LHM still leaking, after expensive repair

[cacaolat]

Last September my car suddenly sported a LHM leak. (please see my older post) I went to a Citroen specialist, recommended on this forum and had the octopus replaced and another flexible pipe.
It was still leaking and a few weeks later the garage also replaced a Y junction. I paid for 3 separate repairs.
When I picked up the car from the last repair I noticed another small leak. This leak was now a little bit more to the front of the car, just behind the radiator. (please see photo)
It has only leaked from this position since the repair.


It seems to drip from the sphere, but it is not the sphere itself leaking. Maybe from a pipe above that ? Anyone has any idea ?

[Philip Chidlow]

It could be your FDV. I had a similar problem with 'DGK'. Lived with it TBH. It only manifested itself when the PAS was used. So it's unlikely to show with the car stationery just ticking over.

FDV unions loosen over time. That would be the first place to look in my opinion. Mind you your specialist might have tried that as a matter of course already, I don't know. FDVs can be overhauled (there's a sticky on the Forum) but it's not a job I'd do. You might be, like me, a bit of a hydraulics wimp.

[kiwi]

Sounds like the FDV difficult to tell from you photo but chances are you got someweeping from the bungs on the side of the FDV?

Just overhauled an FDV was an easy task once the circlips were taken out and the radiator removed for access. And yes as soon as got that leak cured another manifested itself which fingers crossed (now I have jinxed myself) id cured.

The leak was from the opposite end on the Big Grreen ball in your photo had to replace the unit with my spare, now as it happens I suspect the leak was there just didnt spot it.

How bad is the leak though? couple of drips probably easier to live with, just wipe the area once a week helps to stop the build up.

[pitman]

When it's leaking from the front sphere, it's almost always a badly fit rubber seal.

The seal has to be put in the opening of the cylinder on the car and not on the sphere. That's what most people don't know.
Then, there are a few ways to squeeze or to tighten too much the seal. Many of these leaks drop only occasionally. Apart from this it is generally difficult to determine exactly where it's coming from.

Some people use powder. I only used lots of kitchen towels, engine cleaner, and spend endless lonely nights sitting in front of my beloved BX ...

The sphere should never be tightened too much. It can be even less than an oil filter as it gets tightened when the hudraulic pump delivers pressure to the sytem.

Checking is easy. With a 12mm spanner turn the bleeding screw on the cylinder a half or maximal one turn (not more as it can fly away and then you're screwed) and have the hydraulic in lowest level.
Unscrew the sphere, check the rubber seal, buy a new one if necessary from Citroën or GSF, put the seal in the opening, and fit the sphere.

[cacaolat]

Thanks pitman
It should not be the sphere itself, because when the car was lifted up at the garage, I had a look at it. around the sphere thread it was all dry.

[pitman]

The pressure in the hydraulic system is around 150 to 170 bar when the pump is running.

With that pressure, the LHM wouldn't leak quietly. I don't know what would happen if there would be a whole in the air-filled half of the sphere but at least the sphere would be knackered completely and you would hear the on/off switch in the adjacent cylinder every few seconds (that typical "clic" or "clac").

As I said those leaks can sometimes be quite confusing and mysterious, depending how the seal is damaged.

One thing to check is it is leaking with engine on and/or off. Is it leaking constantly or only after the car has been sinking and so on.