Separating of the ways or if you want it done right DIY

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cachaciero
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Separating of the ways or if you want it done right DIY

Post by cachaciero »

Ever since owning my C5 I have been trying to track down why it has a vague tendanciy to drift to the left.

New nearside lower arm bearings was first though and changed them, well actually changed the arm with one from a 34K scapper, at that time noticed that the nearside bottom ball joint did'nt feel quite as stiff as I thought it should and resolved to change it in the near future.

Fast forward until about six weeks ago decided to get the ball joint done by local garage as I didn't want to invest in tooling to do it myself, presented new ball joint complete with Citroen instructions to garage.

Job done drove car away.

Yesterday while reversing in a busy access road there was a funny graunching noise followed by lack of drive.

Got out of car discovered nearside wheel at a very odd angle well lodged up under the front bumber which was well sprung!!!

After a lot of work by several people car was finally man handled to road side.
Top marks and thanks to Brighton Marina Security staff.

Examination shows that the ball joint has unscrewed completely from the strut, there was no sign of the heat shield and no evidence of the locking tabs being peined over.

It's going to be expensive, dents to the wheel arch, two sensor vires to hub snapped, don't know what state the tri axe bearing will be in or the splines in the gearbox, drive shaft pulled out completely front bumper locking bits torn.

Garage that did the job is even as we speak on it's way to recover the car and we will have a meeting later today to discuss.

Anybody have any thoughts on other things to check is it possible that the strut could be bent?

The real kicker is that the same man that did the ball joint did the cambelt at the same time, seriously considering offering the garage the car as is for a couple of K and walking away.

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Post by myglaren »

That sounds appalling!

I'd be doing some preparatory research into legal recourse in the event that the garage don't agree to restore your car to the condition it was in before that happened.

I would also have them check or even re fit the timing belt on the grounds that you have no confidence in the work that they have already done.

Have a word with your insurers or the AA/RAC if you are a member as they usually provide a huge amount of legal cover - not sure if it applies in this sort of situation though, may be for RTAs only.

Best of luck with it but don't come out of it the loser, you won't replace your car for £2k
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Post by CitroJim »

Just done one of those joints.

It must be done up to 250 nm, loctited and peened.

It is indeed, as you say Steve, applalling that a garage obviously did not give full concentration to doing this job properly.

Mind you, that are an absolute 'mare to do :twisted:
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Post by myglaren »

CitroJim wrote:Just done one of those joints.

It must be done up to 250 nm, loctited and peened.

It is indeed, as you say Steve, applalling that a garage obviously did not give full concentration to doing this job properly.

Mind you, that are an absolute 'mare to do :twisted:
Considering the safety aspects and the potential for a fatal catastrophe there should have been far more diligence applied.

I had a similar experience in the GS. The two 8mm bolts holding the suspension and hub together sheared on a roundabout.
Wheels, driveshafts oil and needle rollers all over the place.
At least it was an easy fix, new driveshaft on four hours later and back in service.

Oddly enough the Renault 11 did the same thing, years later. Sent that one to the scrapyard.
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Post by cachaciero »

myglaren wrote:That sounds appalling!

I'd be doing some preparatory research into legal recourse in the event that the garage don't agree to restore your car to the condition it was in before that happened.

I would also have them check or even re fit the timing belt on the grounds that you have no confidence in the work that they have already done.

Have a word with your insurers or the AA/RAC if you are a member as they usually provide a huge amount of legal cover - not sure if it applies in this sort of situation though, may be for RTAs only.

Best of luck with it but don't come out of it the loser, you won't replace your car for £2k
Well as some somebody said yesterday "lucky you wern't overtaking a lorry at 70 on the Mway" so I guess it's NOT all bad luck. :-)

Interestingly I had just been through a multi-story car park where it is all right turns going in and out, I reckon it could have been rotating on the threads for a while just needed an occasion where the number of "unscrew turns" well exceeded the number of "screw turns".

Well insurance is only TPTF but I have separate legal cover don't know if that would cover me for this but I would imagine that some of the "no win no fee" merchants could well be interested in this if push comes to shove so far the indications are that this may not be required.

2001 2.2 C5 Exclusive SE 2K? I reckon that one could be found for that money after all mine only cost 2750 18 months ago and the 2.2 isn't that popular these days due to fuel cost tax etc. Given that I still have issues with the one that I have a facelift 2.0lt or even a 1.6 is beginning to look very attractive.

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Post by steelcityuk »

Ooh that's terrible!

I can't say I'd have much confidence in the car after that.

Makes you wonder what they've done to other cars.

I hope you come to a solution that suits you.

Steve.
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Post by cachaciero »

Well car has finally been recovered to the garage.
Went over to empty the boot and discuss the way forward armed with a list.
Was met by the chief mechanic who informed me that they allready had a new ball joint and complete drive shaft on order from Citroen and that arrangements had been made with a local body shop to sort out the wing and I was handed the keys to a courtesy car.

They had yet to check out the strut and top.

So far so good.

I was intrigued to see that the half shafts were not held in with a spring ring as they had been on the last car I had the half shafts out of ( a CX). Instead the Tri Ax joint has a big coil spring in it which will always act to "stretch the drive shaft" keeping it located in the gearbox. Certainly makes removing and refitting the driveshaft a lot less physical :-) but curiously I bet it's a more expensive solution than the spring ring.

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Post by rmunns »

Reminds me of an incident that happened to me in 1999.

I drove from Bristol to Llandudno in my Saab 900, usual route up M5 / M6 / M50 / A55. A rapid journey. When I arrived I parked up on Sainsbury's carpark and went in to buy some refreshments. Went back out, sat in car and had a drink and a sarnie. Went to reverse out and the front suspension collapsed on the nearside. I had reversed less than a metre.

Car was recovered and taken back to Bristol and scrapped.

One of my luckier misses!
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Post by KevMayer »

That is bad luck on a really nice car.

I have work done by a garage sometimes where, as you say, it's probably cheaper than tooling up yourself, but, I always take it to either a Citroen main dealer, or, more often, I take it to a local Citroen specialist and luckily the one I use has a lot of history with Citroens of all ages. They even had an SM for sale a couple of years ago.

It just shows how none Citroen garages can make a right mare of an apparently simple job.

The timing belt is probably ok because that job is very similar on a lot of cars. The lower ball joint is wierd. A Citroen special which needs Citroen knowledge to do properly.
Cheers, Kev

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Post by h2ocooler »

Just glad it didn't fail on you when on a motorway.
Hopefully the garage will sort all the damage out, just make sure that the strut moves freely before you take it away.
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