The Myth, The Legend, The Citroën BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4x4!

Tell us about life with your BX, or indeed life in general!
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David
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by David »

I have found some pictures of the transfer box when I put new seals in the back.
Last edited by David on Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
1992 Citroën BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4x4 - The Project.

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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by citsncycles »

the exhaust should come out of the other side as per other BX's, the 4x4 had an extra apron on the bottom of the bumper, not sure why but the exhaust is bespoke to the 4x4! theres a couple of other guys on here that have 4x4's (mike sims for one), and he has a 1.9 carb fed estate so it has the same exhaust system asides the front pipe and slightly longer tailpipe on the rear box.
Basically, they had to move stuff back under the car to make room for the diff - it goes where the cross box would normally go, so that goes behind the diff. Finally there's a space saver spare tyre that must be right up against the back bumper on a GTi as it's below the rear cross member on the estate.

I can take a couple of pics of my exhaust if you want.
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by David »

Some pictures of under your 4x4 would be brilliant. If you can, get some of the exhaust, spare wheel holder, rear bump stops & height rod at the front.

My spare wheel holder won't fit with the 4x4 axle & I don't know what they are supposed to look like as the original car didn't have one on. The rear bump stops are different & I improvised with some MG (I think) ones. & I want to see what the 4x4 height rod is supposed to look like as I had to bend mine to fit.
1992 Citroën BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4x4 - The Project.

1992 Citroën BX 1.9 TXD (with GTI engine; Mulleys old car) - Parts car.

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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by citsncycles »

Will see what I can do - may not be for a few days as I'm busy at work until Monday.

I'll try to dig out the 4x4 technical bulletins I've got aswell, as they have some useful pics and info in.
Mike Sims
BX 19RD Estate Mk1 - Timex!
BX 4X4 Estate - Oh god, I've done it again!
BX 17RD MK1 - it called to me!
BX14 TGE, - SOLD
XM Turbo SD,GS Club Estate,Visa 17D Leader,HY Pickup,Dyane Nomad,Dyane 6,2CV AZL,Falcon S,Trabant P50,3x Land Rovers (88" series 1,109" series 2a FFR,series 2a Marshall ambulance),DKW F7, Lambretta LD150 x 1.5,Mobylette SP93,Ural Cossack,Ural M63,CZ 250 Sport,Honda Varadero 125,lots of bicycles & tricycles including (but not only) Sunbeams,Higgins & Bates!
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by David »

I took the car for some off roading today. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me to get any pictures. I forgot how fun it was to drive the BX. The car drives well, but I have found a few more little faults. I will get it up on ramps when I get a chance to check for any more leaks & remove the grass & weeds from underneath.

Its much more fun with the 4x4 system on it, I had it drifting in the dirt! (its the first proper drive I've taken it on with the 4x4 system on it). The 4x4 system doesn't like bogs or deep mud though. (although it did eventually climb out).

Faults I have noticed:
- The radio goes off when going over bumps. I assume its ether the constant live or neutral. Its not the switched live as I have already tested this with the override.
- The radiator fan doesn't kick in on its own, but the override works.
- The rear wiper didn't work straight away. (anyone got any ideas why?)
- The warning panel to say the boot is open isn't working (it will be a wire behind the glovebox)
- The propshaft seems to be causing the vibration I mentioned before. (when you spin the back end out, whilst on the throttle it gets worse), Any ideas why the propshaft would vibrate?
- The clip holding the retainer for the front left driveshaft is rattling.

I will sort these out when I get a chance. & update on anything else I find now its been driven 10(ish) miles.
1992 Citroën BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4x4 - The Project.

1992 Citroën BX 1.9 TXD (with GTI engine; Mulleys old car) - Parts car.

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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by electrokid »

Any ideas why the propshaft would vibrate?
Centre bearing needs to be mounted very solidly.
1992 BX19 TGD estate 228K Rusty - SORNed
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by mat_fenwick »

Also, if the mounting points are not identical to the donor car you may have an issue with propshaft angles. But it could just be down to UJ wear.
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by barry badger »

I've got a used genuine rear silencer for a 4x4 estate spare if you can use it. I took it off mine because it's a bit raspy but otherwise ok.
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by David »

Today I have put a new oil seal in the rear diff as that was leaking. I have also sorted some other problems listed above.
The radio's front was loose & causing it to go off, the wires were fine.
The rear wiper was a disturbed plug behind the rear light after I welded the wheel arches.
The warning panel to say the boot is open was a loose wire in the white plug behind the glove box.
I also pulled the grass out that was stuck underneath. :roll:

I haven't looked at the rest properly yet.

It is the propshaft vibrating but I can't work out why unless its just out of balance. I jacked the rear of the car up & put it in gear with the engine running & the vibration could be felt. It doesn't seem to change if you stop ether one of the rear wheels from spinning. Looking underneath the center bearing isn't wobbling about & it is mounted solidly, The UJs seem to be OK & the shaft seems to be straight.
Any ideas? :?

Thanks for the offer for the exhaust box, However others have said the estate box is longer & won't fit mine.

On the job front I have been declined for yet another job. :cry:

I will still have to have a good look under the front of the car to check for more dreaded leaks.
1992 Citroën BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4x4 - The Project.

1992 Citroën BX 1.9 TXD (with GTI engine; Mulleys old car) - Parts car.

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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by Jaba »

If there is no uj wear then its probably needs a rebalance. Unless there is a worn splined section to allow for changes in length as the engine moves to and fro.
There used to be companies specialising in propshafts in the days of mostly rear wheel drive cars.
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by electrokid »

The yellow thingy in the same pic as the centre bearing - is that a Giubo joint ? Usually fitted at the output of the gearbox before the centre bearing rather than next to the centre bearing. I had problems with one of these - the garage had done some work and not followed the right procedure - I read the Ford workshop manual and found it a bit strange but I complied with what it said and had nor further problems with it.

The Ford workshop manual says that when removing a Giubo joint which will be re-fitted it should be compressed before removal by fitting a compression strap around it (otherwise the rubber can split) - a very large pipe clamp does the job ok. And this is the strange bit - it suggests that each screw is marked with different coloured paint and the adjacent hole so marked as well so that each screw is fitted in the same place on re-assembly.

So the questions are... is that joint part of the original design for the propshaft - and if not would it work better if (assuming that it's in the front half of the propshaft) it was adjacent to the transfer box. If it's not part of the original design then would it be better removed ?
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by mat_fenwick »

When I mentioned angles I was not suggesting it should be straight - each UJ should run through a slight angle to ensure rotation of the bearings. But, because the speed of the shaft changes slightly as it is turned through an angle, the angles should be more or less equal. There are several websites on the subject which can explain it better than I can. However, if the mounting points are as the original then this shouldn't be the problem as someone else has done the hard work for you!

Balancing, as has been mentioned is worth a check. I used North West Propshafts recently to make up a custom shaft and was very pleased with their service and the quality of the job. Not too far from you either.
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by David »

On Monday I found some rust under the drivers door mirror, So that has been sanded & sorted now.

I have done some more investigating on the propshaft. I jacked the rear of the car up & put it in 4th gear so the vibration could be felt. When looking at the shaft nothing is obviously wobbling so it looks like it just needs balancing. North West Propshafts is about 12 miles from me so I'll look them up when I get another job. Thanks matt for their details.

When I removed the shaft from the other car I didn't undo the center rubbery part, & that's how it was all assembled on the original car. The splined section is fine & a nice tight fit.
The only mounting point to the car wasn't there on mine, so I had to drill holes through the floor & put bolts through it, But I tried to get it in the same place as the original 4x4 car & used washers to ensure it was at the same height.

Also I have found the rear diff seal I have replaced is Still leaking! So now I need to look at that. Again...
1992 Citroën BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4x4 - The Project.

1992 Citroën BX 1.9 TXD (with GTI engine; Mulleys old car) - Parts car.

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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by electrokid »

When I adjusted the height of a propshaft centre bearing I used some flat strip with centre holes rather than washers - actually because that's what I had around that was the right shape and size :oops: but it was very solid and gave no problems - very smooth drive. Maybe the bodywork in the original 4x4 is strengthened in the are of the mounting ?

I'd be thinking of putting a solid bracing strut between the body and the lowest part of the centre bearing mount to absolutely kill any side to side movement then at least that can be discounted as the cause of the problem. Since you've not dismantled anything along the shaft then balance should in theory be fine: and the Giubo joint not being touched will be fine as well as long as no-one has picked it up in such a way as to stress it too much. If it has been stressed then there could be a crack in the rubber which might not be visible at the moment. If this is the case it will worsen with use and eventually there will be the smell of burning rubber and a knocking and rumbling from under the car as bits start to flap about and hit the exhaust and the bodywork - but at least by then you'll know what the problem is :!: Finding a new one may be a problem but AFAIK more often used on German built cars so have a chat with parts people familiar with Mercs Beemers etc. It will come with a compression strap which must be left on until it's fitted to the shaft with all bolts tightened.
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Re: The Myth, The Legend, The Citroen BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4

Post by David »

Today I took the car for more off roading & got some pictures. I then gave it a good wash to get the dust, mud & weeds off it. The field was quite wet in places & the 4x4 system drove though it like it was nothing.

It has now done 30 miles since I put the 4x4 system on it & 590 miles since I bought it.

The metal is quite thick where the propshaft bearing is mounted with big thick bolts & washers & It doesn't appear to have any abnormal movement in it. On the original 4x4 it did have another piece welded in for the center bearing, which was cut out & thrown in the shed just in case. But it would be very difficult cutting the required part out & then putting it on mine. Although if I have the shaft balanced & it still vibrates that might have to be done.

The joints don't look damaged & the 2 halfs of the shaft were separated at the splines near the rubber joint so its unlikely the full shaft was picked up at any time to stress it (I know that I didn't).
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1992 Citroën BX 1.9 Diesel Meteor 4x4 - The Project.

1992 Citroën BX 1.9 TXD (with GTI engine; Mulleys old car) - Parts car.

2004 Citroën Xsara Desire. (Now gone).

2016 Ford Focus Zetec - Daily Driver. (Absolute bone shaker).
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