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

[CitroJim]

This looks very similar from a C15 Jim, I can't tell if it's the same but you may be able to:
<eBay link>

Thanks Mick I guess that one's made of something very exotic, going by the price!!!

[RichardW]

Looks like the same one; not available from Citroen anymore. Seems to be the going price at least - Chevronics have one at £42....!

[CitroJim]

Chevronics have one at £42....!

I see the Chevronics random price generator has been hard at work again

At those prices I'll be redoubling my efforts to fix mine

[mickthemaverick]

If I were you Jim I'd snap the Ebay one up and if you fix yours you can either keep it as a spare or sell it to Chevronics for £35

[Stickyfinger]

What, no "holes" like crocks to allow your dignity to leak out ?

[mickthemaverick]

I reckon your dignity is long gone by the time you get to wearing them Alasdair!

[myglaren]

Mine are similar but no Dunlop name on them. No name at all.
Perfect for us undignified plebs.

[CitroJim]

Mine's got holes in them...

[CitroJim]

Bluebell's rear wash/wipe switch has now been fixed by stroking its springs and some burnishing of its contact surfaces. Pleased to have saved myself a fortune there!

Not all is happy though as I found the washer pump motor is unhappy... Not only on Bluebell but on Strawberry as well. Both very intermittent.

The reason is not hard to see... Basically, a half push on the switch button activates the pump and it switches off when the button is fully pushed to keep the wiper on. This means the washer pump very briefly runs every time the wipers are activated. This is not good for the health of a little motor and it's no surprise they fail. To wash the screen the button has to be held half-in before it clicks... A bit of an odd way of doing things really. Before I fixed the switch it had a tendency to jam between half-push and click. Now it's smooth and reliable.

You never know, I may be able to revive the pump motors.

After taking her for a good run yesterday and finding her driving beautifully in all respects Bluebell is now in hibernation for the winter. I will wake her occasionally for a warm-up and battery charge. She's far too good (and rare) to subject her to adverse weather...

Carefully setting her tracking has improved her steering and handling feel no end.

Strawberry is not so lucky... She'll be busy all through the winter but she'll be OK as she's dripping in rust protection fluid. And the 10E is not such a rare species of AX...

[Huskyxantia]

Nice bit of fettling there Jim , nice little cars them ax's . I very nearly had one many years ago but went for ... a talbot samba ! But that was nice apart from the draught coming through the doors then i fixed the door rubbers which stopped that.

[mickthemaverick]

Nothing like a cheap fix! I do wonder whether it's worth considering connecting the washer pump onto a separate switch, or via an isolating switch to avoid the pulses when turning on the wiper?

[CitroJim]

I do wonder whether it's worth considering connecting the washer pump onto a separate switch, or via an isolating switch to avoid the pulses when turning on the wiper?

That's a good plan Mick and it would save some strain on the switch springs too as the ones that operate the pump looked a bit heat-stressed. The wiper motor itself operates via a relay...

I have spare holes on the dash - it's just a case of making up some suitable switches that look the part

[CitroJim]

Nice bit of fettling there Jim , nice little cars them ax's . I very nearly had one many years ago but went for ... a talbot samba ! But that was nice apart from the draught coming through the doors then i fixed the door rubbers which stopped that.

You really should try an AX Husky, they're great fun I still have quite a hankering for a Visa and having been up close to an LNA (The Citroen version of the Samba) I'd like one of those too... If I had space and money!!!

[Huskyxantia]

I saw a samba 4 yrs ago , £500 , they wanted rid to claim back parking space if id had room i would of had it , it was still running too . Maybe lady luck might smile one day

[CitroJim]

After a weekend of being blown all over the place and generally getting very wet, any car work was out of the question. Yesterday too as I had a prior appointment with my running club and then a Christmas lunch with my erstwhile colleagues; all of us having now been retired for some years. Most enjoyable; we all have good tales to tell and all of us very 'colourful' characters...

Today, after a 7 mile run and a bit of cooking, I could get back to Bluebell and her duff rear screen washer...

First job was to remove the washer bottle - it's a shared one - to get at the pumps...

The washer bottle spout screws on to the top of the reservoir proper, which lives under the wing and is a supreme rust trap..

That's just dirt, and happily, not rust...

At this point I'd wished I'd thought about draining the bottle first... Releasing the securing strap and manoeuvring it, one of the pumps popped out and I got a good soaking

A bit of pulling and twisting and out it comes:

I can give it a good clean-up now...

It was not hard to see what the problem was. The pump is likely OK but it's connector is badly damaged and connections to the pump have been bodged with bits of tape and small crimps. Damp had got in and corrosion had done some bad things...

The pump is likely OK but one terminal of the socket has corroded away and is now potentially scrap. I may try to fix it to do a temporary job until I get a new pump and a new connector.

Whilst I have the washer reservoir out, I can do some good rust-proofing in the area and take advantage of being able to get to parts I could not otherwise easily get to.

Strawberry, having a dealer option, rather than a factory fit rear wiper/washer, is entirely different. All independent and lives in the boot...

All is now working fine, now I understand how it works - it's a little different to the factory fit version...

No work tomorrow, I'll be out with she who carries Christmas trees on the roof of her Little Tikes car