DMF nightmare

[john alexander]

Hi I've not been on here for a while but here's a beauty for you . Last Thursday my C5 1.6 HDI DMF failed , At least thats what I thought , no drive to wheels.
As I was going on holiday on sunday I had it taken to the garage that does my MOT's on Friday as they said they could have it fixed on the Saturday. great news thinks me . I phone in the afternoon to be told that the clutch wasn't disengaging because the slave cylinder was leaking ( it wasn't before ) . The new slave cylinder was to be fitted Monday along with new driveshaft seals ( which had apparently failed as well ) I phoned for an update to be told they had been supplied with the wrong clutch.. A Valeo DMF and a LUK clutch and wait for it they weren't compatable . WOW REALLY . But no worries it would be ready by lunch time Tuesday. YEAH. .I drove the car out the garage OOPS It juddered like hell on moving off and I mean juddered , like the engine was trying to escape. Back I went . I then got " was it not like that before . ----- When it came in it wouldn't move , the gearbox was locked up, it must be broken " I found this hard to believe as it drove in all gears. I was told to take it on holiday and take it back to them when I got back and the box would come out again and the DMF checked by Valeo , but they might ask to see the gearbox as well. I'm writing this in Kendal after towing my caravan from Livingston at speeds up to 65 without a murmer from the gearbox. Parking the van was a bit of a problem with the juddering but I got here. After my holiday I'll probably find a big dog broke into the garage and ate my car.

That's me away to lie down in a dark room with rubber wallpaper . John.

[Lighty]

Your correct about it being a nightmare , also for the garage, they will be getting good at it by the time it's fixed.
We just did one of these on wednesday his week, and it was so smooth, I got everyone at work to try it, to see how they should be.
I personally think that the key, is to get the gearbox in 1st time. They are bloody heavy, and difficult to get straight in. As the mechanics are struggling to line the box up and slot it home the last 30 mm, they will be waggling it about and having a rest, probably allowing some of the gearbox weight to hang on the centre plate boss.
I truley believe that this is what causes the plate to "bend" & judder. The one we did this week, went in 1st time ( a rare treat), hence it's smoothness. The clutch will often "sort itself out" after a few miles, but probably not in your case.
Valeo & LUK do not make iffy replacement clutches

[citronut]

is it juddering whilst stationery or just once the car is moving,

i have seen a bent intermediate drive shaft all be it on a TD,
this was caused by a garage replacing a clutch without pulling the O/S driveshaft out from its intermediate bearing housing,

also they should have fitted new diff seals as part of the job

[oscar]

Hi yes bet they never used a gearbox cradle to offer it up as should be used or supported correctly as the first motion/input shaft is a single row bearing that isn't designed/likes to have weight hung onit.
Had a merc truck have that bearing go which split gearbox casing as it tries to get in between lay shaft cogs as it rides up from play sounds awful with dying sounds!then start to lose gears.
MR F'clutch was a great one for palming you off with it must be your gearbox after they put "new" clutch in hang box then when driving have a hell of a problem with getting it into 1st gear from standing as clutch is dragging.
Also did they replace the spigot bearing? as that causes some many problems if dead as other end of input shafts support which keeps clutch level/even as that would cause that problem you have.

[flying clutchman]

Surely there's no spigot bearing fitted to the C5? It's very rare to have a spigot bearing fitted to a FWD vehicle because the input shaft is a solid one piece shaft and therefore does'nt need supporting at the end. Anyway, apart from that! This is a sorry tale from start to (we're only halfway I think) finish. I'm not sure which gearbox is fitted to the 1.6Hdi, if it's the gl type they are quite heavy, the be3/4 type are not bad at all.There's no excuse for damaging clutches when replacing the gearbox, I work mobile with no special tools and seem to be able to manage it ok! I'm getting a bit past just picking the box up on my chest(I can manage a be3/4 or ma box) so have to use a jack as well these days but the box should slide in without too much grief if you take time and get it straight.

[Citroenmad]

That does sound like a right ordeal!

Our C5 2.0HDi 138 16v had a new clutch recently, I picked it up and withing a few miles lost most of the gears as the linkage came off. However after they fixed that its been fine apart from a judder on the clutch when pulling away. Its not extremely bad but its enough. The car has done a few miles since that now and it is getting smoother and almost gone now, since I've been away for the week with it.