Accidentally getting a 2CV

[Somerset Suffolk]

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Posted September 14, 2024

We’ve had our first FTP, and potentially it might require a new gearbox!

we were planning on going to a local car show this morning but as I took the 2cv out of the garage and reversed onto the drive there was a buzz from the gearbox area and then a horrible clunk and the engine stalled. It seems I’ve “unwound” reverse gear which is apparently quite common and perhaps even a rite of passage for every 2cv owner. The box might be fixable in situ but the worse case scenario is a replacement box which isn’t the end of the world and gives me the opportunity to clean everything and learn more on this 2CV learning curve I’m on.  
 

It’s just fortunate it didn’t happen at Cholmondley or when I was out and about and happened while I was still at home. 
 

@Foeux  see the above post from @Lankytim 

[Stinkwheel]

Top tip to try and avoid what happened to @Lankytim and his car, 

When reversing, always push the clutch pedal down to disengage drive BEFORE coming off the accelerator pedal. Its the braking effect on the gearbox shaft that unwinds them. Some years of production are more prone to it than others (mostly later cars as they didnt peen them onto the gearbox shaft as well as they had used to)

 

[Lankytim]

Yes, this is all correct! It was daily easily fixed once the extremely friendly 2CV club explained what needed to be done to fix it. A fiddly job but something that can be done in situ. 
 

Regarding top speed, I’ve hit a GPS tracked top speed of 70 but it took a good run up. Apparently the speed to aim for is “Z speed”- the needle goes all the way round and points at a letter Z at the bottom of the speedo. I can’t imagine how terrifying that must be. From what I’ve been told these engines can’t be blown up by driving them too hard. 
 

[juular]

5 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

From what I’ve been told these engines can’t be blown up by driving them too hard. 

Have to agree, in normal road form they're immune to being thrashed.  

At one of the 2CV 24hr endurance races there was a stock Dyane that completed the full race without mechanical failures. 24hrs with the pedal mashed to the floor at top speed.

It was a fair bit slower than the race spec 2CVs but it beat a number of them purely through reliability.

The race cars which are somewhat closer to the edge will often complete the race without engine swaps. It tends to be other issues like parts working themselves loose or being damaged by kerbs / collisions that end up causing the long pit stops.

[brownnova]

On 15/06/2026 at 06:44, dollywobbler said:

I need to get mine back on the road. They are huge fun.

A sentiment I entirely resonate with! 
 

2CVs are excellent fun, and not having had any of mine on the road for over a year, something I really miss! Enjoy @Foeux! The advice I was given by the previous owner of the first one was that they get under your skin… and they weren’t wrong! 

As others have said 70 should be achievable, so it might be worth looking at the carb set up. Electronic ignition is worth it imo too. 

[fatmanblue]

1 hour ago, Lankytim said:

Yes, this is all correct! It was daily easily fixed once the extremely friendly 2CV club explained what needed to be done to fix it. A fiddly job but something that can be done in situ. 
 

Regarding top speed, I’ve hit a GPS tracked top speed of 70 but it took a good run up. Apparently the speed to aim for is “Z speed”- the needle goes all the way round and points at a letter Z at the bottom of the speedo. I can’t imagine how terrifying that must be. From what I’ve been told these engines can’t be blown up by driving them too hard. 
 

70mph does take a long run up in a 2CV, remember that 0-60 is a hair under 30 seconds.

I remember many years ago a University friend gave me a lift home in his 2CV, we were barrelling down the Stokenchurch hill on the M40 and he shouted out "We're doing Z!"...

[dollywobbler]

I've had a sat nav 80mph out of mine, downhill on a German autobahn. That engine knocked the crankshaft out but I'm pretty sure that was the case before I drove it to Croatia and back.

I've never unwound a gearbox and I'm always tentative in reverse. You can make them fall over going backwards too.

[Rustyrotavator]

On 15/06/2026 at 23:15, High Jetter said:

Is he OK?

Unfortunately long gone but his lineage remains , current Timmy recently saved me from an excruciating epsode by draping himself over a barbed wire fence I was attempting to traverse... something in their Timmy Genes saved something in my Jeans.

Incidentally I got a speed awareness course penalty for doing 55 on a 50 mph road in suffolk, much amusement in the class when I had to confess to speeding in a 2CV

[Foeux]

I have been conducting tests and I think that it is slower than it should be, even shifting at 20k rpm or whatever the recommendation is.

[Mr Pastry]

2 hours ago, Foeux said:

I have been conducting tests and I think that it is slower than it should be, even shifting at 20k rpm or whatever the recommendation is.

It probably just needs a bit of a service and tune-up.   Plugs, points, timing, tappets.  The Haynes manual is quite good.   The Autobook is also good, if you can find one.   Be aware that the rocker covers retain oil even when the sump is empty, nobody tells you that.   It is usual now to set the tappets a bit wide to counteract possible valve seat recession due to unleaded, say 0.25mm.   I checked mine at the last service and they had closed up a little, so there may be something in it.

[fatharris]

What a bloody handsome little vehicle, and one that's sparked an interest in 2CVs that I didn't realise existed in me.

 

Damn you. Damn you to hell.

[beko1987]

9 hours ago, Foeux said:

even shifting at 20k rpm or whatever the recommendation is.

Driving like a true frenchman 😂 

[Matty]

16 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

It probably just needs a bit of a service and tune-up.   Plugs, points, timing, tappets.  The Haynes manual is quite good.   The Autobook is also good, if you can find one.   Be aware that the rocker covers retain oil even when the sump is empty, nobody tells you that.   It is usual now to set the tappets a bit wide to counteract possible valve seat recession due to unleaded, say 0.25mm.   I checked mine at the last service and they had closed up a little, so there may be something in it.

Youve got a 2cv as well? What will it take to force you to have a thread about your cars? 😁

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Great save. As a lad in my late teens, I was very underwhelmed when I had to move a green and white 80s 2CV back in the mid 90s. It was a sale car on the garage forecourt where I worked on Saturdays. There was a steep, but short ramp in front of the car and I had to get it up the ramp to move it to another spot, so the sale cars weren't sat in the same place for too long. 

Anyway, I remember firing it up and scratching my head when it wouldn't move up the ramp. I ended up with the throttle to the floor and it still couldn't manage it. In the end, it took a speedy* run up in order to get past the ramp -  my teenage disdain of them began at that point. 

Fortunately, my attitude has mellowed over the passing decades and I now appreciate them for what they are. They certainly seemed to fulfill their design brief brilliantly. 

Have you seen this rare '54 rescue? I love the fact despite it being utterly rogered, the fella gets it running and driving again without any real issue. 

 

[Mr Pastry]

44 minutes ago, Matty said:

Youve got a 2cv as well? What will it take to force you to have a thread about your cars? 😁

I've just got a 2cv and a 106 at the moment.   Honestly can't think of much to say about them, and if I do any work I like to get on with it and finish the job, so I can't be stopping to photograph everything.  Likewise, I have very few photos of cars I have had in the past, so it wouldn't make a very interesting thread.  

[Matty]

1 hour ago, Mr Pastry said:

I've just got a 2cv and a 106 at the moment.   Honestly can't think of much to say about them, and if I do any work I like to get on with it and finish the job, so I can't be stopping to photograph everything.  Likewise, I have very few photos of cars I have had in the past, so it wouldn't make a very interesting thread.  

Shame. The help you give me in the past based on knowledge youve accrued im sure thered be a lot of interest in your car history.

[Foeux]

Hullo,

The 2CV has the desire for fire.

Long story short the main earth from the negative terminal to the gearbox had been 'repaired' with putty by some french pig. I cleaned every connector, soldered some dodgy joins and even cleared off every fuse box terminal only to be rewarded with another attempted fire due to too much electric going in the wrong places.

As a result it was blowing fuses and I literally burned myself on the choke plunger as it melted its own knob off!!

New cable and clamp tomorrow and hopefully it doesn't be trying to go on fire as much. Grateful to some chums who helped me diagnose.

Got some silicone hoses to replace the cardboard ones!

[Stinkwheel]

Ah, the old 'earth through the choke cable trick' - glad you got it sorted out. It never hurts to have more earth straps on an engine to body than you need

[Foeux]

2 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

Ah, the old 'earth through the choke cable trick' - glad you got it sorted out. It never hurts to have more earth straps on an engine to body than you need

I've stuck 2x dirty great ones on this morning.

New problem: car now runs like utter crap, no revs, throttle does nothing etc. I wonder what died in the roasting event?

[Stinkwheel]

1 hour ago, Foeux said:

I've stuck 2x dirty great ones on this morning.

New problem: car now runs like utter crap, no revs, throttle does nothing etc. I wonder what died in the roasting event?

Hmmm that’s an interesting/unusual one. I wouldn’t have thought it would hurt it after fixing the earth I would have expected return to normality. 
Does it pop and bang and splutter when trying to apply throttle or just won’t increase revs from tickover? 

[Mad Cyril]

I found silicone heater pipes were too noisy unfortunately. That foam lining really absorbs some volume.
My remedy was new cardboard tubes, and a length of electrical wire running through them with a ring connector self-tappered at each end.

[Foeux]

8 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

Hmmm that’s an interesting/unusual one. I wouldn’t have thought it would hurt it after fixing the earth I would have expected return to normality. 
Does it pop and bang and splutter when trying to apply throttle or just won’t increase revs from tickover? 

Barely runs and accelerator/choke make no difference. Then it just splutters and dies.

[Zelandeth]

Cables/linkages seized/melted after acting as high current electrical conductors so not actually moving things at the carb?  Or that earth strap getting hot melted it's way through something like a HT/LT lead?

[Stinkwheel]

9 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Cables/linkages seized/melted after acting as high current electrical conductors so not actually moving things at the carb?  Or that earth strap getting hot melted it's way through something like a HT/LT lead?

That would be my guess, accel cable probably had same issue choke one did. Now things are melted/gummed up.

Electrically there isnt much that a 2CV can knacker up and it not run right.

Failed/Knackered condensor could cause rough running inability to Rev. So could a hot and ruined coil. Cant think of anything else electrically

[Foeux]

Yo chumbs,

 

So the filthy French pig is showing off even more now!

Wot I have did should ameliorate a lot of the showing off but alas it be intermittent hot-start woes.

Wot I dun:

Elec ignition (123)

New plugs (NGK)

New leads (Bougicord)

New coil (ECAS 2CV spares 'Dry' coil)

Body to negative terminal

Gearbox and engine to negative terminal

Gearbox to chassis strap

Cleaned out carb and jets etc

Cleaned every bullet connector, every fuse box terminal

 

Starts in a flash when cold and will not start (even on brake cleaner) when hot which means you can't take it anywhere.

Had an extremely immature 69MPH (GPS) out of it.

[bangernomics]

Have you got an original carb on it with an accelerator pump? Maybe worth seeing if the rubber has split?

[Zelandeth]

If it's fine when cold but not starting when hot it seems like it has to be spark or fuel.

I'd not read too much into it not starting on brake clean - I've seen plenty of engines which don't like it, especially as the amount of flammable "food shit" in it seems to get lower by the year.

Stick a couple of teaspoons of actual fuel down the carb throat and then see if it'll show signs of life.  That should more accurately point you towards whether it's a fuel delivery or spark problem you're chasing.

I do seem to recall the original fuel pumps on these not being that stellar from memory.

[Stinkwheel]

Usually hot starting problems are coil related, but youve replaced that. 
Next bet would be fuel vaporisation, has it got its bakealite type insulator block between carb and manifold (ideally with a couple of gaskets as well) 

Did you do the valve clearances? Tight and they don’t start well hot either 

 

[fatmanblue]

51 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Usually hot starting problems are coil related, but youve replaced that. 
Next bet would be fuel vaporisation, has it got its bakealite type insulator block between carb and manifold (ideally with a couple of gaskets as well) 

Did you do the valve clearances? Tight and they don’t start well hot either 

 

I was going to say have you checked valve clearances?

2CVs can be buggers for hot starting, but as as @Stinkwheel says it's usually coil related (and dry coils have largely cured that.

Another thing I found troublesome was the ignition barrel. It's in the firing line for water leaks and mine had a tendency to cut the supply to the coil whilst operating the starter, making starting a fun* game. Binned it years ago for a toggle switch and a starter button.

Fuel pumps are not great, and any fuel line in the engine bay is past its sell-by date (if not already replaced).

[Foeux]

On 30/06/2026 at 18:05, Zelandeth said:

If it's fine when cold but not starting when hot it seems like it has to be spark or fuel.

I'd not read too much into it not starting on brake clean - I've seen plenty of engines which don't like it, especially as the amount of flammable "food shit" in it seems to get lower by the year.

Stick a couple of teaspoons of actual fuel down the carb throat and then see if it'll show signs of life.  That should more accurately point you towards whether it's a fuel delivery or spark problem you're chasing.

I do seem to recall the original fuel pumps on these not being that stellar from memory.

Also new valeo fuel pump!