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

[mickthemaverick]

I use a grease nipple in the pipe hole and a side lever grease gun to shift those seized pistons.

Yes I've done that too in the past Gibbo but at £10 a pair for new ones its hardly worth the bother!!

[CitroJim]

I use a grease nipple in the pipe hole and a side lever grease gun to shift those seized pistons.

Yes I've done that too in the past Gibbo but at £10 a pair for new ones its hardly worth the bother!!

Precisely... and even if I could free off the pistons I'd not be comfortable using them again...

[Hell Razor5543]

To confirm my diagnosis of the reason for Daffodil's non-operational rear brakes I removed one of the wheel cylinders today...

Seized absolutely solid Even a hammer and punch won't move the pistons!



They are allegedly only 4 years old Brake fluid replaced at the same time according to an invoice...

The brake fluid is very badly contaminated... As I flush more it's getting more and more purple and my suspicion grows that DOT5 was used to top-up and it's not done any good... It started off black and full of sediment, then brown and now distinctly purple!

New wheel cylinders are on their way and should arrive on Wednesday I've also procured another litre of DOT4 fluid to enable a thorough flush...

That looks a little manky! Were any of the ebay items I posted up of use?

[mickthemaverick]

I now have some cylinders on order from the 'bay, along with a new set of brake shoes ll thanks to your supplied links James

Come on James Keep UP!!

[Hell Razor5543]

I now have some cylinders on order from the 'bay, along with a new set of brake shoes ll thanks to your supplied links James

Come on James Keep UP!!

Oops, I didn't spot that!

[CitroJim]

Some good news today Lashings of Plus Gas and a bit of force saw one of Daffodil's rear wheel cylinders dismantled for an autopsy...

Happily, all the corrosion causing the seizure was on the 'air' side of the hydraulic seals (i.e. the side exposed to the atmosphere) The pistons and internals show no corrosion before the seals

Cleaner inside than expected!

From seeing that, I'm content the system and pipework will be free of internal corrosion.

I have now fully flushed the entire braking system. Around a litre of new fluid has now been pulled through to system and I was happy to finally see nice clean and clear fluid emerging

Clearly, a job well done!

The vacuum bleeder has proved an excellent tool for flushing purposes It makes it a very quick and clean job.

I'll do a final bleed using the 'one-man' one-way valve when the new wheel cylinders are fitted...

I'm most relieved to find the system is free of internal corrosion. It was a concern...

[CitroJim]

A cold run today Very frosty but otherwise a very beautiful morning

Today is day 7 of my RED (Run Every Day) challenge, day 115 of my run streak and I'm now nearly 69 miles into my virtual LEJOG journey... Only 1678 miles to go

RED Progress...

Fingers crossed, Daffodil's new wheel cylinders will arrive today

As an EXPERIMENT ONLY, yesterday, I cleaned up one of the corroded wheel cylinders with fine Scotchbrite and reassembled it...

On test, after refitting to the brake assembly, it appears good with no leaks. At least I could confirm the auto-adjuster mechanism was fully functional.

Despite appearing to be OK, this wheel cylinder will be replaced with a new one. No way will I trust it on the road...

The other side was found to be leaky when disassembled...

The reason both wheel cylinders looked like they had spent time at the bottom of the sea despite the surrounding area being pristine was all due to slight leaks from their seals and the aggressively hygroscopic nature of brake fluid attracting any atmospheric moisture setting up a perfect environment for heavy corrosion...

[CitroJim]

A very good day of work on Daffodil today

The postman brought me some nice new wheel cylinders early this morning

NOS from the 'bay

Those were procured form one of the links you supplied James Less than a tenner for both, including postage...

As soon as I'd finished baking a lasagne and completed some other small domestic tasks I got cracking

A nice shiny new cylinder...

Both sides were done and the brakes bled... It was nice to hear the self-adjusters ratchet up once all the air was out...

The handbrake works exceedingly well as I was able to fully torque the wheel studs on with the handbrake on...

Then the gearbox was refilled with new oil... I rigged up this pipe and funnel arrangement to make it clean and easy Repurposed from my old 4HP20 filling rig

Battery blue and funnel orange clash badly!

The filer/level hole in the gearbox

And then it was time for Daffodil to emerge into the daylight

Blinking in the daylight!

I did a full pre-MoT check on Daffodil and gave Sally a check-over...

Daffodil and I then went for a drive...

And we're back from a little drive!

She runs beautifully and is almost 99% ready for her MoT later this month... All she needs is a couple of new front indicator bulbs as they are showing rather a lot of white... I have a pair in stock...

[Hell Razor5543]

The only other thing she may need (unless you haven't re-fitted them after working on the brakes) is a nice simple set of wheel trims.

[CitroJim]

The only other thing she may need (unless you haven't re-fitted them after working on the brakes) is a nice simple set of wheel trims.

I have a set James, I have not refitted them just yet

[Hell Razor5543]

Ah, yes, I spotted them when I backtracked through this thread.

[CitroJim]

Ah, yes, I spotted them when I backtracked through this thread.

James, thanks again for finding the source of those wheel cylinders for me, very appreciated

[Hell Razor5543]

Jim, you are welcome.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Blue and orange Jim opposite on the colour wheel, not so much a "clash" as.....

Two colors on opposite sides of the color wheel make a complimentary pair. This is by far the most commonly used pairing. A common example is orange and blue, or teal. This pairs a warm color with a cool color and produces a high contrast and vibrant result.

an example of a vibrant result is the traditional flag of King Oswald of Northumberland in purple (well its morphed to Carmine Red actually) and yellow!



Regards Neil

[ksanturion10]

Do you know, which colour Newton failed to recognise

BR
Martin