1975 Citroen GS Break

Nice car! I think what you're describing with the suspension sphere is supposed to be that way and it will go away once there is load on it... but I'll try to remember to check it for you.

Looks great - I bet there aren't too many of these left.

Whens the impreza Turbo going to find its way in here

I love these truly fantastic little cars - get yours going and, if you'e not driven it yet, you'll never want anything else.
Great to see ANOTHER one has survived the ravages of time! Fantastic - you lucky bunny...

First off, the estate/Breaks are always the unsung heroes of the G's and as such even more worthy for saving
being mega rare. The bonkers wrap around rear screen and down to the stalls tailgate opening haven't been
bettered on many cars since bar maybe a Cx Safari. The half length Webasto is an odd period feature too.

The front strut - the hydraulic pressure will brace the strut into a recess on the upper wishbone suspension arm
which is usually kept in place with a split pin - you can see the hole in the lower boss in the picture you show. At
push comes to shove a copperslipped nail will suffice for now but find a split pin the right diameter and length to
do a btter permanent job. It's only when the suspension is fully depresurised that the piston will unseat and the
main suspension cylinder will have noticeable slack - there's a large collar tht bears onto the front subframe
mounting.

You may be lucky only needing to buy a pre-heat pipe that will mount onto the front manifold if it's the nearside
but the fiddle will be the offside (again the feed pipe can be bought IF the offside pipe is a design where it's
split - some were unbelievably in one piece which require the engine mounts undone to allow it to be jacked off
the subframe to gain clearance). To fully depressurise the hydraulic circuit you just need to turn a 10mm nut
1/4 of a turn on a feed pipe on the offside front wheelarch in the engine bay.

The Y-pipe is variable according to the gearbox fitted - usually 4-speed at this age as the later engines were
5-speed but be careful as the C-matic semi automatic can mix things up.

If you plan to make it a long term keeper - check how good the metal/protection is on the rear subframe (top as
well as lower faces) the inner rear wings behind the boot carpet and the sills - for heavens sake protect the sills!
And the rear 3/4 inner/outer wings and the bases of tghe A-pillars. Oh, and the front footwells...

Check/replace your cambelts, and use a proper non return oil filter - cheap filters will drain and starve the cams
on cold start-up. A leaky hydraulic pump collar will dump fluid from the front of the engine behind the fan cowl.

Have fun! In fact, get it going and I KNOW you will!

Well done! That car is fantastic!

Now for the questions!

Timing and points seem to be set right but the engine is having a hard time idling without choke even when warm. Essentially, rough idle at too high an rpm which seems to rev up and down every 5-10 seconds or so of its own accord.

Checked the fuel lines before I started it and found a split pipe which was replaced and checked the fuel pump, so fuel seems to be getting to the carb fine.

But, after some detective work and using my eyes I noticed a few things.

Firstly, this appears to be a 1222cc engine (it has a small plate with an engine code which the internet tells me means 1222cc) not the 1015 which was originally there, with a Weber 30 DGS 1/250 W 66-50 (whatever that means...).

As for the carb I've had it apart and checked the jets which are all clear, no dirt in the float bowl, but it does have an idle stop solenoid which I can find no information about in the manuals I have.
Theres nothing about it in the Autobooks manual, and only a photo with no mention in the supplement section of the Haynes.

Diagram with no solenoid...



And with...



Theres a wire coming from it looking quite lonely with no mate in the engine bay, so perhaps this could be the source of poor idling? (I think idle stop solenoids are supposed to cut an engine out to prevent overrun when the ignition is switched off?)






Anybody have any experience/solutions?!

I was thinking I might be able to source a regular jet & plug to replace the solenoid...

Thanks in advance

By the way, I've always thought that the solenoid is for float chamber breathing or something like that, not idling.

A 1220cc engine should have a plate on it that says G12/61*

According to Haynes there's at least G12/611 G12/612 and G12/619. The 619 is the only one mentioned in the "supplement on later models" so it may be the one fitted to the GSA but I'm really not sure... If I'm not mistaking mine is a 612 too and it's year model 1978.

Fabulous. A GS Break (or indeed any GS) has been on my 'must own' list for the best part of a decade. I came very close to buying a copper gold GS Pallas in Derby fitted with a GSA engine but uncertainty at work meant that I backed out at the last minute.