8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PAS

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Jack
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8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PAS

Post by Jack »

Please take a look at the pics.

Image

That's about 18 hours of drips on the cardboard pushed under the car with the edge just under the front bumper. This must have started when the car was moved as it has been in a warehouse for several months. A possible cause is the downpipe may have caught when the car was reversed off the trailer. I can't think of anything else but come to think of it, I don't remember the back going up before it was put on. So maybe there is no relation at all between these two things or whatever was going to drain out would have come out long ago.

The front rises and there are brakes (but please note that this is auto). The back doesn't rise and there is no PAS (and wasn't before it was moved).

The car is in a warehouse and needs to go to someone who can repair it but please could you let me know what is likely to need doing on it. Thank you
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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by Jack »

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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by MULLEY »

Impossible to tell from the pictures, however front leaks can be from the following areas.

Strut return pipes, they might look ok, but are fractured on the side that you can't see, they will be covered in lhm if it those.

The front height corrector might be leaking (a re-con kit is available), its usually the rubber octopus pipe that is attached to it, its bent at quite an angle & over time does split. If it is the rubber pipe, try cutting it back past the split & then pop it back on (it may split again) in which case you've got a choice of replacing the octopus or fitting another length of good pipe to the bad one & because the new pipe takes the strain of the bend it should be fine.

FDV, either the metal hydraulic pipes that go into it are a bit loose & just need nipping up, or if you look on the side of the FDV it has a couple of circular cut outs which might be oosing fluid. A replacement FDV will be required or get it re-conned or what one member did was to use some blue gunk stuff after cleaning the affected area up & put that into the slight groove where the circles are to stop the lhm flowing out.

Fingers crossed you can trace the problem.
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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by Jack »

Thanks Mulley, I don't think it will be me that does this. Impossible to find out today whether this could be worked on in the warehouse. Can the car be started, moved? I'd guess it's 200 yards to a quiet corner outside. It really needs to go on a flatbed to someone who will restore it properly.
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1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
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1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by MULLEY »

The leak doesn't look bad enough to stop the car from being moved a short distance, is the lhm level cap in the reservoir between the 2 orange lines at its normal height setting? If not, pop the car on its highest setting & keep pouring lhm into the reservoir tank until the float cap rises between the 2 lines. The only issue i'd be worrying about is that by putting it on high it may cause the leak to actually get worse as it puts more pressure into the system, so only do that as a last resort if the car wont rise up.

What i suspect may have happened is that the lhm level might be low anyway, when you fired up the car it drew in air into the system, when this happens the steering is stiff & the car doesn't rise up. The easiest method to sorting it out is to pour a couple of litres into the reservoir (if the float is below the lowest line) & then physically turn the steering on the spot on full lock both sides & keep doing this to purge the air out. You can also press the brake pedal as well to create pressure in the system to get the air moving & into the lhm tank. Hopefully the steering will start to feel smoother & the power steering will gradually come back, at that point it should hopefully rise up.

The other method is to look at the main pipe that goes into the lhm pump, trace it back to the reservoir, undo the pipe from the reservoir, pop a funnel into the upended pipe & with the engine running pour in lhm, you should see bubbles appear as the lhm dissappears down the funnel, keep pouring in lhm until the bubbles stop & then very quickly take the funnel out & put the pipe back onto the reservoir & then do the steering wheel thingy above & hopefully job done :)
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
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1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

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1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN
1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by MULLEY »

Another possibility is that the rear height corrector is stuck, i can't remember how you can free it off, hopefully someone can describe how to do this.
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by JayW »

If the height corrector is sticking, ram the lever right back as hard as you can and hold it there for 30 seconds (past the high position) then all the way down in the same way. A couple of shots of this usually does the trick to get it moving but won't be a cure.
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2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN
1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
x 8

Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by MULLEY »

Nice one Jay, i couldn't think of what to do if you can't get underneath the car to free up the linkages.
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
Jack
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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by Jack »

Thanks guys, hopefully by the middle of next week I can find out more about how much could be done in the warehouse.
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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by BX Bandit »

Does the leak get worse with the engine running? With the suspension in any level except low that is.
If so, does it ease when put in low?
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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by Jack »

Car's in a warehouse, hopefully someone will take it on

http://www.bxclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18242

I could only really put a few details of the problem I could see on here.
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Re: 8v auto LHM leak, Front rises not back, brakes OK, no PA

Post by citronut »

the leak behind the N/S front wheel is the rubber pipe atatched to the safety valve,
it is just a push fit onto the valve and the other end is a push fit to a plastic pipe

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