flashing dashboard lights

[Dadad]

Still really enjoying my BX19 GTi, but now, every time I go round a bend or stop sharply, the stop light, water level light, and one or two others,flash on.
The LHM container is full to the correct level and so is the rad. Any ideas as to what is causing this to happen ?

[rutter123]

usually a low lhm level or faulty low level water sensor ( which is located in the o/s side of the rad) my t/d does this when cornering hard right. first i would put half a litre of lhm in the reservoir

[Tinkley]

I have this on the Auto, but water only not LHM related (cured LHM weep by tightening junctions on pressure regulator), so i suspect the sensor. Mind you I've yet to clean out the clag from the cooling system. As I have to remove the heater opening tap etc I'll wait til it is a bit warmer to drain and completely flush the system. It actually has a small weep somewhere but I can't trace it yet - could be water pump, or radiator so when I drain it all, I will check the front side of the rad for a stone hole.

I got a new sensor last year for the other car so they are still available. As rutter says they are about half way down the o/s of radiator, bayonet fit if I remember correctly. The early type had a 'float' and the later ones are integral without a float. I have lost 2 'floats' in the system before now..... Any Pug or Citroen dealer should be able to supply.

Of interest I have been running one car with the pink antifreeze for 10 years. Apparently this is NOT suitable for engines prior to about 2000, maybe 1998 and these should use the blue stuff. The reason being is that the pink stuff attacks the material of the head gasket, however I have not yet had a problem. A local tech advised me on this as he was not aware until last year of this problem. Some manufacturers engines are more prone to this than others. Note 'they don't tell you that' on the can....

[rutter123]

Or you could poss a lhm leak worth having a good look underneath for signs of loss of lhm, i had to top up the t/d a few times last year and found a small leak on of the rear height corrector returns only leaking a tiny amount but warranted a small top up every 3 months with about a 1/4 litre. Bear in mind most of the rubber pipework is over 20yrs old and will be perished/splitting, eventually had to replace all the rubber returns and the octopus just to ensure no more loss of fluid, most rubber pipes are easy enough to tackle just buy a length of 4mm i/d pipe this should do the job as majority are just push on fitting. Suspect areas are across the rear beam, rear struts, height correctors front struts and unfortunately the main octopus. The big red STOP light should only come on with low lhm level or hydraulic failure, low water light is independent from this.

[Kaapelimies]

Motor oil pressure switch makes all the warning lights come on at once. Check the oil level, if OK then proceed with the connector on the oil pressure sensor and the wire loom. Clean all connectors, grease lightly and put back.

[Tinkley]

Bizarrely the brake pad level lights work on this car... and are blinking - a first for me with a BX. All the others have failed miserably in this respect, the first warning on the 14 was the steel on iron grinding noise as the pad material had mostly gone....so since then I tend to inspect visually, and not trust the so called warning cable(s) and electrical connections. Looks like GSF will sell another set of Bendix pads....

[Dadad]

Well, I got away lightly. What fooled me was that nearly all the dashboard lights came on so I assumed a general electrical fault. However, the dipstick was DRY ! Another thing which fooled me was that the oil pressure guage continued to show a half way reading and the warning light, while it came on with the others, always went out when the others did.

The engine doesn't sound like a bag of nails anymore, although opening up the oil filler cap was a job in itself, and pouring in the oil was a very slow job.

So, thanks for all your advice As the car has done 134,000 I suppose I should have anticipated that oil consumption was the problem.

[Tinkley]

Well, I got away lightly. What fooled me was that nearly all the dashboard lights came on so I assumed a general electrical fault. However, the dipstick was DRY ! Another thing which fooled me was that the oil pressure guage continued to show a half way reading and the warning light, while it came on with the others, always went out when the others did.

The engine doesn't sound like a bag of nails anymore, although opening up the oil filler cap was a job in itself, and pouring in the oil was a very slow job.

So, thanks for all your advice As the car has done 134,000 I suppose I should have anticipated that oil consumption was the problem.

One word of warning, whilst it might be fine and dandy one other thing (amongst others) can cause low oil level on the dipstick. This is where condensation mixes with oil inside the crankcase and forms 'mayonnaise' inside. blocking the oil drainways. IF you have filled with oil and it's not leaking, but you get a low level on the dipstick this is most likely what is happening. Cure is to drain oil and use a flushing (super thin) oil for 30 minutes, with hot engine, drain and refill. I had this on one car at about 120k miles. It seems to affect relatively low mileage per year cars or ones that just do short journeys. I'm even more wary after the 54k car threw a rod.....

Well worth clearing and or cleaning the breather wire gauzes in the oil filler tube and cap, these need doing every year IMHO and help emissions and not rebreathing too much oil. Remove rinse in petrol and replace. If pouring the oil was so slow and it was not down to cold temperature making the oil viscous, it's likely the lower gauze is clagged with 'mayonnaise'. The other wire is in the cap you removed to fill with oil, thay can be either easy or hard to remove just be patient. Some remove the lower of the two 'O' rings to help a bit with the stiff ones.