mat_the_cat Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 I have a crude home made one, but distance may be an issue... Same I can't make the 28th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Have you an 8mm drill bit, or know someone who has? Dead easy to make a reasonable tool as I've described in the current sphere removal thread. Just a length of M8 threaded bar, 2 nuts and washers to fit and a length of 25mm steel bar. Use a hammer to shock free when you've applied some load on the bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon-Fonte Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 I have a crude home made one, but distance may be an issue... Same I can't make the 28th! Indeed, geography is a tiny snag. A pity the Stellar 1.6+1.9 won't be making its way up to the Peaks on Thursday. Have you an 8mm drill bit, or someone who has? Dead easy to make a reasonable tool as I've described in the current sphere removal thread. Just a length of M8 threaded bar, 2 nuts and washers to fit and a length of 25mm steel bar. Use a hammer to shock free when you've applied some load on the bar. I may resort to a home made effort. My only worry is that anything I bodge up won't withstand two seconds against spheres as stuck as these, but fortune favours the brave. Just out of interest, can heat be applied to spheres to try and loosen them off a bit? It's probably a very bad idea, but a tempting one at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Wouldn't recommend it, due to the seal. A proper tool really is worth its weight in gold, because it's sheer leverage that gets them off. I've snapped a standard oil filter chain wrench trying to remove stubborn spheres before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_the_cat Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Never tried heat - obviously you will be increasing whatever pressure is in the spheres proportionally to the temperature rise. Wonder what they're rated to...? All I can see happening if the pressure is to much is that the diaphragm will rupture, and the nitrogen will fizz away into the LHM. As an aside, that is something to watch out for if the sphere is tight on its threads all the way out - it's a warning that the rubber has failed and as the last thread disengages, move yourself out of direct line of the sphere, close your eyes/mouth and brace yourself for an oily green shower Cleon-Fonte 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Did you try shocking the thread free? I've known the most stuck spheres come undone (albeit with a removal tool) very easily once you've wielded the hammer and ally bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon-Fonte Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 I did give the threads a few shocks but to no avail, the spheres have stubbornly stood still through all I've thrown at them. This led me down the dead end of thinking heat may be useful, but based on the advice above (and the visions I have of spheres behaving violently under pressure) I think that's not one to be tried out. The moral of the story is to have a proper sphere removal tool on hand, especially having had to expend so much effort on the fronts I dread to think what the rears are going to be like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Nip onto the French Car Forum, there could be somebody there who lives nearby who can help. myglaren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Or there's Westreon Citroen in Manchester. On my red BX, I finally had to give in and get someone else to shift them. Even then he had to get quite a big hammer out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Are you using a heavy enough hammer? I would be using a lump hammer rather than a standard ball pein hammer.. myglaren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon-Fonte Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 The hammer I'm using resembles a Gardner 6LX engine block in sheer heft and will easily put a dent in the spheres with little effort, so I'm fine on that score. I've bought the ingredients for a homemade sphere removal tool as described by forddeliveryboy, so I'll have a go at putting it together and see if that does the trick. If not the French car forum/professional garage may beckon (although definitely not the garage I used last time). strangeangel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 The hammer may be a little too heavy. Too heavy (or too light) won't work half as well as one the right weight. I'd say about 2.5lb for that job. If you could head York-wards I'd be very happy to do them for you. strangeangel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon-Fonte Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 I'll be in York on Saturday funnily enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 PM sent. Cleon-Fonte 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon-Fonte Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 As relayed in the Glossop meetup thread, I managed to hasten the demise of my duff fuel filter housing using the immense power of my right foot. With the BX now incapacitated a callout to the RAC was necessary to return it the third of a mile up the road to the Cleon-Fonte residence, the RAC man adament that my fuel pump solenoid was at fault (I kept quiet about the night's events). This necessitated a visit to the emporium that is Pugbitz in Denton to source a replacement, and having managed to disassemble and reassemble it and fix it in place I expected to prime it up and to hear the XUD fire into life. Far from it, it was no better than when it had no fuel supply at all. And that is how it stayed all Bank Holiday weekend, no matter what I tried. Having clearly reached the limits of both my ability and patience, I was half prepared to give up and keep the BX as nothing more than a street ornament. Luckily Bub2006 of this parish graciously stepped in to help and this evening the BX had another (rather faster) hydropneumatic Citroen for company. So after much time spent playing with the fuel system, we've duduced that fuel is going to the injectors, the pump solenoid is fine, the filter housing is (eventually) priming and provided the outlet hose from the filter housing is dunked in a bottle of veg oil the engine will run. Left to its own devices, however, it's still a non-starter. So, does anyone have any ideas? How to spot a Shiter in the wild: open bonnets, Peugeot XUDs and containers of veg oil on a 1960s housing estate usually indicative chaseracer, Lacquer Peel, Junkman and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Clogged gauze filter in the tank or blocked fuel pipe. edit: try blowing through the pipe to the tank to find out if it's restricted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bub2006 Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Thanks lp. Something to look into. Assistance is only a text or call away sir. Great to meet you again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseflakes Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 How to spot a Shiter in the wild: open bonnets, Peugeot XUDs and containers of veg oil on a 1960s housing estate usually indicative I'm glad you clarified that. I thought it was a big jug of wee. Lacquer Peel and myglaren 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bub2006 Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 It does look that way to me too but I was holding it and can assure you it was tesco finest veg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 You say that now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Ah - you're on veg! Wondered if that was the thing when you text me on Sat arvo, wish I'd piped up! I've known most veg-related probs, being mainly self-taught in the art, having begun when it was just about legal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Could be a pin hole (that`s all it takes) somewhere between the tank and the filter block - no leaking fuel, just obviously drawing in air.Maybe the piece of flexible pipe leading to the filter block is perished and now has such a leakage after it was disturbed for the first time since 198x.Also, there should be a 12mm bleed bolt on the housing, which must be released while pumping the prime button until fuel comes out.What does the Haynes say regarding the correct bleed procedure? Is that a new or used filter block you got? myglaren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Could be a pin hole (that`s all it takes) somewhere between the tank and the filter block - no leaking fuel, just obviously drawing in air.Maybe the piece of flexible pipe leading to the filter block is perished and now has such a leakage after it was disturbed for the first time since 198x.Also, there should be a 12mm bleed bolt on the housing, which must be released while pumping the prime button until fuel comes out.What does the Haynes say regarding the correct bleed procedure? Is that a new or used filter block you got? Pretty much this I think - I'm trying to recall what filter set up you've got. If it's the silver cannister, then Junkman is on the money. It won't self prime if the housing is full of air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bub2006 Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Its the silver canister with small mushroom button on it. Different to xantia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon-Fonte Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Indeed, it is the silver canister with plunger on top. The bleed screw's been undone the whole time Bub and I were priming it (and before that when I was working alone) and fuel does eventually come out, but given the moist fart sounds it gives off during priming I'm guessing it's dredging up air with the fuel. So, the hoses definitely need checking over. The filter housing's secondhand as new ones seem pretty thin on the ground. This was the first time it had run on veg, and given it's never idled so smoothly I'm tempted to bin my Lucas pump and associated injectors along with any other dodgy bits of fuel system I have to replace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I'd forgotten about the old priming heads. It's quite likely the plunger has developed an air leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bub2006 Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 We put the original known working one back on. Same end result as the new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 It's poosible both have failed. Get a section of clear pipe and splice it into the line at various points, to see where the air is coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon-Fonte Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 There are rebuild kits available for the filter housings but I'm not sure they're worth forking out as much as I paid for the housing itself. Especially as there's no guarantee that it's not something else at fault. I'll buy a length of fuel hose first and see if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bub2006 Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I'll pop up next week when I've got a few quid for fuel spare if assistance needed still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now