Although we now have three A-Series on the road and I do the maintenance and servicing on all of them, I still regard myself as a beginner and would be the first to admit that there is always more to learn about getting the very best out of these strange but elegantly engineered little machines. I believe routine servicing is essential and this series of articles on servicing is going to be about how to carry out the various regular jobs that are well within the abilities of the enthusiastic amateur mechanic. I personally find this aspect of classic ownership as enjoyable as driving the cars themselves. It can also save you a fortune in garage bills. I stress, however, that everything that follows is just my way of going about things, my opinions and based on my own experiences of (successfully, I think) running a 1985, 176,000 mile 2CV as everyday transport, covering between 8,000-12,000 miles each year. The club’s own forum has a wonderful technical section, and I urge anybody who is planning on doing anything to their car for the first time to have a read through the entries and see what pitfalls are awaiting them.
I think we should start with one of the basic, but vitally important routines: changing the engine oil and filter. I change the oil every 3,000 miles and the filter every 6,000. I usually drain the oil overnight so the engine is cold when I check and adjust the valve clearances the following day. First, you need to buy some oil, 15W/40 mineral will do nicely, it is thin enough for normal and winter use and not in the engine long enough to make using synthetic worthwhile. It is the very life-blood of your engine so don’t use the ultra-cheap stuff made from recycled oil! You will also need a new oil filter; I always use Purflux. You will also require a new copper washer for the sump-plug and possibly a pair of new rocker cover gaskets. Also required is an oil pan, to drain the old oil into. I made my own out of an old plastic 5-litre oil container with its screw-on cap firmly attached and a rectangular hole cut into one side. It works well to both collect the old oil and to pour it into another container for recycling later. A big shallow plastic tray that will fit between the front wheels, to catch any odd spills is quite handy too, as is a quantity of old rags and latex gloves.
Take the car for a good drive, for at least 20 minutes, to get the old oil hot – it then drains out much easier. Park it up, preferably on a level garage floor, slide the tray and oil collector underneath and, unless you enjoy scraping the skin off your knuckles, put your 21mm sparkplug socket onto a ratchet handle and loosen the big nut on the underside of the ribbed sump. You are going to get some hot oil on your fingers, so gloves on and undo the nut by hand, swiftly pulling it out of the way as the hot stream of oil drops into your oil pan. The sump plug usually has a magnet in the end of it and there will be a greyish sludge of metal particles attached which needs to be cleaned off and the copper washer discarded. When the plug is clean, put it somewhere safe.
If you have a 2CV you are going to have to take the front wings off to get at the rocker covers. So while the oil is draining out, open and support the bonnet, undo the oil filler cap to aid the draining and to remind you that there isn’t any oil in the engine, find an 8mm spanner and remove the three bolts that hold the triangular fillet panels in place. The two metal brackets that fix them to the bulkhead can easily fall off, as does the black rubber strip, so again put them somewhere safe. There may be electrical earth connections to the front bolts. The front indicator wiring will need to be disconnected on each side – should just be one push fit connector - then the four 19mm nuts that hold each wing on can be removed. If you take the front ones off first, then the lower rear nut on the end of the sill, it is easier to support the wing whilst removing the last one from the front bulkhead. Note the horn bracket fits on the top front nearside mounting stud, so just disconnect the single wire running to it first and then the horn and bracket can be removed once the nut is off. It is very easy to scratch the paint on the front bumper and the underside of the headlamp pods so use some rag to protect them as you ease the wing off the dump-tube pipe and under the headlamp bar and rolling it over the tyre towards you, before lifting it clear. The front wheels need to be pointing straight ahead.
Unbolting the wings is something you will find yourself doing regularly as almost everything that needs doing to a 2CV is much easier with them removed. By now most of the oil will have drained out of the engine but there is quite a bit that stays in the bottom of the rocker covers so they need emptying out or the dirty stuff will contaminate the new oil. I have a pair of old ‘Fray Bentos’ pie dishes; they sit nicely on the top of the chassis rails and catch the oil after the 12mm nut is removed from the centre of the covers.
Sometimes a little gentle ‘persuasion’ (with a rubber mallet) is needed to get the covers off – especially if they have been undisturbed for a long time. Clean the inside of the covers thoroughly and if the gasket looks brittle or damaged or the joint was leaking, remove it too. It might be glued to the inside of the cover. Lastly unscrew the oil filter cartridge from the offside of the engine. If you are lucky (and strong!) you might be able to do it by hand with a latex glove on for improved grip. Otherwise you will need a decent oil filter wrench. A wrench that fits Purflux filters can be purchased from 2CV specialists. There isn’t a lot of room between the filter and the chassis.
Worst-case scenario is hammering a large screwdriver through the side of the cartridge to get enough leverage to get it undone. Remember it is full of oil so the oil pan needs moving underneath. By now you will be glad you put that large tray under the car – or realising why you should have done. Oil will drip steadily from the filter housing and the valve gear for ages, so time to clean up and leave it overnight to drain.
Before you do anything else, fit a new copper washer to the sump plug, clean the sealing surface around the hole in the sump and replace the plug and do it up tight enough to crush the copper washer for a good seal. There is nothing more depressing than pouring new oil in the top, only to see it running out the bottom towards your feet. Take the new oil filter out of its box and smear some clean engine oil over the rubber gasket. Again, carefully clean the sealing surface of the filter-mounting flange and carefully screw the new filter onto the threaded tube. Tightening by hand should be sufficient, especially with a latex glove on. Checking and adjusting the valve clearances will be covered in a separate article, but now is the time to do it, with the engine completely cold and rocker covers and wings off. Clean the mating surface of the cylinder heads and either glue the new gaskets to the clean rocker covers with a bead of blue Hylomar or use a smear of grease to stop them falling off as you refit the covers over the centre studs and replace the conical ended nuts. I do the nuts up finger-tight then give them about one full turn with the spanner. You shouldn’t be able to move it if you try to twist the cover, but if it’s still loose or starts leaking oil later tightening another half-turn should stop it. Now all you have to do is carefully pour in 2.4 litres of fresh oil into the filler/breather unit and check the level on the dipstick. Clip the oil-filler lid down properly before starting the motor. The oil filter and rocker covers will fill, so once the engine has been run for a few minutes switch it off and recheck the level, topping up accordingly – ideally you want the oil to be halfway along the cut-out in the dipstick. That cut-out represents the safe minimum and maximum oil levels and takes approximately 0.5 litres to get it from low to high. Let the engine warm up then have a last check to see that the sump plug, the oil filter and underside of both the rocker covers are completely dry. It is so much easier to rectify a weeping joint with the wings off.
Before reassembling the front of your car, put a smear of copper grease on all the studs and the threads of the bolts to make getting them off next time a bit easier, be careful of the paintwork, especially when threading the dump tube through the rubber grommet in the inner wing – three eyes and an extra hand would come in handy here - and don’t forget to refit the horn and reconnect all the wiring. Check the horn, indicators (and repeaters) still work before venturing back onto the road. Job done, you have just saved yourself several times your membership fee in garage charges!
Old Goat, A.K.A. Simon Mackett