only works from the drivers door, but whenever the car's damp it packs up totally - one of the jobs to work through when changing doors or the dash.