Leak from Rear Suspension

[kiwi]

Ok so the BX went in for it six month Fitmness check and FAILED

1, Rear Number plates light (no worries minor)

2, One that stumped me "Bailing wrapped around FR Hub and Brake Caliper"? What it was was just that somehow nylon bailing rope had got wrapped around the caliper. Well that explained the Brake Warning light flashing on the wires were broke by it.

3, The most serious LEAK for RH Rear Suspension. Cant figure this one as its at the back of the rear suspension clip unit and the leak has covered the Rear subframe area behind it. The Rubber Gaitor is intact and dry and I cant see where its leaking from. The pictures I have are not clear either (its dark now).

Anyone got any pipes that could be a candidate and how easy to repair? Dont look like the vent pipes either.

Second puzzle is there is no LHM puddle under the car either.

[DLM]

This could be what I encountered a few months ago - leakage from the return pipe union t-piece above the RH rear subframe/axle unit. I', posting the whole description as I'm not online that often.

If this is the culprit it'll cause LHM to drip down from the top of the subframe/axle unit at the clip end of the suspension unit. Unfortunately there's very little room to see what's happening as there's minimal headroom above the subframe. Only read on if the leak - a slow dripper as it's a return - is definitely coming from above the subframe.

To check it I ended up dropping the subframe slightly on the RHS - easier to do if you have a towbar you can use as a temporary support. There's 1 bolt under the boot floor and 2 bolts under the trim to the side of the rear seats. The rear seat trim needs to have all screws removed, then unbolt the bottom bolt for the rear seat belt - essential as the belt bolt passes through a hole in the trim. Once the trim panel is removed the 2 front bolts are revealed in a recess.

Access to the t-piece is a lot more straightforward with a slight drop, but go carefully to avoid twisting the bodyshell during this operation. You may still need a strap-on head-light to see what's happening.

Some possibilities:

(1) The return pipe from the strut may simply have pulled out of the t-piece where it joins with the return from the LHS strut.

(2) If you're really unlucky, the t-piece may have split or decayed, and is leaking. If so, some DIY plastic pipe replumbing is required. The Citroen part is approx UK£20 - quite a lot for a piddling bit of rubberised plastic. It's tempting to think that the t-piece at the top of the LHM reservoir will do the job, but the diameters are wrong (search on my thread about thuis topic for exact sizes). The BX-owner's solution in this case was to plumb in a copper t-piece, threading the olives from the unit onto the plastic pipes to create compression joints.

[kiwi]

Hey thanks for that, it was a tit fit to look around but a feel around the pipes in the area was dry. I cleaned the whole area and have taken the car for a drive and its still dry around there. What ever it was/is must be small and just weeping. The candidate I can think of is one of the vent pipes, but its got to be a return pipe or something.

Its funnt its only really been noticable since I topped up the LHM reserviour after replacing a section of pipe up there. Could possibly overfilled it and its finding ways out?

It being a dry summer has meant anything spilt under the car stays around a long time. Im off to find a dusty road now to give it a fresh dust coat.

Soon find out if this keeps our MOT man happy!

[mat_fenwick]

Im off to find a dusty road

I dream of finding a dusty road, even a dry road would do after a week of rain, sleet, snow and hail. Roll on summer.

Good luck with the MOT anyway!

[kiwi]

well it past its Bi-Annual physical Kiwi style MOT aka WOF!

All I did was clean around the area and dry of any residual fluid. No idea where the leak is from the candidate may well be that t-piece or somewhere in that area. No drips (there were none before) evident.

So give it a few weeks to be kept an eye on, only 6 months before have to clean it again

Now as for those dusty roads well lots of them around not much tarseal off the main roads to which I have many little tracks around the village correction less than 50% of the Village has Tar Seal.

Fingers crossed the drought the worst in 30 years will be over soon, lots of brown grass around and its still warmer than normal. Talk is that winter is going to smack in mid april well at least the cold snaps will start. Until then the Firewood Pile spent all summer drying is stacked and waiting! Funny have the hottest summer in many years but still got a frost in February that killed of the Melon plant and Tomatoes.

Yea I love NZ until you try to fix something on the BX

[DLM]

I'm very relieved for you that you didn't need to go subframe-dropping. Return pipes are getting to be a bit of a problem on some BXs as the rubber hoses and components age - and I'm not just thinking of the octopus. I've just had to fashion 2 bodges on 2 BXs in as many days at the ends of return pipes.

[kiwi]

Damn two weeks later and there is sign of LHM build up from a leak. No drips just a damp area, so looks like keep eye on and pick a weekend to tackle the leak before the next 6 month Checkup.