BX coolant hose trouble

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 16 Mar 2005, 04:38

Thank TIM for aftermarket temp gauges!!!!
On the way home today the old nail started to get a lot hotter on the motorway than usual, and the clutch started to judder.I Slowed right down and the temp stabilised
Got home, and found that the water level had got way down, but there was no visible leak.
Under hard revving, however, I could see water dripping into the vent in the top of the bellhousing and presumeably thence onto the clutch causing the judder.
This is coming from the short hose between the back of the thermostat housing and the metal pipe, and it looks as if the hose is on its way out.
I just know that its going to be hard to get one, so does anyone know if its common to the turbo's ( mine is normally aspirated ) as if it is I should be able to get one from one of the 2 helpful local Pug dealers rather than our local useless non spares carrying Citroen dealer ( who doesn't know what a BX is.....)!!!
Annoyingly, its thicker at one end than the other so I can't just stick in a bit of stock hose, so,in the meantime, its radweld, low revs, and hope!!!!!

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 16 Mar 2005, 09:20

If it's two sizes and providing it's long enough, I have used a piece of stainless exhaust piping of the smaller of the sizes and had it swaged at one end, then got two hoses of the correct size & joined them in the middle.
Mind you I live several hundred klms from the nearest Cit dealer so desperate situations require desperate solutions.
Alan S

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 16 Mar 2005, 13:01

Sounds just like the hose that nearly cost me a new head gasket on my XM TD12 (2.1 turbodiesel). Seems like PSA like using that darned hose (with different diameters at each end) since it seems to appear on a large number of their diesels!
//NiSk

pete_wood_uk · Post by **pete_wood_uk** » 16 Mar 2005, 13:31

I think they must have got the idea from the CX - it's full of hoses with different diameters at each end, and all subtly different - not easy to describe down a phone to a breaker to figure out whether the hose you have in your hand is the same as the hose he has in his hand!
Pete

Post by **Jon** » 16 Mar 2005, 14:28

Ah, THAT hose, the very same one that failed on my BX a couple of weeks ago, drenching the clutch and gearbox. Its Citroen only.
I actually managed to make a repair by using a piece of hose cut from one of the old braided hoses and a couple of new pipe clips, fine so far.
A new one from Citroen is a <b>1307J4</b> which seems to do 17D/19D and TD for a mere £4.82 + VAT. In fact, now I know they're so cheap I'm going to buy one and replace my modified one!

DLM · Post by **DLM** » 16 Mar 2005, 14:45

That's good news, Jon - I noticed the start of a split in mine the other day, bagged one from a scrappy for emergency repair, but hadn't investigated Citroen yet.

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 16 Mar 2005, 17:08

Excellent- thanks for the replies, and thanks for the part number Jon, that'll make it a whole lot easier at the Citroen parts counter ouija board, and BX N/A diesels are not very common in the scrappies these days!!!
Its the temp gauge that gave it away, without that I would have just carried on caning it up the M11 and the first I would have known would be the red death light[:0][:(!],and HG failure....
Radweld holding so far........... [:)]

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 16 Mar 2005, 18:33

Forunately, mine did its thing during the winter and the first I noticed was the lack of heat from the heater - a quick look at the temp gauge and switch off engine! Luckily it got to it in time, so no head gasket failure!
(One developes a strange extra sense once one has been clobbered with the cost of a HG replacement!)
//NiSk

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 16 Mar 2005, 18:53

Oh the joys of ordering bits from Citroen!!! My closest one, Motorsales in Harlow, had a multi-option call centre type switchboard-press 1 for Fiat, 2 for Hyundai, 3 for Citroen......press 1 for new cars, 2 for old cars....., when I finally did get through the options to what was possibly the parts dept, I got an answering machine!!!
On to the next nearest, Charvills of Hoddesdon, the same thing, but at least I was able to eventually speak to a real partsman, who confirmed the part number is for the correct hose, and its now on order-"in by friday..."
Such a small part, such a lot of hassle,keep up the good work, Mr radweld..........

oilyspanner · Post by **oilyspanner** » 16 Mar 2005, 23:29

Sorry to sound smug but thats one of the little blighters I routinely change when the lump is swinging at my mercy on the engine crane, its counterpart on the other end of the steel pipe is even more amusing, I end up removing the manifolds and turbo with the engine out to do that one.
Stewart

ItDontGo · Post by **ItDontGo** » 17 Mar 2005, 01:12

This reminds me of a time when I was testing a Formula Ford car and one of the coolant pipes burst. Instead of getting the clutch wet the spray was directed at one of my back tyres - not great when you're doing 120mph! Luckily it was as I approached Brooklands at Silverstone which is quite an open corner so you can get away with running a bit wide. I say luckily because it wouldn't have done to happen at the next corner, Copse, which is quite a bit faster! Because of the anti-freeze it felt like something had broken and it was only when I pulled in the pits I saw steam coming out of the back of it.
We can blame the crappy Ford Zetec engine for that little panic stricken moment. Apparently I have heard that these engines are great when they work but are awful when they have a few problems.
When I woke my BX from its 4 year slumber it all seemed to go well until a pipe burst. Guess what. It was a fancy different diameter at both ends pipe. Citroen only for that thing too!