Brake doseur return pipe

[mijfife]

Hi all, spent a busy day fixing the TZd brake pedal today, it was sitting too low when adjusted properly and it turned out to be the plunger on the pedal had collapsed. That's all fixed (what a pig of a job disconnecting and reconecting the clutch cable ) Anyhoo..........that's all done but I must have disturbed the doseur return pipe and it's leaking right at the doseur end. Took a while to find the leak as it's a bugger to access on the Diesel too!

Should the return pipe just pull off from the doseur valve? I can't get mine to budge, partly due to the restricted access I'm guessing. Any tips on removal?
I'm hoping there's enough pipe just to cut the bad bit off and reattach, if not, is this pipe still readily available?
Finally, will I need to bleed the brakes after removal or will it be okay being on the return side?

Off to look up a few French swear words to use on the BX, looks like I might need them.........

Thanks in advance, regards, Jim

[rutter123]

The return pipe from the d.v is only pushed on but quite a tight fit, to make access a bit easier you can remove the top engine mount and lean the engine forward a bit supported underneath with a jack. The chances are if you nip the end of the pipe back it will split again soon best to replace it right back as far as poss. It is poss to get a small sprung clip around it if you have some long angle nose pliets. Ive had the same leak on my t/d.

[mijfife]

Thanks for that rutter123, it's certainly a tight fit for sure!! I'll have another go at the weekend when I have a bit more time. What I need is a three year old child with a really strong grip
When you say replace it as far back as possible, do you mean it's okay to cut it further up and join a bit of pipe onto it or do I need to replace it right back to the reservoir?

Thanks again, Jim

[rutter123]

Yes i recall mine was a bugger to pull off the d.v cut it with a knife along its length. You can try to cut the return pipe back to
"the good bit" and join a new bit of pipe with a screenwash pipe connector, but personally i would replace it all the way back cos the old one will be prone to splitting along the seam once cut. Sadly this is the case for most of the original rubber pipework, splits along the seams causing leaks usually in the most inaccesable places.

[Vanny]

The return pipe(s) push on to a mushroom headed barb which is an interference fit into the housing.

If you spin the barb or otherwise loosen it, you'll never get it to seal again in situ, and have to pull the whole lot out (especially annoying if you've just refurbed the thing). It looks like the pipe is leaking but actually the housing is leaking.

[mijfife]

Thanks for that info Vanny, it was definately a split in the pipe, I was able to see where it was leaking from. Getting the damn thing off took over 2 hours, there was a bloody hose clip on it that must have been fitted at the factory BEFORE the engine went in! There was absolutely no way to loosen it so I had to keep attacking it from underneath with a very long screwdriver until I managed to destroy it enough to lever it off! Fortunately, the barb seems to be okay as I hadn't read your post before giving the hoseclip major grief
The skin should heal on my forearm but I'm not so sure about the mental scars left by such a pig of a job Welcome to the world of Citroen I guess..........

Cheers Jim

[Jaba]

Yes its not a fun job. I have had to do both of my BXs recently. Patience is the keyword.
I fitted a replacement length of 6mm fuel hose using a tiny clip on the doseur and then with a join up near the reservoir.

[mijfife]

Hi Jaba, that's pretty much what I've done too, I'll look at replacing the pipe with the proper item later as I suspect it's the original one. When I made my first join, it just split along the seam as Rutter said it probably would! I've used a bit of copper brake pipe as a joining piece just now with a couple of hose clips to secure it.
Tomorrow I'l be lying under the back end, I'm planning to do a bit of rust protection along the seams before the winter sets in.

Regards, Jim

[rutter123]

Check all your rear end rubber pipes while your under there jim im sure you will find more on their last legs, pay special attention to the y-connector atop the rear beam on the offside as this is plastic.and gets very brittle with age yet another one thats pretty inaccessable but prone to breaking/leaking. Recently replaced this on my t/d but made longer pipes to ease fitting then zip tied them to the beam these are only low pressure returns from the rear h/c and hyds.

[mijfife]

Thanks for the heads up on the rear returns and Y piece, I'll have a look tomorrow before I build everything back up. I'm thinking on dropping the rear beam at some point next year, just to check the condition of the body above it and do some preventative rust proofing in that area too.

Regards, Jim