BX Club Forum

Cool ta chaps

Can anyone confirm what type of plugs I should fit and are there odd quirks to changing them. Nothing mad like needing a special box spanner like when I had the DS.

Thinking about some new HT leads too but I'm seeing loads of different sets listed for BX. Can anyone advise what type I should get and from who.

Also heard about a method of front strut lubrication using vacuum in cylinder to suck up LHM. Anyone have any details on that?

Hi Matt,

I am glad you got yourself a BX now.

Ebay is a good place for HT leads, so long as you get the right ones.

Mike

Welcome, front strut lubrication is pretty easy, even if my description isnt :

Pop car on high, get the strut return pipes & pull them off (make sure car isnt on, as it'll just pump lhm out of the strut return pipes) at the connection point with the metal pipes that go under the bodywork, not where its attached to the actual strut. You'll then have 2 pipes dangling, get a small bottle, one of those pop one's or anything & put some lhm in it, not too little & not too much, as what you want to do is pop both the pipes into the bottle & they must be fair way into the lhm. You can now fire up the car again. If you put too much in, you might get a bit of spillage. You'll need to zip tie or similar method, the bottle with the lhm in it, to the strut, ensuring that it doesnt tip over at a weird angle when you lower & raise the car. So in effect you may find that dropping the car gradually, you can take a look to see if the bottle is positioned ok, or whether you need to re-site it. Do citreabics qute a few times, you may notice some crap going into the bottle, this is unfortunately quite normal. If its really dirty, take the bottle off, & put some fresh lhm in after cleaning all the crap out & re-do the exercise. Once your'e happy that it appears fairly clean, then pop the strut return pipes back onto where they should go.

Next job is to use something like 3in1 oil, not lhm or silicone spray (unless they are really seized tight) & where the strut turret is, there will be a plastic bung on one side whilst on the other it will be open, pop some oil in the open end, doesnt need to be a huge amount. You can also when the suspension is on high, get the strut gaiter & push this upwards, it'll be connected at the bottom, just needs easing off the plastic disc catch on the strut & then it'll be easily moved upwards, then when you can see the strut piston, squirt some oil at the base where you can see it, do some more citreobics & hopefully the sticky struts will either be cured, or slightly better.

If none of that works, perhaps using hydraflush in the main lhm tank may help, last resort is to replace the struts, or put up with a bit of groaning, as long as it doesnt make much noise when in the normal height position i wouldnt worry too much, if it gets noisey it'll eventually blow off the strut return pipes, thats pretty much as bad as it will get & you will then need to replace the strut, had that happen to me.

Hope the above makes sense?

Erm....what are "citreabics"?

Never had these types of issue with the D is this a feature of the Mc Phearson Strut setup.

Just notices a slight groan from the car but wasn't sure if it was front or back. Lubing the front struts couldn't hurt tho.

'Citroebics' are starting the car up, set the height lever to max, let it rise up to that maximum, drop the lever down to minimum and so on for a few times. Gives it some exercise... Mind you not as good as an 'Alpine work out'!

Philip Chidlow wrote:'Citroebics' are starting the car up, set the height lever to max, let it rise up to that maximum, drop the lever down to minimum and so on for a few times. Gives it some exercise... Mind you not as good as an 'Alpine work out'!

Ahhhhh I can see clearly now...

Still I cannot look directly at the BX in daylight without danger of getting arc eye, man it sure is bright.

I have new spark plugs in my hand, my word they are weeny, make the ones on the Wartburg look huge in comparison.

I have located some OE leads at a motor factor too so hopefully get those in and fitted soon.

Whist I'm waiting for a Haynes to arrive via ebay, can anyone tell me what the plug gap should be?

Also, how strong are BX boot floors? I only ask as I've got to take a 2CV engine to the west country and I don't want to damage the car.

Would have thought it would be absolutely fine (assuming it's not rusted out…) with the meagre weight of a 2CV engine! I've had quite a few engines in the back of mine, just used a piece of ply to prevent any point loads making a dent.

the_baron wrote:

Philip Chidlow wrote:'Citroebics' are starting the car up, set the height lever to max, let it rise up to that maximum, drop the lever down to minimum and so on for a few times. Gives it some exercise... Mind you not as good as an 'Alpine work out'!

Ahhhhh I can see clearly now...

Still I cannot look directly at the BX in daylight without danger of getting arc eye, man it sure is bright.

I have new spark plugs in my hand, my word they are weeny, make the ones on the Wartburg look huge in comparison.

I have located some OE leads at a motor factor too so hopefully get those in and fitted soon.

Whist I'm waiting for a Haynes to arrive via ebay, can anyone tell me what the plug gap should be?

Also, how strong are BX boot floors? I only ask as I've got to take a 2CV engine to the west country and I don't want to damage the car.

Its recently been welded up but does have a few bits of rust here and there so I would tred with caution. It is very bright white, very unlike the grey flat mess it was, Make sure you polish it regularly so it doesnt go flat again!!

Roverman wrote:
Its recently been welded up but does have a few bits of rust here and there so I would tred with caution. It is very bright white, very unlike the grey flat mess it was, Make sure you polish it regularly so it doesnt go flat again!!

OK Phil pointed out the little bit by the washer bottle, is there anything else I need to keep an eye on or attend to? Not really knowing these cars.

I can wash and polish no problem something I like doing. Saying that I took the Wartburg to the local hand carwash and it attracted much attention from the East Europeans manning it. "My Grandfather has this car!" Said one and I ended up with a free wash.

Can anyone tell me what the spark plug gap should be for a BX 14? Only I want to stick the new plugs in tomorrow.

Thanks.

Meh. Should have got one that doesn't need spark plugs!

I've not trusted the local hand car wash place with my BX as I was scared the stripes would all come off...

Matt, don't the plugs come pre-gapped? Anyway, I can't find the info, but I am e-mailing you some very useful - or interesting - documents to you.

My Book of Lies reckons 0.8mm (after 1988) for all models except the 16v…make sure you get the correct length! It would be a truly stupid mistake to put in ones that were too long wouldn't it?

MULLEY wrote:Welcome, front strut lubrication is pretty easy, even if my description isnt :

Pop car on high, get the strut return pipes & pull them off (make sure car isnt on, as it'll just pump lhm out of the strut return pipes) at the connection point with the metal pipes that go under the bodywork, not where its attached to the actual strut. You'll then have 2 pipes dangling, get a small bottle, one of those pop one's or anything & put some lhm in it, not too little & not too much, as what you want to do is pop both the pipes into the bottle & they must be fair way into the lhm. You can now fire up the car again. If you put too much in, you might get a bit of spillage. You'll need to zip tie or similar method, the bottle with the lhm in it, to the strut, ensuring that it doesnt tip over at a weird angle when you lower & raise the car. So in effect you may find that dropping the car gradually, you can take a look to see if the bottle is positioned ok, or whether you need to re-site it. Do citreabics qute a few times, you may notice some crap going into the bottle, this is unfortunately quite normal. If its really dirty, take the bottle off, & put some fresh lhm in after cleaning all the crap out & re-do the exercise. Once your'e happy that it appears fairly clean, then pop the strut return pipes back onto where they should go.

Next job is to use something like 3in1 oil, not lhm or silicone spray (unless they are really seized tight) & where the strut turret is, there will be a plastic bung on one side whilst on the other it will be open, pop some oil in the open end, doesnt need to be a huge amount. You can also when the suspension is on high, get the strut gaiter & push this upwards, it'll be connected at the bottom, just needs easing off the plastic disc catch on the strut & then it'll be easily moved upwards, then when you can see the strut piston, squirt some oil at the base where you can see it, do some more citreobics & hopefully the sticky struts will either be cured, or slightly better.

If none of that works, perhaps using hydraflush in the main lhm tank may help, last resort is to replace the struts, or put up with a bit of groaning, as long as it doesnt make much noise when in the normal height position i wouldnt worry too much, if it gets noisey it'll eventually blow off the strut return pipes, thats pretty much as bad as it will get & you will then need to replace the strut, had that happen to me.

Hope the above makes sense?

I've been thinking about this citerobics business and I'm not convinced. These return pipes are only there for leakage. i.e. if the strut in leaking lhm past the seal, then at least any leaked oil get returned to the tank rather than on the road. It's like the overflow from your toilet. So, it has no bearing at all on how the suspension works - you just fill up the air space with LHM and using your method Mulley, any crap that's in the bottom of the strut gets pushed back in the bottle of lovely clean lhm and then you suck it up again, in/out, in/out etc but once you do get a leak you're gonna push all the crud back in the tank! It doesn't make sense to me at all.

I also wouldn't advocate the use of wd40 or silicone but would advocate the use of LHM when lubing the outside of the strut shaft. If seals are worn then you're introducing wd40 into the system

On the creaking side, I've heard two theories, one is the bronze bush is worn and the other is the 'rubber seal gripping' - the latter cause being helped by wiping LHM (not wd40!) onto the strut shaft as Mulley describes.
The bronze bush causing stiction is more likely. Quite often though, if you get a good set of spheres (not Amtex - go to plieades - I can never spell that!) and the stiction will go.

Further, rather than describe all this for every new member, isn't this subject or shouldn't this subject be a sticky?

I appreciate some adhere to the strut lubrication philosophy but I'm not one of them, as having done it in the past, and spoken to Dennis at Citroen Softride the effects are, at best very temporary. It is OK to put LHM into the strut at various points I'm sure - but unless I'm much mistaken, LHM won't 'grease' (for want of a better word) the surfaces for very long.

..but 'Citroebics' isn't (as far as I understand), about strut lubrication tricks... it's about giving the suspension a work out to help ensure bits that are meant to be moving freely are. As a few BXagoneers might agree, the best way to get your suspension improved (assuming the basic components like spheres are just about OK) is to drive energetically up and down a mountain or two. It can make a huge difference. But whether it will stop a strut creaking is another matter though I guess.

(As an aside, interestingly, the Green Hornet's rear spheres were found to be at about 18 bar and once regassed to 40 that in itself transformed the ride).

Philip Chidlow wrote:Matt, don't the plugs come pre-gapped?

I think most (if not all) plugs do, certainly I haven't had to change the gap on new plugs for a while. But I still check them, 'cos I'm a bit sad like that...
And I suppose there may be cases where the vehicle manufacturer recommends a different gap than the standard one that is correct for most applications.