Front strut rebuild. Kits?

[assembled]

Hi all,

My front struts have been sticking for a while and I would like to solve it properly. But it looks like front strut rebuild kits are not available for 10 years or so. Are there any solution’s available?

[panky]

I can't remember if Kitch mentions where he gets the parts but this is worth a watch

[assembled]

Thanks, I watched the episode, but it focuses on flushing a strut, not rebuilding and has no mention of parts, unfortunately. Would you suggest I give mine a rinse instead of rebuilding?

[xantia_v6]

There was a discussion on FCF in 2002 which lists the part numbers of the components in the kit. https://frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1901

Another straw to clutch would be a call to Pleiades.

[Jugostran]

Hi all,

My front struts have been sticking for a while and I would like to solve it properly. But it looks like front strut rebuild kits are not available for 10 years or so. Are there any solution’s available?

There was a video a few years back on it. And it covers which parts are needed. However, some of them may not be available. Me and a few others in the local BX community in the Balkan region are attempting to find some alternatives. I'll let you know how that goes.
Unfortunately the way I had to fix my struts for now was to just get a bunch of unknown condition used ones and try them all.

[Jaba]

Pleiades are the only source of parts for the front struts but I believe they will only sell you a reconditioned strut.

In the past I have stripped a strut down and fitted a recon kit but the strut still stuck on the way down due to the wear ridge which forms on the inner piston at the top and bottom of its normal range of travel. Those wear ridges would have to be polished out to get a smooth action.
The easiest answer these days is to fit used ones that are not sticky - they do exist if you are patient.

[szhrr5cc]

On this topic our BX19 16v developed a prodigous leak from the right hand strut, the car had stood for about 6 weeks and then was driven about 20 miles. Before I drove I checked under the car...no leaks of any description. Next day, put the car on high to further check and soon there was copious LHM on the ground. On removing the wheel it was apparent that, of the two LHM rubber pipes attached to the strut one was disconnected and the pother severed and it was evident that they had been like that for some time. We had not done this so I am very puzzled as to why the car and drove fine without them.

The fix has been to reattach one hose and join the other together with a smaller diameter pipe. Seems to have done the trick, albeit there are tiny leakages from where these rubber lines attach to the hard lines on the chassis. We do have a replacement hose set if needs be although it helpfully came without the clamp that was supposed to be with it. I,ve included a photo as attached. The reason for working on the car in the first place was to replace the bodged hose in the photo (now done).

I suspect that the strut has a failed seal or other issue despite appearing to function as normal.

[RobC]

If you’re getting any significant flow through those rubber hoses then it’s a sure sign of strut seal failure, as you surmise. They’re not meant to have anything but the tiniest dribbles of LHM in them under normal operation.

[szhrr5cc]

Suspected as much, thanks