C5 Suspension Pump Repair

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456eec
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C5 Suspension Pump Repair

Post by 456eec »

The suspension on my 2007 C5 here in Australia stopped working a few weeks ago. Took it to the local Citroen dealer who said that the fuse had blown, the pump was smoking and needed replacing. Quoted $2100 for an aftermarket one fitted. I brought the car home and did some research on this site, on the Aussie site and also contacted BBA Reman in the UK who quoted me 375 pounds plus freight to recondition mine so that is the last resort and still heap cheaper the the dealer.
Posts on here did mention that the motor gets full of black crap and can be fixed by cleaning it out. On taking the end cap off the top part with the brushes, capaciter etc I found that it is covered in oily black crap.
I am unsure how to go about cleaning it. I took the 3 torx screws out of the bottom but am also unsure if I can pull the casing with magnets off the internal winding. I don't want to force it and break something.
Any advice on how to proceed from someone who has done it successfully would be greatly appreciated.
Also how much LDS will I need to refill the tank and get the system going? It is so expensive at the local dealer I will have to order it from the Total agent in Brisbane and have it freighted.
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Re: C5 Suspension Pump Repair

Post by Peter.N. »

I would have thought it would have been a lot cheaper to get a secondhand one sent from over here. It depends where the smoke is from whether its repairable or not, what does it smell like? If its a burning windings smell it probably won't be repairable but its worth giving it a try to clean it out, unfortunately I have never done one but I'm sure someone will get back who has.

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Re: C5 Suspension Pump Repair

Post by Gibbo2286 »

456eec wrote:The suspension on my 2007 C5 here in Australia stopped working a few weeks ago. Took it to the local Citroen dealer who said that the fuse had blown, the pump was smoking and needed replacing. Quoted $2100 for an aftermarket one fitted. I brought the car home and did some research on this site, on the Aussie site and also contacted BBA Reman in the UK who quoted me 375 pounds plus freight to recondition mine so that is the last resort and still heap cheaper the the dealer.
Posts on here did mention that the motor gets full of black crap and can be fixed by cleaning it out. On taking the end cap off the top part with the brushes, capaciter etc I found that it is covered in oily black crap.
I am unsure how to go about cleaning it. I took the 3 torx screws out of the bottom but am also unsure if I can pull the casing with magnets off the internal winding. I don't want to force it and break something.
Any advice on how to proceed from someone who has done it successfully would be greatly appreciated.
Also how much LDS will I need to refill the tank and get the system going? It is so expensive at the local dealer I will have to order it from the Total agent in Brisbane and have it freighted.


I'm not altogether sure what you mean, if you mean getting the body off the motor after removing the end plate and brushes it's just a matter of pulling it off against the strong magnetic force, The sludge in the motor can be either water and brush dust mixed due to water getting sucked into the breather hole on the bottom or oil and brush dust due to the oil getting past the shaft seal, cleaning will depend on which, washing up liquid and warm water for water ingress, white spirit/turps substitute for oily.
Check that the internal wiring on the end cap isn't suffering from copper corrosion i.e. gone blue and burned through, if it is you might be able to cut out the bad bits and replace with new.....I used a short length of cooker wire soldered in.
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456eec
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Re: C5 Suspension Pump Repair

Post by 456eec »

Thanks for those replies.
I got the case off. Was just being held by the grey silican material around the plastic art where the plug goes.
The material is oily likely from ingress of LDS. It did overflow once when being fitted with new tyres. It was my fault as I didn't know it should be on low to top up the LDS so it was overfull.
Apart from the black oily stuff everything looks in good order.
If it comes to replacement I would get it repaired rather than getting a 2nd hand one. There is one available here for $650 which is about the price of reconditioning. I wouldnt get a 2nd hand one from there as I would hate to wait ages for it to come them find it also had a fault. I just need to get the car back on the road.
Re cleaning I did'nt know whether water would damage any components if dried quickly. I could use spray on degreaser then hose out before drying in the hot sun here. Most things will dry in 1/2 hour.
Non water option is to use spray carburettor cleaner and just blast it out and let it dry.
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