BX16V.com Forum

hi, long shot but here goes... (cross posted on bxclub too)

i'm lending the bx to a mate next saturday to take his girlfriend on holiday to cornwall (all booked and everything...). unfortunately while i was showing him the idiosyncracies of the beast today, the handbrake cable snapped!

i don't have the equipment to do the job, and i doubt that any of the 3 garages i trust near london will have space before saturday to fit me in (but i'll call them 1st thing tomorrow anyway).

anyone nearish london able to help me out as a matter of urgency?! would be recompensed accordingly with beer tokens of course.

yours hopefully rob.

Rob

It's a quick job to do with 2 people and a decent jack - should only take half an hour or so. Try to get Citroen OE cables as they're much better quality, and you really ought to replace as a pair as the other one will be distinctly different in length, and the law of sod says it'll snap on your mate while he's away and the car will roll off 'cause only a long term Citroen owner will remember to leave it in gear even if there's only a blade of grass difference in the road surface!

I'm sure John would be able to sort you out, particularly if you can get the parts if he doesn't have them there

I've done a few sets of cables on my own, but it's as far to get to me as to John's workshop!

Adrian

phew, thankfully i've managed to get it booked in this week. thought i may as well have the MoT done as well while i was at it.

thanks for the tips Adrian - if only I had a drive and stands / jack in London I would tackle the job myself but alas all that stuff is in sleepy shropshire...

Annoying when stuff like this happens, my non Citroen also needs leaving in gear or it rolls away.


I did however spend a few months on my old micra with no handbrake while i was a poor graduate working part time. Great fun setting off on Yorkshire hills and parking against lamp posts!

Hope you get it sorted.

on tales of handbrake cables! one of mine snapped on my 309 at the bottom of a slipway with a boat on the back lol! not a nice thing that! hill start on a slipery slipway with no handbrake heheheh!

i am yet to do the cables on mine but would figure they are much like the 309 ones where the centre consol has to come apart to access the retaining nuts???

Yep, front section of centre console out, front end in the air and wheels off, and hopefully an assistant inside the car while you ferret about underneath routing the cables.

It's MUCH easier if you attach a piece of string to the old cable inside the car and then use it to draw the new cable back in as you're more likely to seat it correctly where you can't get to it as the heat shield gets in the way. Can take many goes to get it fully home otherwise!

Adrian