BX Hydraulic Problem

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beemernut
Posts: 34
Joined: 30 Jan 2003, 02:04
Location: United Kingdom
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x 1

BX Hydraulic Problem

Post by beemernut »

My BX has developed a problem with the hydraulic system. When the car is started, the car does not rise. I checked the reservoir - it contains fluid and I have cleaned the filters. When the engine is started the pump does not draw any fluid from the reservoir so I removed the feed pipe from the reservoir and tried to fill it with fluid, the level in the pipe kept on dropping slowly, I got my wife to start the engine to see if this would prime the pump and ended up with a litre of fluid on the ground underneath the car. It looked as if the fluid was leaking from around (above) the front of the front crossmember (a bit difficult to be certain as the car is on a slope). Any ideas what can be causing this? Is it that the pump and the pipe to the regulator needs replacing or would it be the security valve(I thought this was at the back of the front crossmember?
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Firstly which of your cars is it and please confirm it has power steering.
The safety valve is at the back of the subframe and is a generally reliable component. As you will see I've been around this board for longer than is good for me and I cannot recall anyone tracing a fault to the safety valve and so I think it can be ignored with some confidence.
Presumably your car has dumped its LHM and that is why you have had to re-prime the pump. The alternative is that the reservoir - pump hose has deteriorated and allowed air in and broken the syphon to the pump. It is possible that removing the hose and bending it has opened a crack/split and the LHM is cheerfully running out of this. If its a diesel it will probably run down the back of the engine and off the cross member.
If in doubt temporarily replace the hose with a length of clean garden hose and see if there is any difference.
Other causes are split octopus but as this is in the return system it will allow the system to function normally while leaking quite spectacularily. Steel pipes can fail particularily if the clips are missing and so can seals if not fitted properly or the pipes are strained but the pump won't need priming unless the car has run out of LHM.
jeremy
tonespeed1999
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Post by tonespeed1999 »

if its leaking on the off side,close to the front height corrector,it will possibly be what it known as the "octopus" pipe,its a mass of black rubber return pipes.bit of a bugger to replace!
citronut
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Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 00:46
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Post by citronut »

if its leak is about in the middle be hind engine forward of front sub frame you might find its the power steering main return where the rubber hose pushes onto a metal pipe,as it splits right by the joint and fluid poures out,just cut of about half an innch push it back on and do up the pipe clamp,aprox half an hour,also if it not that one and it turns out two be the octapuss its about two to two and a half hour job very tight for space and it has 11 pipes going to and from it
regards malcolm
jeremy
Posts: 3959
Joined: 20 Oct 2002, 16:00
Location: Hampshire, UK
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Post by jeremy »

The octopus is in the return circuit - so car will rise properly etc.
Power steering is controlled by the flow divider valve and the bleed off which runs all the time is relatively unrestricted and small. I don't think a broken hose would actually affect the flow rate much when the steering was not being used so once again the car would rise normally.
Jeremy
citronut
Posts: 10937
Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 00:46
Location: United Kingdom east sussex
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x 92

Post by citronut »

i think the car did not rise because there is not enough fluid left in the tank,couple of weeks ago i got my freinds BX in my workshop on sat afternoon i thought as a precausion i would purchase the two metal pipes which runs north to south under the engine because thats where the fluid seemed to be coming from,when i got under there it was the main rubber steering return pipe split which is conected to a metal pipe that comes from the pinion gear on the rack,i have seen this before and when there was fluid in the tank and the engine was running cit blood was pouring out,the metal pipe is 4.5mm
regards malcolm
beemernut
Posts: 34
Joined: 30 Jan 2003, 02:04
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 1

Post by beemernut »

I should have replied earlier. I eventually traced the problem to the main pump feed pipe from the reservoir, as Jeremy suggested. There was a split on the bulkhead side, not easily visible from the front of the car. I replaced it with one from another BX we own and this seems to have sorted out the problem.
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