great discussion

[Anonymous]

today i went for the APK (english MOT). Not to a Citroen garage but every garage here must be aible to mot a Citroen....

I thought

Ok, my bx failed its mot on the tyres, handbrakecable and a headlight which wasn't correctly adjusted. No problem, can all be fixed in no time.

But then i had a discussion with the mechanic. He told me the rear brakes where not good. They tested fine but he said the "brake bias adjuster" (i hope you understand what i mean) was broken.
I said to him, that was the height corrector, which has nothing to do with the brakes.....no, he said...it's stuck

The height corrector works fine...no problem with it
Brakes also....work fine!

I tried and tried but when i got home i phoned the dealer. Explained the problem and they told me that these mechanics don't know sh*t about HP Citroens....

Don't matter, this is what i like. I allready fixed the tyres, headlight and the handbrakecable will be done on friday and then i go back there

You got the same problems like these in the UK? On the dutch forum i read stories from other bx owners and this seems normal with mechanics who don't know how a Citroen works.

[thanuttiscotsman]

hi there,
yes this is very common! most mechanics here just fu** up these cars as they know nothing about them. i have taken y old bx for an mot at a normal garage before and it failed on nearly everything including some pipes. the mechanics spent 2 days fitting the new hydraulic pipes and when i got the car back they had connected all the pipes up the wrong way round i had very poor brakes and when i did use them the rear suspension would hit the ground. put the wrong pipes on supposedly. but yeah they are really thick.

cheers rossco

[tim leech]

It is the problems these days that most people havent a clue about hydraulic citroens, I get all my work done by people who know what they are doing or at my place of work so I can keep a eye on them!

[Vanny]

Fortunately the garage i take my BX to for MOT knows what goes on underneath the placid exterior, but point blank refuses to do ANY work on them what so ever! Sounds stupid but there is a local (extortionate) specialist and the owners get on well, but it has a HUGE bonus for me as they now know me well and (beyond swearing at me when i book the car in) they will tell me exactly how to fix the problem and will lend me tools to do it, simply because they'd rather it was out fo there garage

Last BX i took for MOT i got a call and the guy told me to bring two spare wheels from my loft fit them then it would pass Now thats service!!

I DO fear breaking down somewhere remote and being taken to a gargae who hasn't got a clue, but i have 'recover to home' breakdown cover and they just take me home now, no questions asked

[jayw]

[quote="marx-7"]


But then i had a discussion with the mechanic. He told me the rear brakes where not good.


[quote]

The easy answer to this is that the Rear brakes are lousy when there's no load in the back or your not stomping on them like your life is flashing before your eyes. Give it some welly & heat them all up a bit and they even up under incresed pressure.

It's true that most modern garages know little about Hydropnumatics, unless they have an 'old guy out the back' called Gerry who used to own a CX. Not only that but a lot of 'Mechanics' nowadays are so young i wouldn't trust them to hold a rattle, let alone your Pad Retaining Clips or Hub Nut Split-Pin

[thanuttiscotsman]

It's true that most modern garages know little about Hydropnumatics, unless they have an 'old guy out the back' called Gerry who used to own a CX. Not only that but a lot of 'Mechanics' nowadays are so young i wouldn't trust them to hold a rattle, let alone your Pad Retaining Clips or Hub Nut Split-Pin

yeah well that is exactly how i feel about it after working for ford motor group, nearly half of the mexhanics there were under 22 years old and were trainee aprentice´s, most of these big company garages push mechanics to do so much work in one day that mechanics do let aprentinces do big jobs they haven´t done before and just guide them along with instructions every five minutes as they dont have time to train and work at the same time. my aunt had her car in and was told she needed new wishbones or something and paid shi*load to get it done, she was cruising down the motorway when the car started making heavy rattling noises, so anyhow she took the car to the nearest garage and they found the bolts were 1 use only but some fecking apprentice who done the work had stuck the old ones back in which had rattled loose very quickly, she could have been killed if they had fallen out on the motorway. nothing but complete incompetence by the company just to save 2 or 3 pounds per hour on a fully trained mechanic. its actually quite sickening.

rossco

[tim leech]

Modst modern mechanics are fitters really, with labour rates being what they are its cheaper to replace a part then pay up the £70 a hour or so to rebuild it.

[Anonymous]

@Jayw.....The brakes are fine, also on the back. He tested them and they worked great.

The discussion with this guy is about the height corrector. He swears it is something that the breaks need. I DON'T

Yesterday i fixed the tires and headlights.
Tomorrow i fix the handbrakecable that touches the tire....well i have the size 195 under the bx , so that's possible and then all items which needed some tinckering are done and it should pass it's mot.

When he fails my bx on the height corrector i will phone the heighest authority (Dutch RDW) for vehicles, they will send a mecanic and then it is his problem. They even can get bad points for this

For me this is now a matter of principle. I can't understand why a mecanic can fail my car on something it even does not have
These mecanics have an education, they should know the differences between cars and makes. I now know for sure i won't go to them when my RX-7 needs mot ......he would look at the engine and ask me....what the hell is that????

If i went somewhere else for mot it would cost me 30 to 40 euro's again.

[AlanS]

Would a copy of this help?

http://web.actwin.com/toaph/citroen/work/valve.html



and then this:

http://web.actwin.com/toaph/citroen/work/brakes.html

added to this:



With the full story here:

http://web.actwin.com/toaph/citroen/work/work.html


Go have him for Dinner.


Alan S

[Anonymous]

Thank's Alan, if needed i'll show it to him...

I'll keep you posted.

[thanuttiscotsman]

hi there,
sounds a bit familiar, i think it was adrian who had his car fail the mot on the brake master cylinder leaking!! i.e i think they were talking about the pressure regulator.

cheers rossco

[Anonymous]

It's done.....the bx is ready till jan. 2008

total costs incl. mot 195 euro's.

No discussion needed any more damned...the mecanic believed my story and no further action was needed.....

Also i finaly found a mk2 rear bumper today so i can complete the conversion from the outside

Today was a good day for me

[Channel Hopper]

Congratulations on the car Marx-7

Our local garage has passed my last two BXs without difficulty, (after one or two places have failed them on non failable things), usually adjusting small bits like headlight beam without asking.

Anything that looks suspicious goes onto the warning list of the certificate, but so far all that has been likely to give issues has been one gearbox mount, and the rear exhaust box.

If it's OK to do so I would like to name the garage on the forum, as they have kept me on the road for peanuts for two years, and could do with the business (they are Citroen and Alfa Romeo specialists, so they do know when something is rotten)