C5 maxi fuse and suspension

[c_wal10]

Hi,

I'm after so advice and help. I don't know anything but the basics about cars and am not mechanically minded so please bear with me and sorry for the long story.

In March the suspension went on our C5. We took it to a Citroen franchaise who found 'The hieght sensors had seized causing the maxi fuse to blow' they freed off the height sensor and replaced the maxi fuse. All was fine until it went for it's MOT a few weeks ago. It failed as it needed front ball joints. I told the garage (a Vaxhaull dealer as we had moved and the citroen dealer was a fair bit away) just to do it as it needed to pass the MOT. Long story short when they got it off the ramp the suspension was stuck on the lowest setting and they couldn't work out why or what to do. I left it with them as we where away for the weekend and when we got back found that they had transferred the car to a guy who specialises in French cars. He has been really helpful. When he has inspected the car he has foound that a 80amp fuse was in the place of a 40 amp fuse, that the resevoir was over filled and heavily contaminated. There was no voltage at pump signal wire, pump motor had burnt out and relay was in-op. He replaced the fuse with a 40 amp one along with the BHI and relays. Initally they worked but then lost 12V signal to the pump. He says that further investigation is needed to see what is wrong but is unable to put a price on how much this will cost, so we've told him to stop as we can't afford this.

We have been made to believe that itr was the 80amp fuse (that citroen put in) that has caused all this damage and left us without a car which is hard when you've got 3 young kids. We are trying to get some sort of compensation from citroen but they are denying that the fuse could cause such damage and that the garage who did the MOT lowered the car too quickly and thats caused the damage.

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this (If it could have been the fuses fault) or if they've had a similar experience?

Many thanks, Claire

[myglaren]

Welcome to the forum Claire Sorry it is under such poor circumstances.

Replacing the Maxi fuse with an 80A one was an idiot's trick to start with.

The C5 suspension has a variety of quirks, one of which is that before jacking up the body the suspension should be fully raised (it locks in this position).
Failing to do so means that it will usually fall to it's lowest position and can cause some damage.
In attempting to recover from this I imagine they have overloaded the system.

Both the Vauxhall garage and the Citroen franchise bear some responsibility here.
The Vauxhall garage have accepted work they are untrained and incompetent to do but the Citroen one in replacing the fuse with one of too high a value can be directly responsible for the failed electrical component the fuse is there to protect.

Even worse there could have been a fire caused by this that would have resulted in even more expensive damage.

In your position I would be seeking legal advice but wait and see what others here have to say. Someone local may be able to take a look and give some pointers.
A bit more detail on the car would help - model, spec, engine and year.

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes agree, between the 2 garages they've certainly been partly responsible. I would suggest the vauxhall garage is not aware of procedures for working on Citroen hydraulic systems and should not as Steve says, accepted the job in the first place, or at least now take some responsibility for the damage. Citroen should know better for fitting double the ampage fuse - that's like putting a 30 amp fuse in a table lamp and wondering why the house caught fire!

Isn't there some motor trade arbitration service for customers to complain too? Might be worth a call to them to see what they say - but certainly, Vauxhall are largely to blame in accepting the job in the first place as they simply do not have procedures or guidelines on working with the suspension for example - (don't tell them this now in case you can use it as ammo) - but I bet if you asked them to explain what they did prior to raising the vehicle off the ground - they wouldn't know about releasing the suspension fluid cap first and raising the car to the highest setting before raising the ramp with the wheels suspended.... and then to lower the vehicle, put suspension to normal setting, then tighten suspension fluid cap. Failure to do this can cause problems in the hydraulic system where the weight of the wheels, where they are allowed to hang, will create a vacuum in the system and can lead to pressurisation issues.

I do hope you can get some redress on this - stand your ground and don't take no for an answer. Citizen's Advice may be able to help with where the blame lies.

[Gibbo2286]

I think you need to stop and consider things more carefully before offering advice, firstly what evidence have you that the Citroen garage fitted the 80 amp fuse? It seems only the second garage suggested that.

If there was a hint of a suspension pump problem that might have been the route taken by a previous owner (or even some roadside rescue guy) when the faulty pump blew the 40 amp fuse.

Also there's no thing in the op's post that says it was hoisted on a wheels free ramp, could have been a drive on one which wouldn't of course cause the 'stuck on low' problem.

As in all cases like this evidence is what's required and that doesn't mean "He said, she said."

[myglaren]

^^ Quite correct Gibbo.
As for the ramp, they would need to raise the car for the balljoints.

[c_wal10]

Hi

Many thanks for the replies.

The car is a Citroen 2006 C5 1.6 Design HDI 5 Door and we've had it for just over a year.

In regards to the 80amp fuse. We have the job sheet from Citroen stating that they replaced the maxi fuse, and Vauxhall couldn't find the other fuse box they told us.

I don't know how the car was worked on- raised in the air or worked on from underneath. I will ring the garage tomorrow and ask them to tell me what exactly they did.

Thanks Again, Claire

[white exec]

If you are a member of AA or RAC, you can call on their engineer and legal services departments, to inspect car and paperwork, and to tackle the garages on your behalf.

[GiveMeABreak]

... Firstly what evidence have you that the Citroen garage fitted the 80 amp fuse? It seems only the second garage suggested that.

"We have been made to believe that itr was the 80amp fuse (that citroen put in)"
That's what the OP said - can't be plainer than that!

Also there's no thing in the op's post that says it was hoisted on a wheels free ramp, could have been a drive on one which wouldn't of course cause the 'stuck on low' problem.
"He said, she said." - I'd be very interested to see how you do the ball joints with the wheels on the ground then! With all due respect, I think you need to read the post before criticising.

[Gibbo2286]

... Firstly what evidence have you that the Citroen garage fitted the 80 amp fuse? It seems only the second garage suggested that.

"We have been made to believe that itr was the 80amp fuse (that citroen put in)"
That's what the OP said - can't be plainer than that!

Also there's no thing in the op's post that says it was hoisted on a wheels free ramp, could have been a drive on one which wouldn't of course cause the 'stuck on low' problem.
"He said, she said." - I'd be very interested to see how you do the ball joints with the wheels on the ground then! With all due respect, I think you need to read the post before criticising.

I wasn't criticising just pointing out the need for evidence, ""We have been made to believe that itr was the 80amp fuse (that citroen put in)"
That's what the OP said - can't be plainer than that! is not evidence it's hearsay, in her latest post she says Citroen replaced the fuse, they would do that anyway but with an 80amp, unlikely don't you think.

[GiveMeABreak]

Just gather all the evidence and paperwork you can Claire, including writing down everything you are told verbally, so it is fresh in your mind, if case you need to get a third party involved as Chris says.

[c_wal10]

Just an update.

Spoke to the legal team at AA who have advised me to put it all in writing to Citroen with copies of all documents we have. Chris thanks for that advice.
Marc, Yes I am keeping paperwork and notes of everything.

Will update once we have some news. Thank you

[white exec]

Good luck. Stick with it, and hopefully see it through.
Last time something like this happened to me (over a BX19RD head-gasket going), the RAC engineers and legal department were superb, and the offending diesel workshop simply caved in.