BX gone mad

Will2cv · Post by **Will2cv** » 31 Mar 2004, 16:56

Hi All
New member, strange problem, wonder if anyone can offer advice?
My BX ('92 TZD Turbo) has started 'shaking'. It is as if the whole front of the car is shaking, and is noticable through the gear lever too. There is no other noise or vibrations, just shaking! Gearchange and clutch movement are ok. Steering feels fine too. On accelleration, it is not that bad, only until you ease off the gas does the problem fully occur. On pressing the clutch the shaking goes away, on bringing it back up the shaking comes back.[:(]
On the sound advice of others I have checked the wheels/tyres and replaced the lower engine mount and both ball joints, to no avail.
The gear lever movement appears related to wheel/road speed and is almost circular in motion.
Bit baffled by all this - any ideas would be gratefully recieved![:)]
cheers
Will

Scorbs · Post by **Scorbs** » 31 Mar 2004, 17:48

Have you check the front suspension arm bushes, I had a similar shake under braking on my xantia, which turned out to be worn (or shall I say collapsed) suspension bushes.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 31 Mar 2004, 17:59

Driveshaft intermediate bearing collapsed?
As it only occurs on power, this suggests a bearing collapse.
The gearbox is robust so I'd check the driveshafts out carefully.

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 01 Apr 2004, 00:20

Are the two rubber cushions in place on the top engine mount?

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 01 Apr 2004, 03:56

To your description, the problem only exists in these 2 cases :
1) engine powering the roadwheels
2) engine driven by roadwheels
In both cases the complete transmission link is loaded.
This means you may have several suspects on the problem.
CV joints, intermediate bearing, and engine mounts.
A nasty possibility is loose fit (even missing [:(]) mounting bolts, box to engine.

Post by **Jon** » 01 Apr 2004, 04:05

Yes, I agree, check the lower engine mount, if its stuffed you will be able to easily tighten the 17mm bolt. Also worth a check is the Top RH mount which has a nasty habit of breaking in two, same thing happened on my ZX.

Will2cv · Post by **Will2cv** » 01 Apr 2004, 17:00

Thanks guys
Interesting stuff. I have replaced the lower engine mount so I know that is ok(unless the replacement is a duffer too!) and in doing so am pretty sure the intermediate bearing is ok as well. Had a quick look at the top mount although not in any detail. I think my next task will be to look at this again and also check the driveshafts for any funny business there.
cheers
Will

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 01 Apr 2004, 18:40

I think I may have mentioned this elsewhere but the suspension if set too high will give this effect.
Without being able to physically see it, it's impossible to gauge to what extent this shaking is occurring but I can assure you that it is quite noticeable possibly due to the angle of the drive shafts in the triax & CV joints.
Now whilst logic says "I haven't touched the height adjustment," the fact is that height correctors can & will stick & break and from memory the height of a BX is 160mm between the bottom of the front crossmember and the ground and the same between the rear crossmember & the ground (from the bottom of the round tube).
I'd suggest that at least you check this before embarking on complicated options that can be time & money consuming as I have struck this on both BX & CX models.
Alan S

Will2cv · Post by **Will2cv** » 01 Apr 2004, 19:19

Good point Alan - I'll check the height before I go any further.
Will