My Cars: 2011 Grand C4 Picasso VTR+ 1.6HDi in Kyanos Blue 1995 Xantia Estate SX 1.9TD in Vert Vega "The Green Lady" - now owned by XanTom 1998 Xantia 2.1 VXD Estate in Mauritius Blue - R.I.P. (terminal tin-worm)
Having tried once with limited success (a lot less than 1L drained out), the faint wail all the way to Little Horwood and back, set me thinking again about how to best do this job.
Current thoughts:
Get the gearbox nice and hot.
On a level surface, put suspension on HIGH
Support front of car on axle stands as high as is sensible
Put suspension in LOW (tilting gearbox backwards)
Place clean empty drain pan under rear of diff casing
Remove drain plug and feed in enough fairly large diameter plastic pipe to reach to bottom of diff. casing
Remove air-cleaner
Clean round, undo but not remove, gearbox breather
When pipe stops dripping, measure quantity drained (I know the box is full)
What I don't know:
1) having never stripped one of these boxes (and I doubt I ever will ), where does most of the oil 'hide'?
2) how much I can reasonably expect to drain out?
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Suggestions from anyone with experience of draining this box would be most welcome.
2011 Grand C4 Picasso VTR+ 1.6HDi in Kyanos Blue
1995 Xantia Estate SX 1.9TD in Vert Vega "The Green Lady" - after 11 years now owned by XanTom
1998 Xantia 2.1 VXD Estate in Mauritius Blue - R.I.P. (terminal tin-worm)
Guy, I missed you at Little Horwood and I was looking out for you too
My pages on overhauling a BE3 may help solve the mystery of where the oil gets trapped but one thing I do know is that some BE3 'boxes don't have their drain plugs at the very bottom of the diff housing.
I found a similar issue with draining an HP20 autobox and found that one way to extract a bit more was to tilt the 'box as far as possible by going from high to low on the suspension whilst supporting the front and back in turn on axle stands...
With a bit of care, quite high tilts can be got...
The formal capacity of a BE3 is 1.7 litres.
I've never worried about draining one dry when swapping oil personally. I'm curious to know why you would like to?
Jim
Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Thanks CitroJim for your page, a year ago I managed to stripdown my gearbox to repair the syncro from 3rd and 4th gear.
For BE3 gearbox, 2 litres of 75W80 oil are enought and most of the oil hide in the differential zone because is the lower zone of the gearbox and there is the drain plug.
The gearbox can be filled over gearbox breather, is more easy.
My Cars: 2011 Grand C4 Picasso VTR+ 1.6HDi in Kyanos Blue 1995 Xantia Estate SX 1.9TD in Vert Vega "The Green Lady" - now owned by XanTom 1998 Xantia 2.1 VXD Estate in Mauritius Blue - R.I.P. (terminal tin-worm)
Thank you for the suggestions. The reason for wanting to drain and refill the 'box is that it wails softly under light load, this is most noticeable on cross-country trips when the wind noise cruising at around 60 is a lot less than at 75-ish. It seems to be the final drive, because it's the same in all gears and the pitch is road-speed rather than engine-speed dependant. I'm hoping that an oil-change will quieten it. Hopefully a rebuild becoming necessary is a long way off.
Most of the oil in the 'box is the original - nearly 20 years old now. I did try to change the oil when I first had the car, 8 years ago, but was only able to extract about 1/2 a litre, which was then replaced (through ignorance) with something of the correct grade and spec. but not Total. Thus the oil in the 'box is a mix of antique Total and inferior old oil. The more of this ancient mix that I can drain out, the greater the proportion of new Total BV in the re-filled box.
Reading your pages reminded that the last time I stripped a 'box, (30-odd years ago), I used a proper 'Workmate' as a work-bench; the adjustable jaws accommodated the 1st motion shaft's protrusion beyond the bell-housing and also enabled the casing to be held securely in various positions. Sited in the middle of a garage, and on the lower of it's two heights, I could work on it from all sides.
I'll get some more Total and give it a go - later this week, all being well. I'll collect the drained oil carefully so I can measure just how much I drain out - know the box is full as I checked the level when I changed the front brake hoses a few weeks ago.
I'd noticed that the drain plug is well above the bottom of the diff casing and I was thinking about using axle stands and the suspension to tilt backwards to start with; drain (with pipe) until it stops; tilt to the O/S; make a cuppa and consume at leisure while the residual oil drains into the diff casing; tilt backwards and see how much more comes out.
Thinking of my idea of trying to syphon oil from the bottom of the diff casing, I don't suppose you have any idea what diameter the drain hole is?
2011 Grand C4 Picasso VTR+ 1.6HDi in Kyanos Blue
1995 Xantia Estate SX 1.9TD in Vert Vega "The Green Lady" - after 11 years now owned by XanTom
1998 Xantia 2.1 VXD Estate in Mauritius Blue - R.I.P. (terminal tin-worm)
My Cars: 2011 Grand C4 Picasso VTR+ 1.6HDi in Kyanos Blue 1995 Xantia Estate SX 1.9TD in Vert Vega "The Green Lady" - now owned by XanTom 1998 Xantia 2.1 VXD Estate in Mauritius Blue - R.I.P. (terminal tin-worm)
CitroJim wrote:Big enough for a length of hose Guy
Don't, whatever you do, suck to start the syphon. I did once and the oil tastes absolutely horrible
Maybe a tube with a thing similar to a diesel priming bulb to get the syphon going?
What, worse than LHM?
I was going to use my brake-bleeding kit and wash it out when I drain the mower's petrol tank for the winter.
2011 Grand C4 Picasso VTR+ 1.6HDi in Kyanos Blue
1995 Xantia Estate SX 1.9TD in Vert Vega "The Green Lady" - after 11 years now owned by XanTom
1998 Xantia 2.1 VXD Estate in Mauritius Blue - R.I.P. (terminal tin-worm)
), where does most of the oil 'hide'?
