To stop or not to stop, that is the question

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jack.dempsey
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To stop or not to stop, that is the question

Post by jack.dempsey »

Got a phone call from 'her indoors' yesterday to say that she'd just pulled the BX handbrake up and something had snapped....oh oh! She went on to say that she'd dropped the car round to her pet machanic who said that one of the 3 cables (??) had broken and he'd be able to fix it on Friday for about £50. So far so good. Todays phone call however was to inform me that she had noticed some liquid dripping to the floor just forward of the rear near side wheel. What colour I asked and was not surprised to hear that it was green-ish. So a quick visual check to try to see from where this drip was eminating, followed by a check on the reservoir level, a quick mental calculation and 'yes', should be able to nip down to my local independant to seek professional advice. Professional advice turned out to be questionable, following a quick glance under the car that could not have identified the source of the leak, a statement that the pipe will have to be replaced from the front to the back and that it will cost a fortune and that it will take perhaps weeks to get the parts from the main dealers. I was a bit shocked 'cos I thought that the front to back pipes connected to the wheel via shorter pipes, and that even the return pipes went via such connector blocks. I'm not sure that he wanted the job and am fairly certain that would be the last place I'd want to take it anyway. The journey home was interesting, I'd checked the fluid level at the garage and the sight glass was still well between the max and min levels - but I hadn't planned for traffic - nor traffic on a fairly constant climb, involving a lot of stop start motoring. How you miss the handbrake - when its duff. I also considered what could happen if I ran out of hydraulics, and even stopped and restarted the engine to prove that the LHM pressure and level warning lights were working. I told the missus that if I suddenly lost the brakes I'd be dropping it into first and switching off the ignition. She was directed to jump from the car and place anything from the car under the wheels as a chock (handbag perhaps?). Needless to say these plans were not required - but it does make you think what the chances are of a hydraulic leak causing a main brake failure and an emergency (hand) brake failure within 2 days (effectively at the same time). Just born lucky I guess. Tomorrow I'll elevate the rear and see what is happening and why. Oh happy BX days!
nick
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Post by nick »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by jack.dempsey</i>


Todays phone call however was to inform me that she had noticed some liquid dripping to the floor just forward of the rear near side wheel. What colour I asked and was not surprised to hear that it was green-ish. So a quick visual check to try to see from where this drip was eminating, followed by a check on the reservoir level, a quick mental calculation and 'yes', should be able to nip down to my local independant to seek professional advice. Professional advice turned out to be questionable, following a quick glance under the car that could not have identified the source of the leak, a statement that the pipe will have to be replaced from the front to the back and that it will cost a fortune and that it will take perhaps weeks to get the parts from the main dealers. I was a bit shocked 'cos I thought that the front to back pipes connected to the wheel via shorter pipes, and that even the return pipes went via such connector blocks. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
To be honest his diagnosis sounds spot on. I've owned 4 BX's over the past 12 years and three of them sprung a leak exactly in that spot. Its where the front to rear pipes pass over the rear suspension. The pipes are fairly well 'buried' there, mud and salt collects round them and they corrode and eventually split in the least accesible place. It usually means replacing all four, front to rear, as disturbing one often snaps the others too. On one of the cars I replaced them DIY with the help of a friend who done BX pipes before. Its not especially difficult, just messy fiddly and unpleasant.
If you don't have much faith in the 'specialist' you took it to, Pleiades could be worth a try.
Nick
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

handbrake cable is not very difficult and costs about £12. there are only 2, one each side which connect to a compensator ahead of the handbrake under the centre console. The 2 sides are the same - ie the cable is not handed.
jeremy
RichardW
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Post by RichardW »

Re the handbrake - there are only 2 cables on a BX. Only about £10 each and not too bad to fit.
The leak may be from one of the front-rear pipes. It might be worth getting flexible copper alloy pipes from Plaedies which can be bent, rather than the solid steel ones from Citroen which cannot, and are a right bugger to fit!
nick
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Post by nick »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by RichardW</i>


It might be worth getting flexible copper alloy pipes from Plaedies which can be bent, rather than the solid steel ones from Citroen which cannot, and are a right bugger to fit!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
We used the Citroen steel ones that are pre-shaped, and yes they are a bugger to fit! We unded up unbolting & lowering the rear suspension out of the way to improve access. Flexible pipes would have made it so much easier, and the Pleiades pipe should never need replacing again either.
Nick
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uhn113x
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Post by uhn113x »

Yeah - would agree completely with Nick on this - replace all four. They corrode where they are all in a clip near the NSR wheel arch - from your description he would have been able to diagnose without even seeing the car!
Why did they put them here - on the GSA they run up the middle above the exhause, on the DS they are all accessible after removing the sill cover.
Use kunifer pipes, never steel preformed ones!
alan s
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Post by alan s »

If you find it necessary to make your own, I'm sure Jon once mentioned that GSF actually sell lengths of kunifer pipes but I'm not sure whether you need special tools to work it with or not.
Alan S
DLM
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Post by DLM »

I'd definitely question the " it will take perhaps weeks to get the parts from the main dealers" part of the advice, as many GS&F branches carry the "steel" pipe or can get them the next day. I've never ordered from Pleiades but feel sure they wouldn't still be in business if it took weeks to send an order out.
Your mechanic undoubtedly doesn't want to do a repipe, because it's a long-term job that's difficult to price on acommercial basis, which leaves you without the car for a long time, and uses up a lift/pit, stopping other breead-and-butter jobs being done.
Be aware: there is another thing that can cause leaks in this general area. Just rear of the rear axle you will see the suspension cylinder. The assembly includes two pipes leaving the rubber boot which covers the piston. One of these returns to the reservoir, while a clear one (AFAIR) feeds into the rear axle void - it's for pressure-release as the piston moves back and forth. If one of these has become displaced, then this can also cause a leak. In theory there shouldn't be any leakback to this area but as suspension parts wear over time some lhm escapes past the strut internal seals.
Good luck - and if you do get the cupro-nickel pipes then it's nice to have 10mm-headed flare-nuts to cope with in the future rather than the standard Citroen 8mm. I've seen this on some front-rear pipes which I removed from a scrap car, but unfortunately never refitted.
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