I have done something silly. C6 content. Sold!

[Sham]

[Unlucky Alf]

On 9/25/2021 at 7:50 PM, JMotor said:

What could possibly go wrong!? 

Some times the random purchases end up being the best ones! 

….the  handbrake not working, er, problem…… 🤣
 

 

 

[hairnet]

[edd china] are you like properly insane'

hope you get some enjoyment from it and it doesnt shit itself too bad when it throws a hissy fit

 

[Wgl2019]

11 hours ago, Tepper said:

hydropneumatique lickers

Not a clue but following with interest......

This bunch of masochists may have some answers: http://c6owners.org/plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?317.105

[jamescarruthers]

Hey well done!

For the full Lexia hardware, Easydiagnostics were  recommended to me over on French Car Forum (FCF)… also, if you join, they will give you a personalised discount code. I have the kit from there and it works fine on the C6. 
 

The later “saucer” spheres can’t easily be regassed like the earlier green spheres. That doesn’t mean that it is impossible like some people say as Martin at Pleiades in Sawtry, Cambs., can do it.  I had my previous C6 done there and plan on getting this one done sometime soon too. The spheres last for ages compared to the old type (10 years at good pressure at least, maybe more)— sadly this makes them expensive if you buy new as the triple membrane is patented to Citroen. You are unlikely to get triple-membrane anywhere else. Possible IFHS do triple-membrane, but that isn’t 100% proven from my reading on FCF. 
 

Also, on the suspension refresh front, there is a HUGE error with the listing of lower arm bushes which are listed as being for the C6… they are not, but they fit. Not sure if they are for a C5 or something similar. Basically, when you get those, the car sits too high and therefore the suspension goes hard. I had this on the last two C6 I bought. I don’t quite know how to get around this apart from buying Citroen parts or asking BL Autos to do the job. Yours does look a bit high at the front, can you post a side profile pic (engine running) and I will post one of mine  for comparison. Is your mega tyre wear at the front too?
 

The best specialists in the country are BL Autos, Welwyn Garden City. If you are ever down that way, it would be worth putting the car in for inspection there. People drive from all over the country and even abroad apparently and I can well believe it.  Chevronics, Hitchin, are also pretty good on these.
 

Oh, and do join us over on C6owners.org for lots of Technical Data in the downloads sections and help on the forum. 

[jamescarruthers]

Oh, and the spoiler going up is a maintenance thing. You can do it yourself anytime after stopping the engine running and pressing the windshield washer stall down. This puts the spoiler up (access to clean and lubricate) and also the windshield wipers to vertical so you can replace them. 
 

The wipers can be reset before driving, I think, but the spoiler will not reset until you are driving, to avoid trapped fingers. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

11 hours ago, hairnet said:

[edd china] are you like properly insane'

A compliment from the master.

[3VOM]

1 hour ago, jamescarruthers said:

Martin at Pleiades

Read that too quickly and was thinking that's a long way to go for work on your car

[jamescarruthers]

8 minutes ago, 3VOM said:

Read that too quickly and was thinking that's a long way to go for work on your car

Haha, yes. 444 light years according to Wikipedia if you choose the wrong one! Or just off the A1 between Huntingdon and Peterborough if you choose the right one. 

[Tepper]

7 hours ago, jamescarruthers said:

Hey well done!
Err... thanks? I may live to regret this, but it's nice to know there are other masochists out there.

For the full Lexia hardware
I've gone with AliExpress again, but ordered a full chip version this time. Hopefully this will do the job, if not this listing has free returns so I'll send it back and pick one up off of easydiagnostics.

The later “saucer” spheres
Thanks for the info, seems to back up what I've read. I was planning on sending them off to Pleiades - were you happy with the result?

Also, on the suspension refresh front
That's interesting, is the incorrect bush issue on the front or on the back (stop sniggering at the back of the classroom)? I believe this car has had a complete lower arm at some point on the front. The car might look high on the front because the ground is uneven, but when I get a chance I'll get it on level ground and grab a picture. Yep, mega tyre wear is on the front.

The best specialists in the country are BL Autos, Welwyn Garden City. If you are ever down that way, it would be worth putting the car in for inspection there.
So I've heard. This car has been looked after by them, and the previous owner has done just that:

Oh, and do join us over on C6owners.org for lots of Technical Data in the downloads sections and help on the forum. 
One step ahead of you! Has been very helpful so far, especially seeing as there isn't much other info compared to most other cars online apart from on there.

Thanks for the tips by the way, the learning curve on this car seems pretty steep so the help is appreciated.

 

[Tepper]

No major progress on this to report, just a few bits and pieces - mostly getting ready for the main event that is tackling the suspension. First up, I picked up a slightly less sketchy Lexia clone and even went to the bother of installing it on a laptop that isn't steam powered. It works well and talks to all the systems in the car, so that should be step one of C6 wrangling ticked off. Check it out:

The battery in this laptop has failed, so it needs to be plugged in all the time. This is a bit of a pain, so I changed out the faulty cell in the old battery with another one from my stash of salvaged 18650s. Hopefully it'll do the business when I plug it into the laptop:

A sneaky eBay snipe scored a decent pair of Hankook part worn tyres for the front of the car, which I was able to pick up in person saving on the hefty delivery charge. I've chucked them on, hopefully they'll be nicer than the previous mismatched Chinese death rings. Even if not, there are no cords showing so that's a win in my book.

As @jamescarruthers has suggested, it would appear that the car is sitting a touch high - here it is from the side:

The rear arch gap in particular looks much too big - I measured around 12cm from tyre to arch. On the front, things are a bit better but still a bit too high - from what I understand this gap should be around 7cm. Also, the gap isn't even on both sides of the car:

I intend to have a go at performing the adjustment procedure to see if I can get it sorted out - wish me luck. Before I do, I'll get cracking with this lot. It should have all the bits for the rear suspension, plus a full service kit. Once that's done, I'll try to set the suspension height then it'll be time for an MOT if all goes to plan... Yeah, like that's going to happen.

[Zelandeth]

Just a word of note, based on the recommendations I'd seen in a few places I took my Xantia in there about two years ago to have a suspension bush changed.  Instead of just doing the work I'd asked for they presented me with an estimate of over £1500 of work that needed doing for the MOT.

Also sent me home in a courtesy car that was barely roadworthy, and the customer service was just horrible. 

They also charged me £40 odd to tell me my car was broken, despite having just had £70 of fuel put in their courtesy car (they'd told me it would be several days till they got to it...rang me up after an hour to tell me to come collect it) and had the wiper blades changed so I didn't die on the M1.

Vowed never to darken their doorway or send any potential customers their way again.  Since then I've heard that the experience will vary massively depending on who you speak to when there...but as you never know who that will be that's a gamble I'm not willing to take.

Chevronics I've never had work done by yet, but have bought some parts from.  In stark contrast they couldn't have been more pleasant to deal with.  I will likely end up taking care there for work in the future - the only caveat there being that they ain't cheap.  I've always said though when looking at garages I'd rather have something done right than done cheap.

[Tepper]

First up, for the electronics fans who were waiting with baited breath to find out if my laptop battery resurrection would work... it didn't. Oh well. Got the new drop links on, which has pleasingly sorted the death rattle from the suspension:

The two post lift was occupied, so I used this portable number. Quite good, especially if you need access to sills for welding.

This lift did, however cause one of the more brown-trousered moments I have experienced during my time spannering. I loaded the car onto the lift, but because of the availability and location of lifting points, the car was sat quite far forward (astute readers may already know where this is going). I gave it a rock, and everything seemed tickety-boo. Before I got to work, I took the big, heavy box of parts out of the boot of the car. Then I removed the wheel. While I was putting the wheel down, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, which turned out to be this big bastard trying to nosedive off the lift. I grabbed the boot lip and hung on, my delicate language alerted my unit mate to the situation who managed to push upwards on the front of the car and get it to slam back down on the lift. Pretty scary. I put the wheel back on, put some heavy things in the boot and lowered the car back down double quick, before shifting it back a bit. Lesson learned, be careful kids.

In other news, I now have an EML. Looks like it's the front EGR valve, which at least is the easier* one to change of the two. I'm hoping some use might free it off, so I'm not going to do anything with it just yet:

[wuvvum]

Those drop links don't look like the most robust of things...

[Tadhg Tiogar]

7 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Those drop links don't look like the most robust of things...

The portable lift doesn't look particularly robust either. 

[Zelandeth]

It's astonishing how quickly you can move at moments like that isn't it...

Wouldn't personally fancy working on a car that size on a portable lift, they unnerve me enough even with a small car on!

[richardmorris]

13 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

It's astonishing how quickly you can move at moments like that isn't it...

Wouldn't personally fancy working on a car that size on a portable lift, they unnerve me enough even with a small car on!

My CX DTR took a nose dive off a two post lift once. Bounced off the roof beam which stopped it going completely tits up. Luckily the stainless rear window trim took the whole impact and the garage replaced it.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

3 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

....Wouldn't personally fancy working on a car that size on a portable lift, they unnerve me enough even with a small car on!

Looks remarkably like the one made in China...

[Tepper]

22 hours ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Looks remarkably like the one made in China...

It is very, very Chinese. I suspect it's the same lift, but from a UK distributor. I like the access this type of lift gives, but it's pretty unnerving to use. It's also hard to control, the car bounces around a fair bit when raising or lowering.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

29 minutes ago, Tepper said:

... it's pretty unnerving to use. It's also hard to control, the car bounces around a fair bit when raising or lowering.

I presume your life insurance is all up to date....

[Tepper]

Got the recharged spheres fitted, I have to say Pleiades did an excellent job. They all returned painted, tested, labelled and regassed where necessary for a very reasonable cost. Also this happened:

I've also done a full service, so this car should be more or less ready to go. All it needs now is height correction using Lexia and a 4 wheel alignment, which I'll get done ASAP. I'll be taking it for a long trip for work next week to evaluate the WAFT, then my brother and 3 mates are returning this fine chariot to its homeland in style on a ski trip to the Alps in a couple of weeks' time. Bonne chance!

[grogee]

Firstly, I'm late to this thread so thankyou for living out a fantasy/nightmare of mine so I don't have to. 

Secondly, what the hell is this on the rear suspension? Are they making parts out of Roman pottery now?

[Tepper]

Firstly, you're welcome - someone had to do it. Hope it at least results in enjoyment for others!

Secondly, I think it's just how mud spray has been deposited, it just brushes off! Although Roman pottery would probably be more durable than some of the material choices on this car.

[Tepper]

C6 in reliable transport shocker:

What a brilliant thing! Love it. I regularly have to drive from Reading to near Leeds for work, so I took the C6. I usually enjoy the drive, but this car is probably the best tool for the job. It's not the fastest or best handling thing I've ever had, but on a well-surfaced road the ride is unique - I think if you're expecting speed thrills and sharp handling you're missing the point. In spite of 2 road closures including the M1 I did the whole journey in one hit and I felt fine at the other end, it's a great way to cover distance.

Just one issue - the infotainment decided to crash a few times, which had the amusing consequence of switching the cluster to kilometres and killing the stereo. It seems this is an issue with the hard drive in the head unit, so I've ordered a CF card and an adapter which can supposedly be swapped in. Apart from that it's lovely, I'm dead chuffed with it and I hope my brother will enjoy his trip to the Alps.

Also, if anyone has an old-school hydraulic Cit and fancies a shot in this, I'd be keen to compare notes.

[Mrs6C]

On 07/12/2021 at 21:53, Tepper said:

Also, if anyone has an old-school hydraulic Cit and fancies a shot in this, I'd be keen to compare notes.

Calling @Six-cylinder!

[beko1987]

Oh I love the cf card upgrade! Very good fix! 

[loserone]

18 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Oh I love the cf card upgrade! Very good fix! 

Did I give you my X40 with the same thing? They're pretty great as long as you're not writing to disc a lot.

[beko1987]

4 hours ago, loserone said:

Did I give you my X40 with the same thing? They're pretty great as long as you're not writing to disc a lot.

Possibly, I've certainly got a few kicking around, sD, sd and m.2

I assume you have to clone the existing HD then write the image to the new? And Cf because the interface is IDE? You could shove a 1tb ssd in there and use the rest for tunes/porn

[FruttyFrutty]

Lovely looking things, nice buy, looking forward to seeing how this one develops

[Tepper]

17 hours ago, beko1987 said:

I assume you have to clone the existing HD then write the image to the new? And Cf because the interface is IDE? You could shove a 1tb ssd in there and use the rest for tunes/porn

Sort of. Supposedly the best way to do it is to install the blank CF card in the head unit, use the firmware update CD to let it set up all the partitions/MBR/witchcraft on the CF card, then transfer the data across from the partitions on the old HDD back across to the now correctly formatted CF card. Yep, CF due to the IDE interface, apparently there's an issue using SSDs where eventually it slows down and gets very unhappy - something to do with TRIM? Using anything over 32gb is a waste as the partitions are a fixed size, so I'll have to find another storage location for my extensive tunes/porn collection.