51 C5 rear suspension clonk

Geoff Lebowski · Post by **Geoff Lebowski** » 06 Aug 2011, 10:58

I believe this was a common problem on early C5s that Citroen later rectified (possibly on face lift models???)
Does any one what the cause of the problem is, if it gradually deteriorates/causes further problems and what the fix, if any, would be please?
thanks

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 06 Aug 2011, 17:22

might be arm bearing on there way out/breaing up,

i have just this afternoon sorted these out on the O/S rear arm on my freind 53 plate C5,

although once the arm was off it looked like it didnt require them doing, asthe seals and end bush's were all sitting in the right place,

i still poped them out to discover one of the bearings the rollers had worn grooves into the outter race,

cant even get at the ABS sensor plug to diconect it

, so had to unclip the cable from some of its fixings, enough so i could move the arm about on the ground to sort the bearings out, being extra carfull not to pull on the cable,

regards malcolm

Geoff Lebowski · Post by **Geoff Lebowski** » 06 Aug 2011, 21:40

Hi Malcolm,

Was the rear wheel leaning in the usual fashion? I\'ve not noticed it on mine but then I haven\'t really looked.

I\'m sure there was a problem with early ones?! Or am I going mad?

pete@co.uk · Post by **pete@co.uk** » 06 Aug 2011, 22:25

hi Geoff

On my last 2001 1.8 SX C5 i had this problem and it was defiantly the radius arm bearings it was a loud knock especially over speed humps sometimes it was so bad it sounded like the bottom was falling out of the car but there was no play in these bearings whatsoever i changed every thing front ball joints drop links had every bush in the car examined even had a leaky rear strut replaced but we still couldn't find it in the end i found the problem by chance........

It rained one day and made everything under the car quiet then when it stopped the noise came back so i sprayed the radius arm bearings in penetrating oil that quietened them down but it soon came back.

So i found the problem but when i found out the price of replacement plus fitting on top of what id already spent enough was enough so i part exchanged the car for another C5 but this time its a 2.0 litre this car just glides along just what the doctor ordered OK i,ve had a couple of small problems but nothing like before take a look at my threads and you will see its all here but as i say there was no signs of wear anywhere but the fault was there in the bearings all the time and i suspect this is what is wrong with yours as your having the same problems.

Take a look around the forum you will find quite a few threads addressing this same problem

Pete.................

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 06 Aug 2011, 22:33

Wonderfull... I have this problem also on another Petrol 2.oi C5 on a 51 plate.. Now I know what needs dooing...

How much are the bearing kits?? Are they the useual BX/Xantia SKF Kits?

Paul

pete@co.uk · Post by **pete@co.uk** » 06 Aug 2011, 22:46

hi citroenxm

i don't know the price of the kits or if they re the same as the xantia but the price of the complete arm were about £80 plus £50 fitting at my local garage so thats £130 a side and i needed both sides doing

Pete

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 06 Aug 2011, 22:49

I can fit the thing... was the arm price from Citroen??

Paul

pete@co.uk · Post by **pete@co.uk** » 07 Aug 2011, 00:04

Hi Citroenxm

No this was from my local garage and he deals with GSF he gets everything trade price but im not sure if he had the quote from GSF or Citroen i should make your own enquires to Citroen to get the real price also GSF but this is what he quoted me that's all i know.

Maybe i should have brought my car down to you to fix if you can do it

Kind regards

Pete...................

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 07 Aug 2011, 10:43

Geoff Lebowski wrote:Hi Malcolm,

Was the rear wheel leaning in the usual fashion? I\'ve not noticed it on mine but then I haven\'t really looked.

I\'m sure there was a problem with early ones?! Or am I going mad?

nop no / \ visible,

but as i said earlier with the arm off there was no visible sign's of any wear, on stripping it down only one bearing had broken up, and the rollers had worn grooves into the outter race, this is what caused the noise,

all the other parts bush's, pivot tube/spacer, arm itself were completly undamaged,

i bought the spacer tube and bush's from citroen and the bearings and seals from GSF £38 quid'ish all in,

i usualy salvage the plastic linner tube as i only buzz two short beeds of mig at opposite sides of the outter race, and it dosnt usualy melt the linner much at all,

if you buy the BX/XANT kit then the other bits from citroen it works out at just over %0 quid,

and probably no more than an hour and a half each side,

Paul i will post the full price's and part No.'s tomorow eve as they are at my workshop,

originaly my local GSF said they no longer did the bearings seperatly,

then on calling them back a few weeks later they did do them,

also if only doing one side/arm it pays to loosen the anti roll bar bolts on the other arm, this lets the ARB drop at the side you are working on, which gives the arm clearance on re/fitting (otherwise you WILL strugle i konw i did ) PERCY WHAT SIT

regards malcolm

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 07 Aug 2011, 10:52

Its quite common on C5s for the arm bearings to be at the end of their life without the rear wheels taking on the usual excess camber.

I have only had one fail, on a 52 plate C5 estate with 105K miles. It would make loud cracking noises when going over big bumps. It could be felt through the floor of the car it was so bad, it started quickly though and soon got much worse. I didn't do the repair as it was under warranty but the garage said it was an easy repair, similar to a Xantia I think.

The knocking or rattling on early C5s was apparently sorted from mid 2002 onwards. I believe weights and sound deadening material were fixed to the rear arm. I have never owned a C5 older than mid 2002 so have not had one without this fix, though I believe most cars were recalled.

My 04 C5 was rattling from the back, It took ages for me to find the cause, it was some of the heat sheilds under the car had collected lots of grit and large stones. The sheilds were also rubbing together. Oh and another thing is the spare wheel, if that is not strapped down as tight as possible it does cause a banging when going over bumps.

Radius arm bearings will be the most likely cause of any really noticeable banging, they should not be a costly thing to have replaced if you use a garage in the know.

pete@co.uk · Post by **pete@co.uk** » 07 Aug 2011, 18:04

Hi All

What the experience has taught me is if i ever hear that noise again ill know exactly were to look i wont have to go fault finding ill go straight to the problem

Pete.................

Geoff Lebowski · Post by **Geoff Lebowski** » 08 Aug 2011, 07:32

citroenmad: \"The knocking or rattling on early C5s was apparently sorted from mid 202 onwards. I believe weights and sound deadening material were fixed to the rear arm. \"

Woo hoo - I\'m not going mad! Any idea exactly what the problem was?

Pete and Citronut, many thanks for all that info and advice. My problems sound just like yours Peter, a metallic clonk going over a speed bump. It actually sounds like the push rod from the rear cylinder becomes momentarily separated from it\'s \'bearing pad\' as the wheel drops away and then clonks once the chassis catches up with it (that\'s based on a BX design mind as I\'m not familier with a C5)

It looks like I\'ll be doing radius arm bearings then. I\'m pretty sure you can buy the bearings only from an online bearing retailer. Not sure of the cost but I\'ll do some digging. From my experience the SKF kits are only really needed for the bearings, everything else supplied is often in a re-usable condition.

Is it the same operation as a BX/Xantia?

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 08 Aug 2011, 07:52

in my experience i have seen many BX rear arms with everything completly mangled, seals bush's, bearing spacers, bearings,spacer tube,

i personaly would prepair my self with all the parts, then you arnt stuck with the car in bits,

as i said above i bought all the parts for £38 quid,

the car i have just done we just bought all the parts for one side,

now that side is done we only need to buy the seals and bearings for the other side,
as we will use the good bit we have from that side for the other side,

we wont re/use the old seals though as even though they arnt damaged, they will be worn at the sealing point,

regards malcolm

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 08 Aug 2011, 22:17

here are price's and part No.'s
from GSF
bearings (2 per arm )
512pc0080 £10.38 each inc vat trade

SKF's No.'s
VKD 24000
bar code ref
7 316577 732361

seals (2 per arm)
512pc0100 £2.60 each inc vat trade

from dealer
bearing bush's ( require 2 per arm)
5133.26 £2.96 each inc vat trade

spacer/pivot tube (1 per arm)
5132.68 £7.56 each inc vat trade

all in £38.56

regards malcolm

Dippy · Post by **Dippy** » 08 Aug 2011, 22:43

citronut wrote:in my experience i have seen many BX rear arms with everything completly mangled, seals bush's, bearing spacers, bearings,spacer tube,
regards malcolm

Hi Malcolm

Wasn't there a "Mod " for the BX / 405 trailing arms ?

I seem to remember drilling / tapping a grease nipple into the trailing arms some years ago and injecting X- amounts of bearing grease until it squeezed out of either end , worked very well too when greased regularly .

Alas , my frontal lobes have been overclocked once too often