2003 Citroen C5 estate.....the end

[maxxo]

recently task was replacing the blower resistor

cos it wouldn't work on settings 1 and 2

and this is where it's located, in the passenger footwell and not that bad to access!

so the resistor had to be an ebay special, because it's the only one in the country i could find for sale

the horrible dirty looking one is the "new" one, great

so i fitted it, inspected the cables and so on and all looked good!

the result

well here it is!

absolutely no fucking different

of course, i'm not surprised

guess i need to pop the heater panel out next and take a good look at that and see if anything is obviously wrong

actually, it doesn't seem to do much when you change the temperature until you get to about halfway.......i'm wondering if it's got some form of issue in the panel itself

 

[maxxo]

brakes are still feeling utterly excellent, very very strong and a firm solid feeling pedal that behaved exactly how you would expect

also the handbrake is now strong enough to lock the front wheels! really impressed with that too

got a wheel wobble now, between 60 and 75ishhh

going to pop in early for a wheel balancing tomorrow

 

 

not a sticky caliper, both wheels are only slightly warm after a decent drive (same temp each side) and they seem to release fine (relatively flat here so rarely use the handbrake)

 

[maxxo]

and lastly, a general update

well, nothing much to report at all

being very very reliable, comfortable (i suspect it may need new spheres....might wack some fronts on at some point) and driving great

even the transmission is doing well! overall i am very very happy with this purchase

it's one of those cars that seems to want to live, really positive results from most the work i've done to it

[High Jetter]

Ready for a roffle? 🤣

[myglaren]

Yours are very different to the ones in my 52 and 03 reg C5s.

 

 

 

[maxxo]

well the balancing was a waste of time, ever so slightly better

also told the wheel is slightly buckled.....wobble still there

i'm wondering if i have a sticking caliper......

[maxxo]

the "wobble" is quite bad being honest

i'd say 90% through the wheel and the rest through the car

also, the handbrake is extremely hard to apply.....

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

stuck caliper?

going to adjust it on saturday and see what the results are, would rather not oblierate my discs and pads........but the brakes don't feel overly warm which is unusal

suspension rises and lowers fine, rides fine and isn't leaking so i don't think a strut has failed

steering etc is all fine and straight

buckled wheel perhaps? just seems strange for it to be so sudden

going to swap the wheels over anyway to wear the tyres more evenly anyway

lets just see what happens

can't feel it through the brake pedal either, which i could when i had my picasso and that snapped a shocker, so i don't personally think it's anything major

 

[Spurious]

16 minutes ago, maxxo said:

the "wobble" is quite bad being honest

i'd say 90% through the wheel and the rest through the car

also, the handbrake is extremely hard to apply.....

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

stuck caliper?

going to adjust it on saturday and see what the results are, would rather not oblierate my discs and pads........but the brakes don't feel overly warm which is unusal

suspension rises and lowers fine, rides fine and isn't leaking so i don't think a strut has failed

steering etc is all fine and straight

buckled wheel perhaps? just seems strange for it to be so sudden

going to swap the wheels over anyway to wear the tyres more evenly anyway

lets just see what happens

can't feel it through the brake pedal either, which i could when i had my picasso and that snapped a shocker, so i don't personally think it's anything major

 

Check the rear calipers are actually square with the disc. I'd similar on an Xantia, a case of corrosion pushing the caliper out of parallel with the disc. The calipers are alloy and the carrier is steel which causes differential corrosion and pushes the caliper away from the carrier. I'm sure the C5 is the same setup. 

When it went bad on the Xantia it was causing the caliper to bind against the disc as they'd pushed out of square. Needed a file and new caliper bolts at the time. Along with new discs and pads. 

[maxxo]

5 minutes ago, Spurious said:

Check the rear calipers are actually square with the disc. I'd similar on an Xantia, a case of corrosion pushing the caliper out of parallel with the disc. The calipers are alloy and the carrier is steel which causes differential corrosion and pushes the caliper away from the carrier. I'm sure the C5 is the same setup. 

When it went bad on the Xantia it was causing the caliper to bind against the disc as they'd pushed out of square. Needed a file and new caliper bolts at the time. Along with new discs and pads. 

you know i never thought to actually check the rear, it doesn't half feel like the front wheels....almost a rhythm to it if that makes sense

will have a quick check tomorrow, just seems strange it to happen after a fluid change and adjustment of the handbrake

barely any slack in the handbrake cables too, which may not help

half tempted to see if i can unhook the cables temporarily from the calipers and see if that makes a difference

[maxxo]

tyres swapped front to rear, wobble is significantly reduced

tyre wear is surprisingly spot on too!

quick check of everything and it's fine

need to pop the centre console apart at some point to tweak the handbrake

[maxxo]

On 8/31/2021 at 2:29 PM, myglaren said:

Yours are very different to the ones in my 52 and 03 reg C5s.

 

 

 

i wish mine were like those!

those are easy to get

[beko1987]

Can you change the entire blower unit to one that takes the easy to get resistors? 

[maxxo]

11 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Can you change the entire blower unit to one that takes the easy to get resistors? 

doubt it

manual single zone climate control is the issue, as that's very rare on C5s

[maxxo]

so plans for the next month or so

rear arm bearings (it's clonking now when changing height!) this is an ASAP job now

sort the bloody blower motor

sort the parking brake, had to use it today cos parked on a hill and it holds the car fine! just zero slack

considering purchasing an engine undertray, just to protect components on the underside

 

oh did i mention i've now done over 10k miles in this car now

 

 

[maxxo]

just filled up, used an online calculator to work out my economy

cars computer 49.9 mpg

actual 48.5 mpg

for a big heavy automatic estate car i think that's quite good

barely do any town driving (well a bit at the start and end of every journey obviously)

most my journeys are at least 10 miles each way, so it gets proper use

very satisfied with the economy

[maxxo]

ah yes, fame

[maxxo]

seems the ride has gone slightly firmer and slightly more bouncy, lost some of the float and feels somewhat like a sprung car

how upsetting

going in during the coming weeks for the rear arm bearings so hopefully that will improve the ride slightly

otherwise it's still mostly fine

however i have noticed almost a slight hesitation usually up hill on a steady throttle, it feels like it has a slight miss/stutter and then clears right up

also noticed the same thing sometimes at idle, only in Park due to the RPM being slightly lower and engine loaded less compared to being in Drive

i suspect i've got a worn injector

gearbox is still fine, well it's not and evidently has a valve block issue but it's significantly better and i'm like hahahaha beeps be gone so must be fine

[Aneesh]

On 9/15/2021 at 12:27 AM, maxxo said:

seems the ride has gone slightly firmer and slightly more bouncy, lost some of the float and feels somewhat like a sprung car

how upsetting

going in during the coming weeks for the rear arm bearings so hopefully that will improve the ride slightly

otherwise it's still mostly fine

however i have noticed almost a slight hesitation usually up hill on a steady throttle, it feels like it has a slight miss/stutter and then clears right up

also noticed the same thing sometimes at idle, only in Park due to the RPM being slightly lower and engine loaded less compared to being in Drive

i suspect i've got a worn injector

gearbox is still fine, well it's not and evidently has a valve block issue but it's significantly better and i'm like hahahaha beeps be gone so must be fine

So is the bouncy ride at the rear? Could be bad spheres, just push and see if you are able to press the corners.

If its the rear arm bearings you should be able to hear noises when changing suspension height. If the ride setting is too high or too low can also cause poor ride. lower tyre pressures also improve ride, maybe your tyres are overpressurised.

 

The issue you mension about the hesitation could also be due to stuck EGR valve.  You could block the EGR return and see. Injector issues can be tested with a lexia, though if you have the 2.0 hdi, they are pretty reliable.

[maxxo]

14 hours ago, Aneesh said:

So is the bouncy ride at the rear? Could be bad spheres, just push and see if you are able to press the corners.

If its the rear arm bearings you should be able to hear noises when changing suspension height. If the ride setting is too high or too low can also cause poor ride. lower tyre pressures also improve ride, maybe your tyres are overpressurised.

 

The issue you mension about the hesitation could also be due to stuck EGR valve.  You could block the EGR return and see. Injector issues can be tested with a lexia, though if you have the 2.0 hdi, they are pretty reliable.

ride is more firm, with a slight bounce....spheres are original so regardless they would benefit a replacement

yes i can make it clunk with changing heights, you can also hear it squeaking whilst driving along, rear is somewhat hard to push down and it creaks like crazy when you get in or out

EGR is a good bet, something i am certainly willing to try

awaiting the usual garage to call me back regarding a quote on replacing the rear arm bearings, well worth doing

[myglaren]

I was told several times that my trailing arm bearings were shot.

I did 'Citroebics' frequently - I tell myself that it exercises the bearings and keeps them working, there was never any groaning or clicking, only when driving in fields or over speed bumps.

Turned out to be the brake pads clattering.

When it was retired, they were still fine, 17 years and almost a quarter of a million miles.

Spheres were fine too.  Never changed as far as I know.

It was always better after being heavily (over) loaded though.

[cpjitservices]

2.0 HDI is a very good engine indeed, not sure if the auto boxes are any good! Never had a 2.0 bolted to an Autobox before!

Big fan of the HDI, not an overly complicated engine either!

 

Nice car.

[maxxo]

2 hours ago, myglaren said:

I was told several times that my trailing arm bearings were shot.

I did 'Citroebics' frequently - I tell myself that it exercises the bearings and keeps them working, there was never any groaning or clicking, only when driving in fields or over speed bumps.

Turned out to be the brake pads clattering.

When it was retired, they were still fine, 17 years and almost a quarter of a million miles.

Spheres were fine too.  Never changed as far as I know.

It was always better after being heavily (over) loaded though.

£311 to do both sides including a courtesy car, booked in for the 28th, not worth ignoring for that price

 

[maxxo]

todays little job

you may note, i have a plate light out

i had considered and was going to just replace the bulbs.......

right up until i went on ebay, and found replacement lights for £7 a pair

sod it, the old ones would only break when removed

genuine PSA too!!

did i mention i ordered them at 2pm yesterday, so less than 24 hours

quick test, yes a vast improvement!

didn't want to go LED as those look tacky

all fitted happily into place, very very happy

[maxxo]

hopped straight onto the A19 after a cold start today, transmission felt a bit iffy like always when cold

.......you can see what happened

it was fine for a minute or two, then an audible bang and it dropped down to 3rd

*BEEEP BEEEP* "AUTOMATIC GEAR FAULT"

restarted absolutely fine

i've decided to actually get this fixed now, i've had a quote for £450 to replace the valves and perform a transmission service, which is a lot

but really, i know the car, and it will sort it so i'm going to do it

also it's in the garage tomorrow for the rear arm bearings to be replaced

[maxxo]

Dropped off the C5 this morning for the rear arm bearings to be replaced

no call yet so i assume all is well

there was 4 other C5s there too! X7's however

also picked up my courtesy car, can you tell what it is yet?

it's this, a 62 plate Citroen C1

very different from the C5

but, it's not that bad, it's a perfectly adequate car, espically for how much they cost new

even has air con! which works

[myglaren]

Eldest granddaughter has a C1 and loves it.  So has her younger brother, not passed his test yet though.

[maxxo]

£350 later......

i have the C5 back

so both rear arm bearings replaced, both rear suspension leg gaiters were split and pissing out LDS

obviously those were replaced

i was shown the old bearings, absolutely rotten and knackered!

they actually did a very very good job of it all

so, what's changed

well, no creaking or clunking anymore!

oh did i mention it floats, my god does this car float now!

it even seems to handle much better

all together i am extremely happy with this, it has completely transformed the car to the point now where it's driving like a new one

i'd say £1,000 now will completely sort this car out, which is what i'm planning on doing before winter hits

gearbox next, i've had a quote on replacing the solenoid valves and a transmission service, so that's what i'll be getting done next

then spheres, might as well completely sort the car

[maxxo]

11 hours ago, myglaren said:

Eldest granddaughter has a C1 and loves it.  So has her younger brother, not passed his test yet though.

quite good fun to thrash, enjoyable to try something completely different

[maxxo]

it seems to really, really enjoy throwing the transmission into limp mode and beeping at me

did i mention this happens on exactly the same road each time, in pretty much the same place, at the same time on my way home from work.......

going to try taking a different way home and see what difference that makes

in all seriousness i'm actually looking properly now for someone to mend it

it's starting to get annoying

[maxxo]

lexia says pressure regulation fault

so there, pretty much certain it's the solenoid valves