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Exceeding BXpectations - Now With Added Renault 4


Cleon-Fonte

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This morning I gave it its first proper drive. It's an excellent cruiser, I'm truly impressed by the refinement and comfort on offer. That and the general glassiness, the spaciousness and the big sunroof make it a genuinely pleasant old thing to punt about in.

 

Unusually for a diesel, it can't just be left in a high gear and rowed along on the torque, it needs revs to really get going. Having said that, even bouncing it off the redline doesn't upset the zen atmosphere, so I don't mind all that much.

 

I think this one's a keeper.

 

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A timeless motoring icon, seen here with a Ford Mustang.

 

LOL, snap again. (I live in Stalybridge, the A4 is my dad's).

 

That 'stang is often knocking about one of the local Ford dealers, it was at the Ashton branch of Evans Halshaw for a couple of weeks, recently it's been showing up in Glossop. Rep's maybe?

 

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Hard luck on the HGF. If it's any help, there's a PSA specialist in Stockport:

 

http://www.paris-autos.co.uk/

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I feel like I'm being watched ;). Think that Mustang must be a rep's motor, one of the guys at Ford was looking very suspiciously at me pulling my ancient Citroen alongside and I guessed that must be his current pride and joy.

 

I'll check out that PSA garage.

 

Whether I fix the head gasket or not depends on whether the Daihatsu sells. Without that happening I can't shoulder the financial burden of the BX and the SD1, which looks like it's going to be ready soon. If the Daihatsu doesn't go the BX is going to have to leave instead, although it's obviously going to sell at quite a loss with a borked head gasket (especially once I've forked out for new tyres).

 

Ideally I'd like the BX to stay, teething issues aside it's a good one. Looking at it up on the ramp it's clean as anything underneath, not a touch of rust, and for something with nearly 170,000 miles on the clock it's immaculate inside and out. The hydraulics are pretty much bang on, the electrics all work and to top it all I don't think I'd find one as close to my perfect spec again. I've really grown to like it, I should have bought one years ago.

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It should run for miles with a new gasket. Be very careful of the braided heater pipes, they will be fragile and pretty much NLA...

 

If you do get stuck with the hoses, I have a few spare from when I replaced mine 'just in case' back in 2008 I think. It pays to never throw anything away!

 

Actually, it's never done so far and just leads to a garage full of junk, but I remain hopeful...

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I had this almost exact heartbreak with my 190e.

 

Instantly smitten followed by grief and heartbreak.

 

I agonised over getting it fixed or moving it on.  After a month I decided that fixing was the best idea, and whilst I'm now £750 lighter the car is sorted.  That is, after all, why I'm in this game and run old cars.  I'd say the BX is an even simpler decision with good ones being in very limited numbers.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide. 

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Yesterday I went to collect the BX from Paris Autos in Stockport, where it had payed a visit for a head gasket change. A great place, highly recommended if you have a piece of old PSA chod that needs work. It's clear they're proper Citroen enthusiasts, which is in stark contrast to the majority of places where the staff run in horror at the sight of an old car with double chevrons attached.

 

The owner, Paul, collected me in his turbodiesel auto XM. This was my first XM-related experience, and whilst it was built like an old Audi in comparison to my BX, it just didn't feel special enough for what was supposed to be an executive barge. Plus Citroen's decision to take ergonomic science and just throw it away with that parking brake is, in my mind, unforgiveable. Maybe I'd feel different if it had a proper executive car engine in it.

 

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It was clear he wasn't too enamoured with my BX. In fact, his recommendation was I sell the newly begasketed engine and scrap the rest. There was no one reason for this, he just felt mine had a general air of shitness that wasn't present in other examples he interacts with.

 

The problems he did identify were:

 

-Wrong radiator fitted. It certainly isn't anything made by PSA or Renault, so its origins are a mystery. Either way, the brackets are all wrong so it moves about, and its efficiency at cooling the engine is as yet a mystery.

 

-Intercooler seal missing. Temporary sealant bodge carried out as seals are as NLA as a Bowie live tour.

 

-Coolant hoses not great. New ones NLA.

 

- One of the three brackets that holds on the exhaust - which are actually a part of the body - has dissolved.

 

- Offside rear radius arm shot.

 

-Hydraulic leaks. He wouldn't mention where else, but mentioned the accumulator sphere as the biggest source. I already knew this was borked, and it's a £25 part that's piss easy to change myself, so I'm not too worried.

 

-He wasn't too happy about the state of the inner wings. They're not rusted, they just don't look particularly factory fresh.

 

These to me seem like trifling worries, compared to what I'm used to. Unless it has a wealth of other problems, I should be easily capable of working through all of them without having to mortgage a kidney, provided new parts magically come my way. The other problems he encountered when doing the head gasket (which sound like they were legion) are now in the past. Certainly these are not enough for me to bin the car: it's a bit ratty now, but in a few years' time doesn't have to be.

 

To celebrate my newfound determination to keep the thing going, today I had fitted a pair of new Michelins up front and a tracking and balancing session. Who knew such small things could effect such a transformation?

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Citroens: welcome to the world of marque specialists telling you to scrap your car.

 

Tbh he sounds like a bit of a rivet-counter, personally I would ignore everything he said and continue enjoying your excellent motor car.

 

Maybe not the bit about the radiator actually. They just remade a batch of these and all hoses. I think there are still a few left. Well worth £200 or whatever

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Yes, if those are the worst things he could find I reckon it's alright if not perfect.

How much for a head gasket swap on one of these?

 

I think this is the intercooler gasket you need, it mentions the 1.7* XUD7TE in the listing

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-Peugeot-Citroen-Turbo-Diesel-Intercooler-Seal-Gasket-306-405-ZX-Xsara-/321189815407

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The accumulator leak will be the seal, not the sphere itself, either that or (just as likely) the FDV caps.

 

I'm surprised you didn't attempt the HG yourself, the XU's are some of the simplest engines to work on.

 

If you've got the tools, a Cambelt takes 90 mins and a HG less than 4 hours including clean up.

 

Nice looking motor though, amongst my many BX's was a petrol Hurricane about 10 years ago.

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Yes, I should have said it's the seal that's leaking rather than the sphere itself. The sphere itself ticks like a cuckoo clock on speed whenever I adjust the height, which is usually a sign they're on the way out, so replacement is high on my list.

 

Unfortunately I have a new job which swallows pretty much all the available daylight hours, so for a (useless) novice like me to change the HG would have left me carless by the time I'd finished it as the Daihatsu would have been gone weeks.

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I'm 100% leak-free! My HP pump is on its last legs though which is suspect will be expensive (my tame Citroen guy just shrugged and told me to drive it until it breaks and then scrap it)

 

I have a BX diesel HP pump in the garage doing nowt. I almost paid £20 for it. Chap who gave it me told me to give him the money once I'd fitted it to make sure it works. Four years ago... Available to you on the same terms if you like. May be Sussex-bound at some point.

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These 'specialists' must be a funny breed, you'd think they would try to find ways to keep folk driving these old shitters so as to keep them in business!!! Lets face it if they take this advice to 'scrap it' they aren't gonna be seeing that customer again. 'Cheers for that great advice, I did exactly as you said and scrapped it' 'Brilliant' 'Laterz'

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HP pump would be well appreciated! I was gonna take it for a rebuild at that expensive place in Cambridge but fitting a different one would probably be the better option. If it can get to Sussex (via shite fest? ) that would be great!

 

My Citroen guy is actually pretty good, he likes older stuff and enjoys working on my old shit to an extent but doesn't quite get the appeal of running an old snotter if it ends up costing loads of money. I actually like a mechanic who says 'it's not worth it' instead of just taking my money as I imagine 99% would

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These 'specialists' must be a funny breed, you'd think they would try to find ways to keep folk driving these old shitters so as to keep them in business!!! Lets face it if they take this advice to 'scrap it' they aren't gonna be seeing that customer again. 'Cheers for that great advice, I did exactly as you said and scrapped it' 'Brilliant' 'Laterz'

I think he saw pound signs and the chance to find me a better one when I think back over it, to be honest. I'd genuinely expected at least some enthusiasm from him, given that I was rescuing a pretty rare example of a car he's apparently supposed to appreciate.

 

The worst bit of it all was when he decided to show me another BX they had in on the ramp, he combed over it basically saying to me each time 'see this bit that's quite good on this one? It's shit on yours', without ever stating why.

 

That and 'my XM shows how you should go about buying a secondhand car, your BX shows how you shouldn't.'

 

Meanwhile, contrary to expert opinion, my BX is in fact proving to be bloody brilliant and I'm beginning to wonder how I've got by without one.

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I bought a TD BX with a failing HG some years ago - not very obvious usually as they can carry on for a long time slightly pressuring with no obvious signs...

 

Glad you've stuck with it - it's always bugged me how some owners of popular but now cheap older cars brag about buying perfect BX's etc with FSH for 99p or whatever - 

 

I use a BX 1.9D and TD for a daily 60 mile commute and it's still my perfect car in most ways...

 

It's worth starting to stockpile the rarer parts and also looking for cheap deals from eBay sellers for the more common service parts if you know the part numbers and which bits were shared between the other PSA cars..

 

As mentioned earlier the braided hoses are BX TD only and pretty hard to get now - rads also...

 

Do check around the rear subframe mounts as they can quietly rot here and it's hard to see in the early stages...

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I'm a bit of a gauge fetishist (I blame the SD1 for that) and the lack of temp gauge is driving me mad, along with the rev counter that since the HG change occasionally goes on strike. How easy is it to change over to a different instrument cluster, assuming one can be sourced?

 

I was told to expect it to run poorly for a while, and whilst when it's up and running it's fine, cold starts are still tricky. When it does get started it coats the street in plumes of smoke, and even after a good drive it lacks the remarkable (for a diesel) smoothness at idle it used to display. Is this normal, 100 or so miles in?

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I use a BX 1.9D and TD for a daily 60 mile commute and it's still my perfect car in most ways...
 
It's worth starting to stockpile the rarer parts and also looking for cheap deals from eBay sellers for the more common service parts if you know the part numbers and which bits were shared between the other PSA cars..
 

They're lovely things, exactly what I want a car to be. I find driving it a wonderfully de-stressing activity, which it just hasn't been in my previous cars (Rover excepted). I can't see myself selling this one.

 

It has had the downside of spoiling my enjoyment of some steel sprung cars to a degree. Over the weekend my friend and I pitted it back-to-back against his 306 HDi over a rough road to see which is better, and whilst I remember the Pug feeling soft and cosseting, compared to the BX it just felt rough and harshly sprung. It also displayed a range of motions on its suspension (such as transverse pitching) that are completely foreign to the BX.

 

Hopefully it won't show up the SD1 as a crude live axled barge when it's back on the road.

 

I'm slowly gathering parts from dark corners of the internet, and researching PSA parts numbers avidly. Hopefully with the dawn of 3D printing and more accessible tabletop machinery running old cars like this won't be an expensive and troublesome activity in a few years' time.

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I was told to expect it to run poorly for a while, and whilst when it's up and running it's fine, cold starts are still tricky. When it does get started it coats the street in plumes of smoke, and even after a good drive it lacks the remarkable (for a diesel) smoothness at idle it used to display. Is this normal, 100 or so miles in?

Nope, that's definitely not right. Any dregs from the HG change would burn off in th first few minutes. I'd suggest it's either gone again, not correctly repaired in the first place or the timing is out. Probably the latter.

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