Kaufberatung 2CV - Schwachpunkte beim 2CV

This guide is intended to make it easier for you to find your dream 2CV!

It relates primarily to 2CV 6 models, but can also be used for practically all other 2CV models as well.

2CV buying tips, mainly for cars built since 1981 (disc brakes)

If you haven’t got a 2CV yet, or want to buy another, then it’s high time to do so, as the good cars are spoken for and the total number around is not getting any bigger.

Nowadays, you can almost assume that a 2CV will need to be restored.  This brief list of tips is therefore also more of a guide to all the things that could be defective.

Of course, we can’t list every single possible fault, but at least this guide should help you to some degree.

Generally, the mechanics are very durable, but the car’s bodywork rusts left, right and centre!

Let’s start with the engine:
The engine per se is very robust and simply built.  However, if an engine has been poorly maintained, the oil cooler can become full of muck.  It is essential that this is cleaned!
If the engine makes a clacking noise, that points towards a piston seizure.  A clicking noise, on the other hand, is more of a sign of loose valves or somewhat run-in tappet rods, which is no problem.  You adjust the valves, and let the tappets be tappets.  Nearly all of them clack, but work all the same.

Loss of oil around the distributor box is normal, as the camshaft does not have an oil seal.  However, if a lot of oil is getting out, the oil-filler neck should be replaced, as it contains the crankcase ventilation system.  This is controlled by rubber snifter valves.  These swell over the years and can’t be repaired.  The only remedy is to replace the filler neck.

Now start up the engine.  If it only fires up reluctantly, this generally calls for closer inspection.  You should change the contacts and capacitors, spark plugs and cables.  Then it will run well again! Replacement with an electronic ignition system is even better!

The ignition coil is also inclined to go wrong, although it’s hard to check this.  If the engine otherwise runs well (with new ignition components) but is inclined to misfire when the car is at a standstill, try a new ignition coil!  

Starter motor, dynamo and carburettor are subject to normal wear and tear.

Now check whether the instrument for the charging current is pointing to the middle.  If it isn’t, either the dynamo carbons are worn away or, as is often the case, the mechanical dynamo regulator is defect.  It sits on the battery with a 3-pin plug and can easily be replaced with a new electronic one.

The clutch system is very robust and also subject to normal wear and tear.  The transmission is robust, but does not like a lot of fast reversing.  The third-reverse gear synchromesh unit can then disengage, jamming the transmission.  If there’s a scrunching noise when you change gear, you should change the transmission oil right away!

Drive shafts are very robust.
The brake system is very durable and subject to normal wear and tear.  However, it’s important that the right brake fluid is used! (LHM)

If there’s a lot of screeching from the rear drums when you brake, the pads are too old (glazed), they’re not properly centred or cheap reproduction brake callipers have been fitted (or all three).

Taking them out, using brand-name brake pads and centring them properly resolves the problem.

The hand-brake works on the front wheels and has its own brake blocks.  Adjustment via cam and hand-brake wire is somewhat arduous, but then the hand-brake doesn’t rust solid like on some other cars!

Now turn on the lights.  Everything should work.  If you’ve got the lights on dipped and you now switch to full beam, that should work without any problem.  If it doesn’t the light switch is faulty! Replacing it is no problem!
 
Now switch on the heating.  If no warm air comes out, the heating flaps are not adjusted correctly.  Readjustment and new heating hoses resolve the problem.  If it smells of exhaust fumes when the heating is turned on, either the heat converters are rusted through (rather rare, more a typical Beetle or Porsche problem) or the cylinder tension screws have come loose.  As the 2CV engine has neither a cylinder head nor cylinder end seal, some of the compression can be lost.  The only remedy is to loosen the intake pin and tighten the cylinder heads.  If the problem reoccurs later on, you will have to replace the cylinder’s stay-rods.

Now turn on the windscreen-wipers.  They should purr softly and not make a clacking noise.  They should also go fairly fast.  If they’re really show, you should investigate further.  The reason for this, and for water getting in at the front, is often damaged wiper axles.  To check, lift up the wiper arm and wiggle.  A little play is normal.  However, if there’s a lot of play, the only remedy is to replace the wiper axles.  It’s not difficult, but it is time-consuming.

Door locks often can’t be closed any more.  The only solution is a new set of locks.  Better still, new lock mortises as well!  They’re not that expensive, and easy to fit.

Now we come to the 2CV’s biggest shortcoming, rust!:   
Unlike many cars, the 2CV does not have a self-supporting car body.  Instead, this is built completely upon the vehicle chassis.  The chassis is the 2CV’s load-bearing component, and for reasons of cost is built in a wonderfully uncomplicated way!

A covering sheet of metal on the top and bottom makes it impossible to look at the inside of the chassis, where there are lots of vertical plates spot-welded to the cover panels.  This creates a lot of hollow sections that are hard to preserve from rust!

Combined with a lack of any underbody coating and the minimal thickness of the panels, these can become rusted through after as little as 5 years.  The situation is aggravated by the fact that due to the clever system of panels, up to 3 panels all overlap.  It is virtually impossible to create a perfect seal around such a chassis!

Even if from the outside the chassis is only rusted through in a few small places that can be quickly sealed up for the car’s roadworthiness test (TÜV, MOT etc.), it is highly likely that rust has also attacked the vertical panels, which are ultimately meant to give the chassis its rigidity.  In extreme circumstances, the chassis can even buckle just in front of the rear axle!  As a result of this, the rigid steering column can break and you’re no longer able to steer!  (You can tell that the chassis has buckled if the steering suddenly becomes very difficult and the size of the gap between the sides of the bonnet and the A-pillar gets smaller!).  

It’s practically impossible to repair a vehicle chassis that this has happened to! We watched on for long enough as 2CV owners suffered these problems and decided in 1997 to develop a vehicle chassis that no longer had the weaknesses of the original.

Now, let’s come on to the bodywork:
Floor panels and the sloping pedal wells are often attacked by rust.  Ditto, the rear seatbelt anchors.  Lift the seating felt up from the rear seat on the left and right, and you’ll see the dilemma.  You can also take this opportunity to check the C-pillar and side seat panels.

Now have a look from the inside at the rear seat catch on the wheel arch! Is there any rust here?

Also take a look from the outside at the upper edge of the wheel arch beneath the side window! Is everything still OK here?

Now check the floor of the boot.  This is often rusted through at the back in the hollow and in the areas that rest on top of the chassis.  Now all that’s left is to check the rear lights.  The end tips are often raised as there are two pieces of metal on top of each other at this point.

Now there’s another typical problem: the bonnet hinge strip on the car body side and the windscreen frame.  If everything up to now is OK, you should still inspect the corners of the rear seat casement from underneath!

Now, check the wings, air intake flap and doors! It all sounds pretty serious, but there are suitable panels available for every area of the car.  A well welded and preserved car body will not rust as quickly again!

Don’t let yourself be blinded: Even a 2CV that looks perfectly healthy on the outside, can often have a defect chassis!

As far as the axles go, the steering knuckle pins often become faulty (usually because someone’s forgotten to grease them).  All other parts are very robust.

So, you can see already, the best vehicle to buy is one with good bodywork.  Even if the chassis is defect or the engine is faulty.  You can change a chassis fairly quickly, and we, of course, have our galvanised chassis you can use.  You can also repair the mechanics without any difficulty.  But the bodywork calls for a lot of welding!  And on top of that, doors, bonnets and wings are all relatively expensive!

Nevertheless, a 2CV is a wonderfully simple car.  So don’t worry!

Once it has been properly restored and protected from rust, you’ll have a very, very reliable car with great character, inexpensive to maintain and with a really comfortable ride!  You’ll soon notice when you’re out on the road with your 2CV that you largely forget the hectic hustle and bustle of your everyday life!

There’s not a lot we can say about 2CV prices.  There are some vehicles from the last few years of production available for just a few euros, but also others for a few thousand.  If you’re planning to build a top-rate vehicle yourself, then look out for one with good bodywork, the rest is not so important.  If you try to find a really top-notch car to buy, you’ll soon be looking at more than the original list price! The real crème de la crème, perfectly restored with galvanised chassis and so on, can soon cost as much as €10,000.