Follow-up to MOT: Citroen CX

The garage that looks after my car is a Citroen specialist. While my car was there they also had a 1970s Citroen CX. It looked a lot like the car pictured, right down to the model, registration year and colour.

From Fourwheelsteer: Motoring Writer

It has been a while since I last saw a CX and I had forgotten just how stunning it is. Somehow it manages to be both of its time and futuristic. Only in the 1970s could you get away with so many different shades of brown both outside and inside. But look at that interior, the sculpted curves of that dashboard still look great and owe nothing to outdated traditions of woodworking and the carriage trade.

From Fourwheelsteer: Motoring Writer

Even better, the CX comes from an age when cars could be different under the skin. Where else would you find springs of nitrogen connected to the suspension by high-pressure hydraulics that provides self levelling and height adjustment? Where else would you find brakes operated from the same high pressure system with a pedal responsive to pressure rather than movement? How about high-geared power steering with speed-dependent assistance and powered self-centring?

The CX might not be as iconic as the DS or 2CV but it still deserves to be celebrated.

The search continues and other thoughts on a Saturday morning

Up early today to collect the pipe ordered by the Citroën dealer last week. Not the right part, despite what the computer says. They did try to find the correct part but to no avail. Did give me the contact numbers of people who might be more sympathetic to my plight and who might be able to correctly identify the part I’m after.

Another moan about advertising. Last night I saw a BMW advert on television, promoting their Efficient Dynamics system for reducing fuel consumption and all the nasty stuff associated with burning a hydrocarbon fuel. The theme was BMW saying “thank you” for all the things that saved fuel, such as gravity. One of the things thanked was “the stop sign that allows the engine to switch off and save fuel”! Can you believe such a thing! The very act of stopping and starting is incredibly wasteful.

Treated myself to a McDonald’s breakfast on my way home from the garage. In the past I’ve struggled to get these things home without the coffee cup falling over and spilling. Today, somehow, I managed it – despite having a longer journey than I used to. I’d like to think it was down to my prowess as a driver but I wonder if it is down to the soothing properties of Citroën suspension?

A real treat as I drove through my village, 3 vintage cars in convoy. The lead car had the look of a Bugatti and, as it drove past, I could see that the two other cars were also Bugattis. They were all 4-seat open tourers and much quieter than I expected. Two were Type 50s and one, I think, was a Type 40. It is nice to see rare cars being driven, rather than confined inside a museum

Citroën: moving out of the bargain basement?

In the ongoing saga of the hydraulic pipe I ventured bravely to the parts desk of my local Citroën dealer. I am told that owners of old BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes can order parts from the dealer as though they were ordering parts for current models. Of course you need to pay Mercedes-sized prices for that facility. Citroën offer no such assurance but I went armed with a part number and a mental picture of what it should look like. All credit to Murley Citroën of Leamington Spa, they found the part was available and have promised to order it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to drive my car without fearing the sudden loss of hydraulic fluid.

I also noticed that the showroom had a new C5 on display and I couldn’t resist going in for a closer look. It is an impressive looking car; it does have a German look and feel. The doors close with an impressive thunk and the interior is full of handy cubby holes with damped lids. I’m not sure how much praise I want to lavish on the C5 as I still feel betrayed by the absence of self-levelling, oleo-pneumatic suspension across the range (just as I was irritated by the elimination of the Citroën short-travel brake pedal on the old C5). Final judgement depends on actually driving a C5 or two.

Behind the C5 was a silver C6, looking as impressive as ever and unmistakably French. Next to the C6 was a C-Crosser, another model I’ve not had the chance to study at close quarters. It looked like another quality product, with nice plastics and high quality switches. Contrast this with Citroën’s recent efforts to sell cars based on low prices and generous discounts. Somehow the cars looked like bargain basement products, more like the stuff the Malaysians and Koreans used to make.

One day you’re riding high…

… the next you’re sat by the side of the road with a growing puddle of green fluid under the car. So much for all those kind words I lavished on it. Ah the joys of a Citroën and their weird, hydraulic ways.

Another weekend, another long journey

It was a close thing; I wanted to go away for the Easter weekend but at the start of the week I had a car where the vital hydraulic systems had suffered a large leak. My usual reaction is to sulk and spend an excessive amount of time avoiding the issue. This time I leapt into action, on Monday I arranged for the car to be towed to the garage who I asked to remove the offending component. By Tuesday I had a new pipe ordered and coming in the post. Wednesday was a little fraught as I had hoped the pipe would come from Citroën specialist Pleiades overnight. I started looking at the cost of train tickets but the prospect of engineering works disrupting the timetable meant it was a last resort. I even contemplated coach travel, almost half the price of rail travel but with a limited service. On Thursday the pipe turned up, was fitted and everything was well. Listening to the news on Good Friday I was glad I had a working car, every bulletin carried tales of missing trains and long delays. Having seen the level of train service on the West Coast Mainline (the service I’d have used if I was going by train) on Saturday, Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday if I’d managed to get away then I would never have got home again.

Oh no, not again!

I visited my parents, in the South East, this weekend. Travelling down on Friday evening I did the 145 miles in 2hours 45 minutes at an amazing 42mpg. Of course it must have been too good to be true as, on the return leg last night the low hydraulic fluid light came on. I stopped in a lay-by to add some fluid (no Citroëniste is without a supply of LHM at hand), but that didn’t do the job. Carefully I made my way to Hemel Hempstead and found a Tesco petrol station forecourt in the middle of a retail park. This was a much better location to wait for help and I called the AA.

It must have been a busy night because it took a long time for the patrol man to get to me. He did at least know his way around the Citroën BX and understood what the hydraulic system did. Knowing there was nothing he could do he called for a recovery vehicle and I just had to wait. At 11:00 the recovery vehicle arrived and it then took 3 hours to get back to my home.

Now my BX is with the garage, waiting for a length of pipe to replace the faulty piece. I hope it turns up tomorrow as I need the car for the Easter weekend. I also hope that this will be the end of leaking pipes; I don’t have time for a car I can’t rely on.

I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

As you might remember fourwheelsteer’s usual mode of transport is a Citroën BX – or rather it should be. Just over a week ago a small but vital metal pipe, that supplies fluid to the braking and suspension system, fractured. At the time I didn’t know where the fluid was coming from, all I knew was that it was pumping out under pressure. Thankfully there is an active community of BX owners centred around the www.bxclub.co.uk website. There is very little the people in the club don’t know about the car. It was a club member who took away my old BX and he (along with the two club members who came with him) spotted the break in the pipe.

Having spotted the faulty part all I need to do is find a new pipe. I contacted my local Citroën specialist mechanic; who was confident that he could make one as long as he could get the right type of pipe. To do that I would have to get my unbraked car with floor-scraping ground clearance to the garage. Citroën specialist Pleiades could also make a pipe if I could measure the length but I would have to bend it to the exact shape. Trying the local Citroën dealers was suggested but they struggled to identify the correct part.

This morning I went out and photographed the offending pipe as best I could. It wasn’t easy as the pipe is buried at the bottom of the engine bay. I posted the pictures on the BX club forum and now have a part number. There is even the possibility that someone in the club might have a spare one.