My New Car - 2002 C5 2litre Hdi Estate

[SwissSPEC]

I've purchased this barge today, after my BX Txd decided that it would overheat & pee coolant along with oil at every opportunity Too much rust in the subframe to even contemplate saving it, shame as the engine was an absolute gem. If anyone wants the car minus a few bits & bobs for parts etc...please get in touch, i'm only a few miles from Junction 29 M1.

Here she is:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A few questions if i may.

How much is the typical cost to get the cambelt done on these 2 litre Hdi units?

The passenger side door handle has literally sheared off, i've got the bit that snapped off, would superglue be strong enough? Or do i really need to get a replacement & if so does anyone have one available?

Whereabouts is the oil drain plug? I had a quick look underneath & the battered undertray was in the way, does anyone have a good 2nd hand one or should i just remove it anyway?

What grade of oil do i need for this beasty?

Tyre pressures, what should they ideally be at for an estate, its quite a heavy car.

Does seem to drive quite nice, felt like it was pulling to one side slightly & was very quiet tbh, much better than i thought

I couldn't seem to get the stereo to find a radio station signal, any ideas?

Are there any other things that i need to have a look at that would be a good idea for preventative maintenance & reducing bills etc..?

[myglaren]

I've purchased this barge today, after my BX Txd decided that it would overheat & pee coolant along with oil at every opportunity Too much rust in the subframe to even contemplate saving it, shame as the engine was an absolute gem. If anyone wants the car minus a few bits & bobs for parts etc...please get in touch, i'm only a few miles from Junction 29 M1.

Here she is:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A few questions if i may.

How much is the typical cost to get the cambelt done on these 2 litre Hdi units?

Couldn't say with any accuracy. I've had two done (estate and current hatch) but both along with other jobs.
Change the water pump, check tensioners and crankshaft pulley, also alternator clutch/freewheel/pulley while on with it.
Probably around £300 depending on what is required.

The passenger side door handle has literally sheared off, i've got the bit that snapped off, would superglue be strong enough? Or do i really need to get a replacement & if so does anyone have one available?

New ones available on eBay.

Whereabouts is the oil drain plug? I had a quick look underneath & the battered undertray was in the way, does anyone have a good 2nd hand one or should i just remove it anyway?

Easy to see on the sump but the tray needs to come off.

What grade of oil do i need for this beasty?

I am using 5W30 Synthetic. Change it at half the recommended 12,500 mile interval.
The recommended oil is Total Quarz 9000. Dealers keep it and again, eBay.
Total garages don't stock it.

Tyre pressures, what should they ideally be at for an estate, its quite a heavy car.

IIRC 2.4 Bar front, 2.4 Bar rear, 2.6 Bar rear loaded. Info is on a sticker on the driver's door shut, along with tyre sizes.

Does seem to drive quite nice, felt like it was pulling to one side slightly & was very quiet tbh, much better than i thought

I couldn't seem to get the stereo to find a radio station signal, any ideas?

Water gets into the aerial base and messes up the signal booster. Sometimes remove/clean/silicon seal will do it, otherwise a replacement aerial base is called for.

Are there any other things that i need to have a look at that would be a good idea for preventative maintenance & reducing bills etc..?

Check rear tyres for uneven wear - trailing arm bearings are a weak point. Otherwise read through the threads dealing with C5 problems, they are many and varied.

[SwissSPEC]

Hi Myglaren, & thankyou for your advice/help. I'm not 100% up on these mushroom shaped grey spheres, i presume there is an accumulator sphere & is there anyway of knowing whether there is anything obviously wrong regarding low sphere pressures except for the ride getting jiggly? With the BX you could easily hear the tick time & work out if everything was ok, with this C5 it's so quiet that i'm unsure if thats a good thing or not

[myglaren]

Yep, nothing like a BX. No accumulator as the brakes are conventional, not part of the hydraulic system as we know it.
The suspension is electric, as you have found (I assume) and the power steering powered by an engine-run pump.

It is kind of nice that the electric suspension pump is only required to raise the car and level it so rarely comes into use, rather than running constantly.
Downside is the electrical complexity which seems to be it's Achilles heel.

The steering and suspension share the LDS fluid reservoir.

There is always a hiss when opening the reservoir as it runs under slight pressure.
As for filling, there are conflicting opinions about it. I have only filled mine once, not on this car. Filled it at normal height and dumped a Litre in that brought the level slightly higher than the shorter set of cut outs in the 'strainer'. Never had a problem with it.

Current car appears to be over-filled. Was like that when I got it and have never done anything about it. Again, never any problems with the suspension system.
Remarkable few problems with either of the C5s.

Spheres appear to last for donkeys years, or fail early. Again, no problems with mine although the ride is not as good as the Xantia, which wasn't as good as the BX, which wasn't as good as the GS - a trend perhaps, although trainman's C6 gives the lie to that. Incredible comfort!

[SwissSPEC]

I've noticed that with the engine running there is a kind of repetative & quite loud sort of popping sound, not sure if that is normal or not? Can't tell from inside the car.

Is 5w30 semi-synthetic ok to use? & just to double check, its best to give the car an oil change every year rather than the standard 2 year interval which is 25k? Is that what you meant by saying 125000 miles? Does this car have 5 or 6 spheres? It doesn't have the sport button on the suspension section.

I've noticed that the stereo is a bit odd, it refused to accept a CD a few times, then it eventually worked, but then when i pressed a button on a stalk, it then wouldn't work again & when it did, it was kinda muted so you had to have the volume setting high in order to hear it. Then when turning the car off & then turning it back on, the stereo would leap into life & be mega loud, but then would got quiet again? All a bit strange.

[Northern_Mike]

The standard interval is 12500 miles, MyGlaren means change it at 6000 or so..

[SwissSPEC]

Aha, cheers, i'm used to doing it every 6k on the BX, so no worries there. Is this to avoid the turbo feed pipe from getting gummed up & trashing the turbo?

[myglaren]

That is more the 1.6. I prefer to change oil too often rather than not often enough Used to do the Xantia once a month.

Sorry about the spurious "0"

[SwissSPEC]

Is 5W30 Semi ok to use rather than fully synth if its getting changed every 6k?

[SaabC5]

I can't see it causing any harm but fully synth is available in supermarkets now for £20-25 so pretty reasonable. I've been using 0W-40 fully synth in mine since i bought it with no adverse effects.

[SwissSPEC]

What does citroen recommend? Seems that everyone who's commented is using something different, i'm a bit confused, i'm used to filling the BX up with 15w40 mineral only

[myglaren]

The Citroen recommendation is Total Quarz 9000 5W30.

[SwissSPEC]

Cheers for the info, i guess if i'm changing it twice as often, semi will be sufficient rather than the more pricey fully synth which i guess can take 12.5k service intervals. Do you know if the drain plug has the same size key as a BX? & is the oil filter the same as a diesel BX? Looking at it, it does look very similar, unfortunately its not a purflux thats fitted, so i cant compare the model numbers for the BX Purflux filters that i've got.

[qprdude]

Fully synthetic as it says in the book. Why stint on one of the most important part of your car. The difference is not massive

[SwissSPEC]

The only reason is that i've purchased some semi synth 5W30 I also presumed that if i'm changing it every 6k, that it would be fine?