More silly C5 questions

[cachaciero]

I would just add this to Paul's comments, while the Suspension and the steering are separate in respect of pumps they do both use LDS from a common reservoir, leakage on power steering pipes seems quite common at least on early cars.
The suspension pump assembly isn't coded as such to the car but there are some things that may need configuring for which a Lexia would be required. Frankly if the motor fails. and there are a few on here who have had it happen including myself the best thing to do is just change the motor and a Lexia isn't needed for that. For the rest the suspension system seems to be extremely reliable. It's worth noting that low suspension is not a mechanical low like LHM cars where the cylinder "bottoms" it is an "electrical" low and the struts don't bottom to fully depressurise the suspension requires a Lexia or opening of bleed screws (the Lexia is easier
cachaciero

[steelcityuk]

I think that HDi's gone to your head Peter!

I liked my C5, very comfy, very reliable but very normal - sort of a Citroen Mondeo. I sold it and went back to the XM.

Steve.

[Peter.N.]

Thanks again for all your comments, I have now bought one - I will tell you about my day, you couldn't write this!

We left home about 2.00 pm headed for Trago Mills at Newton Abbot, as we had to pass Exeter which was where this car was I thought we would go and have a look. It was on the Sowton industrial estate - for anyone who knows it. We eventually found the place and the car but couldn't find out which unit it belonged to - and I didn't have the phone number. The car didn't look to bad at all, a few dings and scratches but I have seen a lot worse. After enquiring in several units I found the owners.

I had a look round it, checked for head gasket leakage and gave it a general inspection, took it out for a drive and it went very well with no obvious problems. When we came back I checked for cooling system pressure and was pleased to find there was none - I took the oil filler cap off and there was a timing chain - this car was supposed to be a 2.0L LX, anyway with a bit of haggling I got it for £300.00 with three months tax and MOT, we wanted to get to Trago's so I said we would pick it up on the way back, then the wife reminded me that I hadn't left my details, we just managed to get back about 5 minutes before they closed and did the paper work when it indeed proved to be a 2.2L but I thought at that price if it lasts until the MOT runs out it would be worth nearly that for scrap. Looking at it in the car park I also noticed it was an SX.

So we left, Christine behind me in the 406, to get to the A35 you have to travel along a short section of the M5, half way along it stopped and wouldn't start, this is in the rush hour, as it was approaching the slip road the C5 was partly projecting into the n/s lane, I phoned the AA and to their credit the had a recovery truck with us in about seven minutes, they took the car into Exeter services where we met up with them, I was informed that a patrol was on the way to check it out, by this time I would have been quite happy to leave it there and go home in our nice 406 that works.

I was told that the patrol would be there in half an hour so to go into the services and have a drink, which we did, I hadn't even poured out my tea when the phone rang to say the patrol was with the car so I abandoned my refreshments and went outside. The AA man pronounced that it was out of fuel although the gauge was showing a little, on every other Citroen I have had the fuel has lasted until long after the needle has hit the stop. The mechanic asked if I had bought it on ebay - he said 'we get a lot of this'

From then on it all went fine, it drives very nicely, I couldn't check the fuel consumption as I haven't worked out how to use the computer yet. The first job will be to put some tyres on it as I'm not sure they are all legal, the first thing I thought of when I stopped on the motorway was that Mr Plod will be along in a minute but fortunately the AA van turned up first, there was also the insurance issue, once I had paid it was officially mine but fortunately it still had any driver cover from the firm I bought it from which was not a garage.

I dare say a number of faults will surface as I drive it, I will keep you informed, the first is to find out what is running the battery down - after I've put some tyres on!

Peter

P.S Don't tell them on the XM club

[citroenxm]

a 2.2 peter... from one to bad... oh dear... id be quite interested in buying it from you when or just before the mot runs out... hope she doesnt cause you too much hassle.. but you really could do with a lexia now...

hope you dont need to do the injector seals and sleeves... injectors dont like comming out on 2.2s.. check for some lumps of coal around the injectors..

[cachaciero]

Peter
Re battery, first simple check is to make sure the electrics drop into eco mode. From running engine stop engine ign off, radio on, note how long before radio shuts off, the important, could be 5 minutes an hour maybe more depends whats been set in the BSI, the important thing is that it does shut off if it doesn't then the system is staying up in nominal mode and I reckon that could probably flatten a battery inside a couple of days. Of course if it is in such a state that it needs new tyres maybe it needs a new battery as well.....

cachaciero

[jgra1]

sounds good Peter...

my xant gives up when guage gets to around a 1/4 now, has done it for 2 years but I am kinda used to it

good old trago mills.. remember that place, used to fascinate me as a kid..

[waynedance]

2.2 here aswell, mine runs sweet in the 18 months of ownership. Not a bad car if looked after, have you got any faults on screen and I guess you got esp and 3+ suspension.

[Peter.N.]

I have a Lexia Paul but I am having difficulty in installing the programme in the laptop.

Cachaciero - It has a new battery but its been run flat several times - not to many hopefully.

Waynedance - Oh yes, it has the dreaded low DPF fluid indicator, it also says the engine oil is low but it isn't.

Peter

[citroenxm]

peter...

the chain you saw ONLY drives the inlet cam! the exhaust cam and water pump and fuel pump is still a belt like 8v engines...

paul

[Peter.N.]

Ah, thanks for that Paul. I have had a meter on it this morning re it flattening the battery and after a few minutes the current drops to about 150ma, then it goes up to an amp then down to 800ma then back down to 150, it seems to do this in cycles???

I seem to remember something about removing the DPF, any advice?

Peter

[citroenxm]

yes peter... SELL IT... shes a 2.2.... on a serious note.. no idea.. should of bought a 2.0...

[RichardW]

You're a brave man Peter....

On the original questions - Hydractive was the name used for the 3-spheres-per-axle suspension used on the Xm and Xantia. However, when the went to the C5 there were still 2 systems, but they called them Hydractive 3 and 3+. So 3 is like the original system with 2 spheres / axle (albeit with an electric pump, and electronic height correctors), and 3+ is like the Xm / Xantia Hydractive system with 3 spheres / axle and switchable between normal and sport mode (still with the electronic bits though). AFAIK 3+ was not available with any of the Mk1 2.0 HDi versions, only 2.2 HDi and larger petrol engines in higher spec.

The DPF fault is likely to a whole world of pain. Best thing is going to be to junk it - there have been acouple of threads on here recently. Get it wiped from the ECU with a Galleto cable, and then smash out the matrix in the pipe. Getting it to work could cost £££££ and get no where.

[Peter.N.]

Hi Richard

I was thinking more of going down the destruction road than getting it to work - although its OK at the moment, the mechanical bit doesn't seem to difficult its the electronics that bother me, I have a Lexia but have not been able to get it to work yet.

Peter

[cachaciero]

Peter.
DPF fault is not necessarily a world of pain least ways to day but if not today likely will be in the future.
The message you have is saying that the fluid is low, if it is the case that it is low and not none existant (look in the tank) then for now you may get away with just topping up the fluid.
If the tank is dry then you are likely well on the way to a stuffed FAP and it's probably better to think about junking it now.
It would help you to make informed decisions if your Lexia was working under these circumstances you really need to know what the back pressure is across the FAP with a Lexia this would be simple you can read the diff pressure directly. If low probably o.k for a while if high and a forced regen doesn't clear it then junk it time.

Frankly I think your first priority is to get your Lexia working, you will need it to remove the FAP as well as Galeto, to be precise you need Lexia to remove the Eolys metering system from the BSI and Galeto to modify the engine ECU code to remove the FAP regen code. What's your installation problem ?

As regards the battery I think I would expect to see the current down to a low level after the eco time out which could be anything but usually is set to between 15 and 60 minutes after that I don't think I would expect it to change, 180 ma sounds good, if it's in nominal mode could well be driving lot's of stuff in bursts and the current would cycle as a result, but over what values don't know, again with a lexia it's so simple to control this stuff directly.

You don't say how many miles this car has done.

cachaciero

[Peter.N.]

Hi Cachaciero

I understand what you are saying, the Lexia seems to be the answer. The problem I am having is loading the programme to my laptop, I can get so far then it asks me to do something that I don't have instructions for, it also gets very slow when I have any ammount of the programme loaded, I am wondering if the hard disc is not big enough, its an old Dell with XP.

I have just checked the current consumption and its still doing the same thing, about three or four hours now, about 150ma for a minute or two then suddenly 1 amp, down to 800ma and then back to 150, all in the space of a few minutes. one amp seems the max and it can't have gone much over that or it would have blown my old AVO up. The seller told me that the battery goes flat in a couple of days, I would have thought if its about 70ah it would have taken longer, it is a new Yuasa battery.

The car has done about 150k miles and most things seem to work alright. What is this Galeto, and where can I find the Eolys filler.

Thanks

Peter