Exceeding BXpectations - Now With Added Renault 4

[mat_the_cat]

How are the steel pipes underneath? The BX uses two sizes of steel fuel pipes clipped up near the offside sill - these often corrode and Citroen don't make them anymore although Chevronics has had some remade and you could always just use nylon piping..

 

8 and 10 mm copper pipe for your central heating works well too, if needed. I haven't seen a failure there which wasn't obvious due to leaking diesel though. Leakoff pipes is a good shout, as I've also noticed that they allow air in on a Bosch system, but diesel out on a Lucas - no idea why though!

 

The other pump seal I've had give air ingress and no fuel on cranking, is the one for the cold start timing advance, operated by a (usually seized by now!) waxstat on the thermostat housing.

[bub2006]

It's alive!!!!! Muhahahahaha

[bub2006]

230 miles covered today and out for 14 hours. I'm a bit tired. Cleon will be along soon to say his bit but I will say the bx managed to kill his sirion and the xantia steppes in to provide ample battery power for a jump start and other parts borrowed from it helped us diagnose what I needs to do.

[bub2006]

As for the xantia,I have never owned a car I can cover serious miles in and still feel fine. Wished I had ac today though. Very nearly used a tin opener on the roof

[Cleon-Fonte]

On Monday morning Glossop's late sleeping residents were rudely awoken by the sound of a vocal French repmobile carrying within it Bub2006 of this parish, brimming with determination to have the BX running by the time he left. Within minutes his superior Citroen whispering skills were proven when he made the filter housing prime itself with a few seconds - to such an extent that it chucked diesel all over the inner offside wing in the process - and to not empty itself after the engine had been cranked over.

 

With the fuel system providing diesel to all the right places with no air, and the new solenoid tested (creating a small fire in the process), we ruled out the fuel system as the issue. At this point we enlisted the assistance of explosive-cabbage, whose patience in the face of being repeatedly interrupted at work by a couple of blokes from the internet asking about Peugeot XUDs is much appreciated. His recommendation that we replaced the glow plug relay was heeded, and when searches of Manchester's various scrapyards and my local Peugeot parts specialist (who tried to convince us that the correct item was 'obviously aftermarket', the fools) proved fruitless he suggested a scrapyard in Barnoldswick which would definitely have the part.

 

In the spirit of Bub2006's aforementioned determination it was therefore natural that we would travel such a great distance to source said part. Therefore we headed onto the motorway, which was sadly mostly chod free, except for this P6 which was perfect in every way aside from its 50% cylinder deficiency, and a battered Renault 9 heading down the opposite carriageway.

 

 

The Autoshite onion bus was a lovely way to tick off the miles towards hillbilly territory (sorry, East Lancashire), and is certainly much more refined than a BX at motorway speeds due to better noise insulation, despite being shorter geared. The round trip was completed in an effortless fashion although intense heat did begin to be a problem. The correct part was sourced and fitted on arrival home but still no dice, and to boot my Daihatsu was completely drained of electricity from repeated jump start attempts.

 

Having checked the fuel system, and the glow plugs, and pretty much everything else we were reduced to standing around in silence shaking our heads. In a desperate attempt to not admit defeat Bub robbed the Onion bus for its filter assembly, fitted it to the BX and...instant startage. No air in the fuel, nothing. Just a perfectly running XUD. Unfortunately the parts then had to be returned to their rightful car to allow its owner to go home after a long day.

 

So, like the onion bus this now has a BMW 320d fuel filter complete with bulb setup as that seems to work and I'm fucked if I'm dealing with the previous setup anymore. I just need to fit it in such a way that I can close the bonnet, but finding space for it has proved tricky. So that's tomorrow's job.

[Cleon-Fonte]

Replace with properly fueled one.

Diesel is for tractors. PHAKT.

 

You will never convince me that this car does not instantly gain an abundance of character due to sounding like an elderly commercial vehicle as it wafts along the road in its inimitable laid-back manner. Surely you also appreciate a simple engine with an abundance of low-down, easily accessible torque, as is evident in your Yank enthusiasm and Rover V8 ownership?

 

Besides, have you listened to most four-cylinder petrols? They're the reason they fit radios to cars.

[bub2006]

I'm glad I could assist. And a very big thankyou to will. The text messages and phonecalls from two blokes wrestling with a stubborn bx could have been too much for lesser folk

[bub2006]

Regards location have you tried the inner wing under the original one?

[strangeangel]

Top job, gents! I shall look forward to seeing it at the next Northern Powerhouse.

[Cleon-Fonte]

Regards location have you tried the inner wing under the original one?

 

Haven't had much of a try at fitting it so far as I was interrupted by the most almighty storm yesterday, but it seems anywhere it could feasibly go already has pipework, bodywork or something else already occupying the space. I'll shoehorn it into place somehow.

[bub2006]

Inner arch under the original mate. Cable ties ftw!

[bub2006]

Don't I bloody know how true that last sentence is!

[Junkman]

Surely you also appreciate a simple engine with an abundance of low-down, easily accessible torque, as is evident in your Yank enthusiasm and Rover V8 ownership?

Absolutely, just like the next man. But firstly I don't what it to abruptly stop 34 rpm above tickover and secondly, I don't want it being achieved with a fuel delivery system complex enough to enjoy Rube Goldberg and fragile enough to make a Fabergé egg appear robust in comparison.

 

Besides, have you listened to most four-cylinder petrols? They're the reason they fit radios to cars.

I won't argue for a second that pezzer four bangers do sound a bit meh. But they still sound a lot less annoying, than what radio broadcasters deem fit for human ears since 1986 1963. However, there is a solution.

 

 

 

My arse is burning

[Lacquer Peel]

Absolutely, just like the next man. But firstly I don't what it to abruptly stop 34 rpm above tickover and secondly, I don't want it being achieved with a fuel delivery system complex enough to enjoy Rube Goldberg and fragile enough to make a Fabergé egg appear robust in comparison.

 

Nonsense. Plenty of high mileage diesels still run their original, untouched injectors and injection pumps. A mechanical injection diesel is as simple and reliable as it gets.

[Rusty_Rocket]

This is true, fully mechanical diesel injection (and a clean filter now and again) is all you need..

 

I believe the Junkman is surely referring to the modern guff that is known as common rail injection 

[Dave_Q]

I dunno, a mechanical injection pump is top level mechanical engineering witchcraft featuring pressure and stuff.

 

By comparison, a carburettor is a system of flaps and holes that is much easier for a DIYer to disassemble without a selection of vital tiny springs etc going kersproing all over the shop.

[Dave_Q]

P.S. - I've just discovered via googling what and where a Barnoldswick is, driving up there for bits is an excellent display of the good kind of mentalism.

[Cleon-Fonte]

As evidenced by this picture of the BX at Kilbaha harbour at the mouth of the River Shannon, not only did the BX manage to start for more than five seconds last week, it also managed to travel all the way to Ireland without catastrophic failure.

 

 

You may consider taking a Citroen that doesn't have a particularly great track record of reliability to another country without valid breakdown cover a bit mad - especially as I only had it running a couple of hours before we were due to leave - but it was a gamble that largely paid off. Until, whilst roaming around the wilderness of Connemara, we noticed a trail of fluid being left in our wake.

 

Fearing hydraulic-induced oblivion, I pulled over only to find that it was the new stop solenoid leaking a bit of diesel down the front of the engine. No problem, thought I, I'll merely fit the fatter rubber seal from the old one. This turned out to be a mistake, as when I restarted the engine the top of the solenoid turned into a diesel fountain, covering me, Mrs. Cleon-Fonte, the engine bay and the windscreen, but fortunately not the alternator. Attempts to stop the raging torrent by switching off the engine failed, as neither the key or the kill lever on the fuel pump had any effect, so eventually I had remove one of the fuel hoses enough to create an air lock in the system.

 

Fortunately a local had seen all this from his house nearby, and bundled us into his ancient Peugeot Expert so we could travel around his neighbours and see if any of them had a spare solenoid. It seems that whilst virtually everyone in that area of rural County Galway has at least one Peugeot XUD lying around in their garden or garage, they're all Bosch pumped. Eventually one of the people we visited managed to put a call in to a relative at a garage in the nearest town, who agreed to nab a Lucas solenoid from work and bring it down when he'd finished. So at twilight in a remote layby, I met with a man I'd never met before in a Peugeot 406 HDi (with missing front wing and blowing exhaust), money was exchanged for a suspicious looking package, and with that he disappeared into the wilderness.

 

Apart from that incident though, the BX was a picture of cast iron reliability across 1400 miles in just over a week. But if you are going to break down, Connemara is highly recommended as a place to do it.

 

 

On another note, while I had expected rural Ireland to be rich in old tat to look at and photograph, instead what I found was Toyota Corollas. Not just a single type of Corolla either, there were old Corollas, new Corollas, big ones, small ones, every body type conceivable and variations of Corolla that I never knew existed. In fact, the only car which seems to have challenged the Toyota's unassailable monopoly is the MkII Nissan Almera, which is distinguished from its more successful rival by actually being a half decent car. The standard VAGBMWBenz cavalcade of averageness seemed to have made some headway in the boom years, but come the recession the people of Ireland returned en-masse to their trusty old Toyotas.

 

However, amongst the Corollafest I did see some chod:

 

 

Clearly someone of sense and good taste. The Vel Satis owner rather than the Polo owner, that is.

 

 

Another interesting Renault, this time Dutch-registered. Owner was clearly a French tat lover, judging by the enthusiasm with which she admired the BX.

 

 

Non-Corolla Toyota, this time an old Camry.

 

 

How to become a scenester on a budget: fit your PT Cruiser with naff chrome hubcaps.

 

 

Judging by the rust I don't think this Porsche* will ever run again.

 

 

Austin on its way to a new life on the mainland.

[Cleon-Fonte]

Not much to report on the BX of late as it seems to have become boringly* reliable, for the time being at least. Performance is now greatly improved as the air and fuel filters are items fitted during this millennium, and fuel doesn't have to travel through acres of dirt to reach the engine. This did catch me out, as the first time I caught it on-boost after getting it running I nearly went into the car in front, such was the unexpected extra power. The engine also seems to be loosening up a bit now that it's actually being used.

 

Another visit was paid to my mechanic on SD1-related business yesterday with a view to changing the BX's barely legal rear tyres at the same time. I mentioned to him the trouble I'd been having removing the spheres, and the next thing I knew a rudimentary sphere removal tool was unearthed, thrust into my hand and I was told to crack on.

 

 

Offside rear sphere, old vs. new.

 

 

And the nearside. Manky.

 

I can now see that trying to remove the old spheres with a chain wrench and hammer/chisel was futile, as even with the proper equipment it took two of us half an hour to remove each rear sphere, and even the front ones took a good deal of violence and swearing before they'd loosen. The previous owner must have tightened them in with some kind of machine, so reluctant were they to move (or perhaps they were the originals?).

 

So yet again the BX has been transformed, not least because the ride quality had deteriorated so much recently. The hillarious lowrider-style bounce has gone, it crashes much less over indifferent surfaces and several of my interior rattles have disappeared. Combined with the new tyres the handling is far superior to before (and it was already pretty damn good). Admittedly it's no magic carpet, but it does a good impression of one. I can see what all the hype is about now.

[Dave_Q]

GR13 news on the spheres, the old ones look truly rank.

[themildbunch]

Always satisfying putting new spheres on... I like the IFHS comfort spheres from the sphere-shop - I have a set on my estate and they're nice and squishy - well done persevering getting them off... 

 

I'd still rather be doing that than compressing springs and worrying about my fingers.....

[Cleon-Fonte]

GR13 news on the spheres, the old ones look truly rank.

 

They were awful, it's no wonder the suspension had virtually no damping function before.

 

Always satisfying putting new spheres on... I like the IFHS comfort spheres from the sphere-shop - I have a set on my estate and they're nice and squishy - well done persevering getting them off... 

 

I'd still rather be doing that than compressing springs and worrying about my fingers.....

 

I had considered going for comfort spheres but chickened out as I was worried I might improve the ride at the expense of the handling. The spheres for the turbodiesel BX do lack ultimate squishiness.

 

+1 on preferring sphere changes to working with steel springs/dampers. It's such a simple thing to do provided some clot hasn't over-tightened them in the past.

[dugong]

The old ones get buried; the bomb squad get about 20 calls a year from an old duffer digging an allotment up, finding what he thinks is an ED and it turning out to be knackered Citroen sphere.

 

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9820534.Selby_buildings_evacuated_in_pub____bomb_scare___/

[Cleon-Fonte]

'Mr Page, a father of five from Coltishall, Norfolk, was digging near his home when he unearthed a rusting piece of metal resembling a camping gas cylinder and pushed a button at one end.

 

'It was only then that it occurred to him that it might be dangerous and that he must not let go. He even put his hand, with the device taped to it, in a barrel of sand to lessen the blast.'

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1471753/Gripping-yarn-of-man-who-thought-hed-found-a-bomb.html

[Dave_Q]

PLEASE bury the old spheres on local building sites and allotments, good god man think of the lolz.

[JayW]

I've about 20 old ones in stock...

[Cleon-Fonte]

I've about 20 old ones in stock...

 

 

In that case an Autoshite group sphere burial session is in order.

[beko1987]

Oh my gosh thats brilliant! In a socially unacceptable way of course!

[omegod]

As a keen metal detectorist I'd rather this didn't happen in the North West , I've had to call the bomb squad twice and they don't fuck about , last time they were going to shut the East Lancs Road at rush hour   

 

New sphere's make an amazing difference. 

[vulgalour]

You're all reprobates.  Just for added lols, paint the dead spheres black and write BOMB on them in white.