C5 Rear Arm Bearings

cachaciero · Post by **cachaciero** » 14 Apr 2010, 19:36

I would be interested in gathering some info about failures of these bearings .

if anybody has had a failure would they like to say which model, estate or saloon, mileage failed, if car used for towing and any other related failures struts or spheres which may have happened at the same time or some time previous. For those profesional mechanics on the group any info they have on cars they have worked on with this failure would be of interest.

cachaciero

fred1 · Post by **fred1** » 14 Apr 2010, 20:46

Hi,

Failures appear to be caused by the same mechanism as on the Cx, BX and Xantia, that is water gets in past the seals, the grease is washed out and they corrode.

The "fix" frequently use on CX & BX was to fit a grease nipple and regularly flush grease into the space between the bearings. This seemed to stave off failure for ever. Did not seem to be a load related problem.

This kept the bearings lubricated and water out.

I keep meaning to do it on the C5 but can't seem to get round to it !

Regards

John

Post by **Peter.N.** » 14 Apr 2010, 21:49

I would agree with John, I think you would have to put a pretty hefty load on them to damage them, all the ones I have replaced have been rusty, not done C5 though. I have never replaced them in an XM including one I have now which has done in excess of 250,000 miles, I have had to replace them on BXs and CXs though.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 14 Apr 2010, 22:08

Well i had commented on here that i thought our facelift and my VTR had bearing issues. However the facelift is now as quiet as a mouse and my VTR has the occasional rattle, though i dont think its bearing related.

However we did have a 52reg C5 estate 2.0HDi with 105K miles which had to have a rear radious bearing replaced. That was making very bad cracking noises over bumps, could be felt through the floor of the car it was that bad. It suddenly went like that.

Not a bad job to change i dont think.

cachaciero · Post by **cachaciero** » 14 Apr 2010, 23:04

Well my interest is based upon the fact that failure of these bearings at less than 100K seems to be quite a common occurence on C5's far higher than on the XM or CX and higher than the Xantia. Now on all of these cars the estate versions had larger bearings the C5 doesn't.

At the moment I am just trying to establish if there is a pattern.
The ultimate failure of the bearing for all types would appear to be commonly corrosion, the real question is why do they corrode.
It has been pro-posited that the seals fail water gets in and washes the grease out and then they rust but given the kind of seal and the relatively low rotational velocity there is no reason that the seal should fail. However if the bearing starts to wear or the end load has never been adequate then there will be lateral moment applied to the seal as well as rotational, now this likely would cause water to enter. But again if they had been adequately greased it would I feel take some considerable time for the water to wash enough grease out for the bearing to start to rust.

Anyway whatever the reason I'm just kinda interested in numbers and types at the moment.

cachaciero

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Apr 2010, 06:02

fred1 wrote: The "fix" frequently use on CX & BX was to fit a grease nipple and regularly flush grease into the space between the bearings.

Now that's a very good idea

Greasing I reckon may be the key here Cachaciero. Citroen seem mighty mean with the stuff and even if they do apply a fair amount, it seems of low quality and dries out hard and waxy.

cachaciero · Post by **cachaciero** » 15 Apr 2010, 10:20

Peter.N. wrote:I would agree with John, I think you would have to put a pretty hefty load on them to damage them, all the ones I have replaced have been rusty, not done C5 though. I have never replaced them in an XM including one I have now which has done in excess of 250,000 miles, I have had to replace them on BXs and CXs though.

Well I would consider having to change the bearings at circa 200K not unreasonable but really that highlights the issue. I would suggest that very very few XM's maybe none had bearing failure before 100K and the two I had were well passed that mileage when I parted company with them and there was nothing wrong with them at that point. So why is it that the C5 with apparently the same bearing set up seems prone to failure often well before 100K.

Edit

Bet the CX was welll beyond 100K as well

cachaciero

cachaciero · Post by **cachaciero** » 15 Apr 2010, 10:30

fred1 wrote:Hi,

Failures appear to be caused by the same mechanism as on the Cx, BX and Xantia, that is water gets in past the seals, the grease is washed out and they corrode.

The "fix" frequently use on CX & BX was to fit a grease nipple and regularly flush grease into the space between the bearings. This seemed to stave off failure for ever. Did not seem to be a load related problem.

This kept the bearings lubricated and water out.

I keep meaning to do it on the C5 but can't seem to get round to it !

Regards

John

I note from another post that you have changed a radius bearing on a C5 so what was it estate or saloon and how many miles?

cachaciero

Post by **Peter.N.** » 15 Apr 2010, 10:53

I would suggest that either the seals are sub standard or the bearings are not correctly loaded allowing movement, I can't see that they would wear, unless the bearings themselves were faulty. I have always filled the space between the bearings with grease on replacement.

Peter

fred1 · Post by **fred1** » 15 Apr 2010, 20:01

Hi,

A 51 plate 2.2 saloon at about 120k miles.

john

boristhespie · Post by **boristhespie** » 15 Apr 2010, 21:00

Mine went can't remeber at what mileage but I drove around on them including to Fracen and back 3 times and on country roads for 3 years.

It was in the garage 6 times for banging. Only on last occassion after I mentioned that you guys had suggested this, that the dealer said it could be this. He then proceeded to tell me my car maybe knackered. Anothe garage suggested I would be better buying anew car.

I eventually found a guy who did the job, found no other corrosion predicted by the others and it cost me 275 quid.

Dealers and other garages were hopeless. French Vehicle Services Fife were grand.

KevMayer · Post by **KevMayer** » 18 Apr 2010, 18:21

what kit can you get to do the rear arm bearing replacement on a mk1 C5?

Is it the same one as for the Xantia which GSF sell?

Yesterday I had my wheels off to check my brake pads (found I needed new rear pads). The rear left tyre had uneven wear. The tread depth was higher at the inboard side than the outer edge with a linear profile across the tyre.

The steering has also been pulling slightly to the left for some time now.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 18 Apr 2010, 19:02

Hi Kev

The normal tyre pattern with duff trailing arm bearings is to wear the inboard edge of the tyre most, the bearing collapse causes the wheels to lean outwards at the bottom thus wearing the inside edge. Your problem is likely incorrect camber angle or the rear wheels not being parallel, don't know if there is an adjustment, car far to new for me

Peter

fred1 · Post by **fred1** » 18 Apr 2010, 19:07

Hi,

Some of the Xantia kit bits fit the C5. The bearings are thec same but from memory the bolt, nut, and bearing spacers are different.

I have posted a list of the parts here previosly and there is a folder I posted in the files area of the yahoo C5-L forum that gives parts lists and exploded diagrams for rear radius arms of the C5 and XANTIA.

John

boristhespie · Post by **boristhespie** » 18 Apr 2010, 20:00

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... ht=banging