Citroen
Finding That Part For Your Classic Citroen
Jan 1st
Yep, this is a rant.
Ever have a classic Citroen that you are working on and go into a modern day auto parts store looking for a set of spark plugs for it?
Here is how it goes, you walk in and let’s say for example you have been working on a 1972 Citroen SM and you want a set of Champion 415 spark plugs? You go to the counter and there sits a 19 year old. His hands are poised over the key pad of the store computer. You ask him: “Do you sell Champion Spark Plugs”? He answers: “Yes we do” More >
Bleeding Rear Brakes On Hydraulic Suspension Citroëns
Dec 10th
Question
I have problem with my Citroen CX 25 turbo 2 rear brakes. Front work perfect, but rear not! I changed 3 brake valves and same result. All spheres have proper pressure, so I have no idea how find solution.
Citroen Tech Tip
One thing that we have noticed lately here at Citroen Tech Tips is that quite a few people having trouble with bleeding down the rear brakes in most any of the Citroëns with Hydraulic suspension. More >
Fully Releasing The pressure on a Citroën Hydraulic System
Oct 14th
One of the most common questions people ask about their high pressure Citroëns hydraulic systems is… How do I release the pressure on the hydraulic system to remove a sphere? More >
Do You Want to Remove a Rusty Citroen Fastener Without Breaking it Off?
Aug 22nd
This was a question that recently was sent in to me, and I covered it a bit in the article that I wrote about removing the Citroen D Model fuel tank, but I will go into greater depth here.
What I will be explaining here is the removal of a fastener from your vintage Citroen . Most of these fasteners will be 25 plus years old, and you are perhaps removing them for the first time since the Citroen was new.
Depending on the location and the vintage, and of course where a fastener has spent it’s life, can have a great deal to do with how difficult it might be to remove when you want to take it apart. More >
So, You want to Flush out Your Citroen Hydraulic System?
Aug 20th
So you want to flush out your Citroën hydraulic system?
OK, so one last hydraulic article and I will move on to other topics, but I couldn’t let you get away with out telling you about a hydraulic flushing product made by Total called Hydraurincage . We seem to call it Hydroflush over here, but Hydraurincage is the correct name for it from the mother land.
This is a good product that I personally have had some very good results with. More >
What Do You Do if Your Citroën has a Contaminated Hydraulic System?
Jul 28th
What do you do if your Citroen has a contaminated Hydraulic System?
I know that I have harped on this subject for several articles now, but it is more of a problem than you might think. I found when I worked on Citroens , the cars either caught fire and burned or were abandoned because the hydraulic system had become contaminated and the owner found out that it was going to be mighty expensive to repair the car.
Well, the shop manuals and the dealer bulletins would tell you More >
Do you Think Your Citroen Has Contaminated Hydraulic Fluid?
Jun 27th
Do you think your Citroën has contaminated hydraulic fluid ?
My little video yesterday showed you a simple test to do if the LHM system has a little brake fluid in it. Now I will tell you some of the tell tale signs to look out for when the system might be contaminated.
This may seem silly for a system that is marked properly on the hydraulic reservoir for what type of fluid it should take. But, many of these cars More >
Setting the Dwell on Your Citroen Engine…
May 22nd
Here is a quick tip when setting the dwell on your Citroen Traction Avant 11B, the 11BL, or the 15/6. It also works on your Citroen D Model, both 3 main and 5 main bearing models. You can use it for the Citroen GS and pre 1982 GSA or the Citroen SM as well. It even works for the Citroen CX. For that matter, it works for any Citroen model that you may have that is equipped with a distributor with points. More >
The Citroen… How Much is it Worth?
Apr 19th
Over the years, one of the most asked questions I got about Citroens from both customers and the general public was… “How much is it worth?”
My usual quick answer was… “Whatever someone is willing to pay.”
I know this seems like a bit of smart a** answer, but the real answer is not easy.
The Citroen D Model for example…
Take for example the Citroen DS, the car I worked on the most. If you find one for sale, on eBay for example, it might have been spending the last few years of it’s life sitting under a tree.
Hmmm…
The seller thinks he has a work of art. He discribes how it was running several years ago when parked and how it should be just fine, but later in the discription… there appears to be a hydraulic leak and the car no longer goes up and down.
The seller starts the auction off at $7,000.
Let’s get real here!
Then along comes the highly educated professional who buys the above car. His story usually goes that his uncle had one when he himself was very young and he has always wanted to get one.
He wants to know…
Can he fully restore the car and enjoy it a bit then flip it and make a profit?
NO!!!
Now here is a person who you assume has made some good investments and financial decisions during his life, yet he is bringing this car to you and asking this type of question.
His next question is… “What will it cost to fully restore the car”.
This is where you usually make the person very angry by telling them you simply work for “time and materials”, and that to fully restore the car, the owner will probably spend 7 to 10 times what the car will ever be worth.
Now this is where the guy usually walks off in a huff and calls every other Citroen mechanic he can find. But, he ends up calling you a couple of weeks later saying he has done some research and asks… “Hey, would you be interested in buying the car as is?” Don’t ya just love it?
Here’s the REAL scoop on how to buy a nice Citroen…
My usual answer to someone who wants a nicely restored car and wants to get a fair price on it is to take their time. Join all the clubs, go to club events and talk to everybody.
Find a car that someone has for sale, that was fully restored and maintained by a good reputable Citroen mechanic for several years. (And this is important, because that uncle that spent several summers in France and worked on the cars a bit is not the person you want restoring the car.) You also want to see a paper trail on all the work done on the car.
Next, try to find an owner who has finally gotten the word from his wife that… “he should sell the car because she wants that new kitchen that he had promised her before he bought and then restored that Citroen DS.”
Now here is where that person’s loss is your gain. He dosen’t want to sleep on the couch and you get that car for what it is worth… “A fair price”
Don’t forget to leave your comments below and watch for my article on… Rustproofing your Citroen to keep it’s value.
How To Tell if The Hydraulic System on Your Citroen is Contaminated
Mar 5th
Over the years I found that often times a Citroen would come into the shop or a person would send in a set of spheres to rebuild from a car that had a contaminated hydraulic system .
Always bad news to any Citroen owner, this can prove to be one of the most expensive single problems an owner of a Citroen can have. This includes 2CV s because I have seen the wrong fluid put into their hydraulic brake system too.
Back in the old days, the reason for contamination could mostly be blamed on confusion, for there was a period of time from 1966 to 1969 1/2 that cars being sold over here in the U.S. had LHS2 (Brake Fluid Based ) from the factory, while cars being sold in other parts of the world had LHM or (Mineral Based) fluid in them.
Over the years one thing led to another with many owners and people who really should not have been working on the cars putting in the wrong type of fluid.
What I am going to explain is the method I always used to tell if a system is contaminated with either Mineral fluid or Brake fluid. With this test we are talking about a Citroen with a complete hydraulic system , ie: brakes, steering, suspension etc.
Here’s a little video to show you how…
The video should have shown you the steps, but if you like to read them as well, here ya go. More >