C5 usual issues in a new way

[GouroB]

Hi, I have been reading topics about c5 and all its common issues for last couple days and then bought one myself, I have never had Citroen before, infact I have always been a BMW man, but recently I decided to switch to C5 to survive the high oil price,....

My c5 is a 2003 Plated, 2.0l HDi, currently whenever im turning on the engine, it takes a little time to start so am guessing the battery is dying... and when it starts.. it shows that anti pollution problem. And the Acceleration is a bit slow and the check engine sign stays on. Could you suggest me where to begin fixing all these ? for any needed info about the car feel free to ask and thanks a lot in advance for any reply.

[myglaren]

The slow starting may be the battery but is typically a failing starter motor. The engine needs to be spun quite quickly to start straight away.
A failing battery will often give quite a few spurious problems so it is wise to have it checked before consigning it to the bin.
I bought a new one without doing any tests, £60 down the drain, there was nothing wrong with it.

Poor acceleration is often due to to one or both of the following:

Throttle cable adjustment(too loose). Quick and easy fix, free too.
MAF sensor dirty, damaged or simply worn out. Dealer part is around £135 but cheaper ones are available although with questionable longevity.

The Engine Management Light can be lit for a number of reasons. A logged fault can cause it to remain for up to five runs without problems after the original fault was logged. Do you get any error messages on the central info screen?

Ideally you need to have the engine checked with a diagnostic reader. Many of the forum members have the Lexia diagnostic reader - specific to Citroen, and will for a very small fee run a diagnostic session and clear fault codes.

To contact such a member have a look at this thread

[GouroB]

Thats just great, I really appreciate.. I guess the closest member to me is in Colchester or Uxbridge... I will contact them.. however should I do a servicing first before the diagnosis ? The regular servicing i meant, oil/air filter, engine oil, spark plugs etc ?

[citronut]

ho and welcome

it wont hurt to do an engine service but dont try fitting spark plugs to a HDI

[Hell Razor5543]

If you know what you are doing, changing the oil and filter, air filter and pollen filter are quite simple. The one to be careful about is the fuel filter, as if you let any dirt get into the "clean" fuel line it can cause damage, so you need to take care.

If you are happy to order on-line, then this could be a good starting point;

http://www.carparts4less.co.uk/?gclid=C ... tAodyxUAaw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They are an on-line derivative of Euro Car Parts. For the oil it could be worth calling into your local Asda, as (when I called in on Sunday) the are doing 4l Castrol GTX for £12. I normally use their own brand of fully synthetic oil, at £20 for 5l.

Happy spannering, and welcome aboard. Citroens can be quirky, but when maintained properly will last a very long time. The engine in yours is a forum favourite (if it is the 8 valve variant of the HDi engine), with examples going over 200K miles!

[GouroB]

Thnaks for the tips Citronut I wasnt aware that u have glowplugs in diesel cars instead sparkplugs...

Hell Razor5543 ... ah great thanks for all the great information's. here is a diagnose report from RAC man, he used Lexia too i believe.

P.S: mine doesnt have cruise control.

[h2ocooler]

The brake light switch is the same with or without CC, they do fail and that will bring up a fault even if the brake lights are working as they are really 2 switches in one.
Would say the EGR fault is the one for the anti pollution fault, Im sure someone will come along and suggest a fix.
The RAC man would have had a generic code reader, if you get it on Lexia it might give a bit more information than just a fault code.

[GouroB]

h2ocooler thanks for the kind reply. Hope someone gives me some more ideas to get started.