CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[Skull]

Presume that photo is of it sat in the back of a 106 Jim ? Just surprising how the interior trim is different from the AX - Good luck on today's mission

[CitroJim]

Presume that photo is of it sat in the back of a 106 Jim ? Just surprising how the interior trim is different from the AX - Good luck on today's mission

Thanks Skull The photo is of the engine block sat in the back of my Saxo...

Good progress already...

Flanged spacer pulled off the donor block... It came off easily and the puller was barely needed... Why it was so tight on my Saxo, goodness only knows

Cleaned up and all ready to be installed on Bluebell's engine...

[Skull]

Thanks Skull The photo is of the engine block sat in the back of my Saxo...

That will explain the difference in trim Jim I thought it was a bit posh (my Saxo was a 3 door )

[CitroJim]

Mine's a posh Saxo Skull... It's an SX

[Skull]

Mine's a posh Saxo Skull... It's an SX

Mine was a 2002 Desire

[Skull is off to the loft to read specification brochure ]

[CitroJim]

Reassembled the timing side and refitted the cambelt - actually Sally's old one as it's got less then 20K on it... It's only temporary as post-MoT she's having a new water pump, tensioner and belt...

I tensioned it with my SEEM meter, knowing TU engines are very critical of cambelt tension... 45 SEEM units for a used belt is what the BoL says and on Sally it gives a nice quiet drive with no belt whip...

Before refitting the belt covers and installing the fanbelt - but AFTER doing up the Crank Bolt to 75 ft lbs - I went for a start...

Nothing, not a peep... Spinning over well but not even trying to fire...

Into old-school diagnostics mode... Spark? Yes, it seems so. All voltages present and correct on the coil...

Fuel? Air cleaner off. Carb as dry as a temperance pub... Will the accelerator pump squirt? No...

Fuel pump? Disconnect fuel line to carb and dip the end in a jar... Spin engine over on the starter... Jar fills with finest E5 Premium!

Will engine fire if I pour a bit of neat fuel down the venturi... Yes!!! Ignition now known to be OK and valve timing not 108 degrees out!

Whip top off the carb... Float chamber almost dry.

Problem found. Float valve gummed up and stuck closed...

The float chamber looks a bit contaminated but it's not silt or dirt, just staining...

Whilst the lid is off I'll give the jets a good clean and clean out the float chamber too...

I need a new gasket... It might be fun getting hold of one... I may have to make one...

I do love old car non-start diagnostics... Pleased I can still remember how... It's been getting on 20 years since I've played with carbs and coil ignition!

This is a pic of the assembled carb in case I need to refer to it to correctly reassemble the vacuum-assisted choke linkages...

Onwards and upwards....

[xantia_v6]

Carburettor spares are sometimes surprising easy to find. Do you know what make and model it is?

[RichardW]

Quite possibly https://classiccarbs.co.uk/product/sole ... oen-ax-etc

There are some cheaper on e-bay, but they are in Latvia / Poland so postage and potential customs charge may bump the price up!

[Zelandeth]

Latvia seems to be where all my recent carb bits have come from. Which was particularly laughable as both of the recent kits had "Made in UK" on the packets!

[CitroJim]

Quite possibly https://classiccarbs.co.uk/product/sole ... oen-ax-etc

There are some cheaper on e-bay, but they are in Latvia / Poland so postage and potential customs charge may bump the price up!

Excellent! That's the one Richard Thanks hugely!

Latvia seems to be where all my recent carb bits have come from. Which was particularly laughable as both of the recent kits had "Made in UK" on the packets!

Latvia seems to have cornered the market for a huge range of old PSA stuff... Search by part number and it's almost guaranteed a Latvian site will pop up...

I guess some enterprising soul bought up a lot of obsolete stock from the UK at some point... I've seen posts on a Rover P6 group saying the stuff they have got from Eastern Europe was originally UK stock...

Zel, whilst I think of it.... Who are you using to overhaul your Cavalier calipers?

My carb overhaul will wait a day or so whilst I get a bit of heavy and dirty work out of the way... So this afternoon I got the nearside caliper off ready to unseize its sliders... Currently they're soaking in Plus Gas...

Again the disc and pads pass muster and will do for the MoT

The big T55 caliper mounting bolt came out without a struggle but I have to confess the undoing of the the lower T40 bolt caused a bit of a 'squeaky bum' moment but all was fine following a protracted squawk from the bolt!!!

The Philips disc retaining screws on both sides came out relatively easy with Plus Gas and my impact driver - that old tool is a godsend and saw much use back in the 80s on my old Japanese motorcycles - the only tool that would safely and cleanly loosen the crankcase cover screws...

Tomorrow I have a rear brake cylinder to replace and then...

Pending all OK on the carburation front she'll be ready for her M0T...

[Zelandeth]

Quite possibly https://classiccarbs.co.uk/product/sole ... oen-ax-etc

There are some cheaper on e-bay, but they are in Latvia / Poland so postage and potential customs charge may bump the price up!

Excellent! That's the one Richard Thanks hugely!

Latvia seems to be where all my recent carb bits have come from. Which was particularly laughable as both of the recent kits had "Made in UK" on the packets!

Latvia seems to have cornered the market for a huge range of old PSA stuff... Search by part number and it's almost guaranteed a Latvian site will pop up...

I guess some enterprising soul bought up a lot of obsolete stock from the UK at some point... I've seen posts on a Rover P6 group saying the stuff they have got from Eastern Europe was originally UK stock...

Zel, whilst I think of it.... Who are you using to overhaul your Cavalier calipers?

My carb overhaul will wait a day or so whilst I get a bit of heavy and dirty work out of the way... So this afternoon I got the nearside caliper off ready to unseize its sliders... Currently they're soaking in Plus Gas...

Again the disc and pads pass muster and will do for the MoT



The big T55 caliper mounting bolt came out without a struggle but I have to confess the undoing of the the lower T40 bolt caused a bit of a 'squeaky bum' moment but all was fine following a protracted squawk from the bolt!!!

The Philips disc retaining screws on both sides came out relatively easy with Plus Gas and my impact driver - that old tool is a godsend and saw much use back in the 80s on my old Japanese motorcycles - the only tool that would safely and cleanly loosen the crankcase cover screws...

Tomorrow I have a rear brake cylinder to replace and then...

Pending all OK on the carburation front she'll be ready for her M0T...

My intention is to use Bigg Red for the refurb job as I've heard nothing but praise for them from a bunch of people.

Just holding off till I've had a chance to inspect the new caliper that's arrived since I went on holiday to see whether it would benefit from attention as well - though I'm leaning towards just getting them both given the same going over.

They're only up in Worcester so I'll probably take stuff over in person to reduce the odds of the postal system managing to lose anything else of mine...

[CitroJim]

Thanks Zel I've heard of them and similarly good repots of their work...

[CitroJim]

Quite possibly https://classiccarbs.co.uk/product/sole ... oen-ax-etc

Kit ordered... Not cheap! I looked on eBay and most other kits there were even more expensive!

Thanks again Richard for alerting me to this site... I'm pleased to see the kit includes a new float chamber needle valve...

[CitroJim]

Nearside front caliper now nicely unseized and sliding freely...

Now to do a bit of work on the carb and see if I can get the engine running sweetly ahead of the arrival of the overhaul kit...

[moizeau]

Jim, and anyone else, I've used these people for my caliper parts on my old kwaks. https://powerhouse.uk/ They are used by many in the Z1OC whether it buying kits or having them rebuild them.
Regarding the carb, I've had lots of 'fun' stripping the carbs on my bikes that I bought having not ran for a few years. Green goo clogs everything. I now use a Bardahl additive in all my bikes, mowers, chainsaws etc. that have a carb. Some Esso (I think) stations in the midlands and up north do ethanol free fuel. It's labelled as E5 but doesn't contain any as E5 only means up to 5%.