LHM front to rear (or rear to front) pipe

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
Oscar Too
Posts: 184
Joined: 17 Dec 2004, 15:01
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

LHM front to rear (or rear to front) pipe

Post by Oscar Too »

Hi
This pipe will need replacing soon, it's only a few microns thick in places. It's on the passenger side of the car and is one of two thicker pipes that run in a straight line from the front to the back.
My questions are: what does it do? is it tricky to change (doesn't look it but you never know)? can it be ordered from GSF or should I get one locally?
Thanks as ever
Oscar
jeremy
Posts: 3959
Joined: 20 Oct 2002, 16:00
Location: Hampshire, UK
My Cars:
x 2

Post by jeremy »

I think there are two typs of front/back pipes - those for cars with ABS and those without.
Genuine Citroen pipes are not considered expensive and come beautifully bent to shape. To shape really does mean that - no tugging and heaving here. (I replaced the one form the regulator to the safety valve on my BX and when I got it in place it just dropped into the regulator and vale - most impressed - day after I ordered it for about £22.)
Jeremy
User avatar
Kowalski
Posts: 2557
Joined: 15 Oct 2003, 17:41
Location: North East, United Kingdom
My Cars: Ex 05 C5 2.0 HDI Exclusive 145k
Ex 97 Xantia 1.9TD SX 144k
Ex 94 Xantia Dimension 1.9TD 199k

Post by Kowalski »

The pipes aren't tricky to do apart from where they go under / through the rear subframe. At least one of them does that and because of its shape and the way it goes through the subframe, the pipe either has to be bent or cut or the subframe removed to get it off.
If you get a new pipe made up out of flexible cunifer or its equivilent, its easier to bend that around the subframe, the standard steel pipes don't bend very easilly and will come preshaped.
bxbodger
Posts: 1455
Joined: 23 May 2003, 03:34
Location: Lovejoy country (Essex!!)
My Cars:
x 1

Post by bxbodger »

You can replace the pipes without removing the rear subframe- its fiddly but I managed to do all of mine. The only reason I did it this way was because I need the car every day, and as my car is an 89, i.e. pre the corrosion proof pipes, I had to do EVERY one of them...eeeaaarrghh[xx(]
However, If you have the time and don't need to keep the car on the road on a daily basis would be a lot easier with the subframe off!!! At the very least remove the spare wheel carrier and having the middle silencer off helps!!
You just wait until you need to do those curly brake pipes......[}:)]
Oscar Too
Posts: 184
Joined: 17 Dec 2004, 15:01
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by Oscar Too »

Bodger you're only 98 posts short of a thou!
I look forward to your help with the curly brake pipes!!
Thanks everyone for input, I'll let you know how I get on!
Oscar
User avatar
AndersDK
Posts: 6060
Joined: 21 Feb 2003, 04:56
Location: Denmark
My Cars:
x 1

Post by AndersDK »

BX with ABS uses 4.5mm pipes for the brakes - as opposite to non-ABS which uses 3.5mm all over for brake & suspension.
So its the rear brakes piping you're talking about.
At front these pipes connects to the ABS block.
At rear one goes to the T-piece and diverts out to the 2 curly pipes and then on to the calipers.
The other pipe is in fact the rear brakes pressure feed pipe - as the rear brakes are fed the pressure from the rear suspension - to have the rear brakes force exactly matching the boot load.
This pipe is then taken from a 4way union which connects to output from the HC and the 2 inputs to wheel suspension cylinders.
citronut
Posts: 10937
Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 00:46
Location: United Kingdom east sussex
My Cars:
x 92

Post by citronut »

pipes from main dealer are not a lot of dosh,i have just fitted full set of fraot to rear and the 4 across rear sub frame easy job with sub frame droped down,what often happenes when pipes are fitted with sub frame in place you cant make 100% sure they are not touching or rubbing any thing,i have seen pipes worn through within a couple of weeks because they where just chucked up there regards malcolm
jeremy
Posts: 3959
Joined: 20 Oct 2002, 16:00
Location: Hampshire, UK
My Cars:
x 2

Post by jeremy »

Citronut has a good point about abrasion of the pipes. last year on holiday I had the warning light start to flash and noticed LHM all over the subframe etc. I asumed it was the octopus or other return pipe as it was only a drip and kept topping up thinking it would fail the MOT a couple of weeks after and I'd see if I could persuade that garage to repair it.
Yes - it passed - and so I duly got underneath and to my horror found that a small plastic (genuine looking!) clip had ground its way through the main supply pipe to the safety valve!
So be careful about clips, bodywork, cable ties and so on.
Jeremy
Post Reply