Creaking C5

[Bandit12]

My C5 creaks when I lock the doors and the suspension lowers down. It is coming from the back axle area and not the front or middle. Now its getting warmer and the windows are open during driving I've noticed it sometimes doing it as I go round corners too.

While topping up the EOLYs last week I had a quick look underneath but there was no sign of any damage or cause. Any ideas as I'm unfamilar with the hydrosuspension setup? Are there suspension points that require greasing?

It is quite funny as it sounds like the 'old girl' is sighing with relief when I park up

Any advice is appreciated

Bandit

[RichardW]

Needs new rear arm bearing(s). The actual job is not that bad, but getting the arm off can be a 'mare.... The pin holding the suspension strut to the arm rusts in, and removing the brake caliper bolts can be next to impossible if it's not been off before!

[Bandit12]

Oh c**p! Not the simple job I thought it might be then
thanks for the advice tho mate. Not a job I've done before but luckily my neighbour is a mobile car mechanic so I'll get him to have a look

[Peter.N.]

As Richard says its a pain to get the pin out, the best way I have found is to use an appropriate sized punch but you must drive it dead straight. If you hit it with just a hammer it bells the end then it wont go through the hole, give it a good soak with lubricant a while before you do it.

Peter

[Bandit12]

Cheers for that Peter, I've been investigating this and it appears there is no kit available and parts have to be bought individually. Good job I live within walking distance of a citroen dealer and motorfactors:-)
I've only had the car a year but its been regularly serviced complete with brake pads etc so I'm hoping none of the bolts are chewed up or seized.
I'll buy a big can of plusgas and spray those pins daily for a week

[Bandit12]

P.S. any preventative maintenance worth doing while the wheels are off? I've heard funny stories about brake calipers seizing on their pivots etc

[Hell Razor5543]

The problem with the calliper bolts is that, when they come out of the factory, they are thread locked into place. This means that they are difficult to remove. While you have the callipers off you might want to check for the weird corrosion (that happens on Xantias and C5s) that builds up between the calliper and trailing arm. If it is left it pushes the callipers off line, to the point where the disks can get damaged.

[Peter.N.]

A couple of other things, when you eventually get the caliper bolts out it will fall in half if you don't secure it, not a problem in itself but the sealing ring usually dissapears Do put thread lock on the bolts when you replace them or they will come undone - guess how I know



I got my bits from GSF.

Peter

[Bandit12]

thanks for the tips guys. Just tried loading citroendoc backup and got this strange message
"this file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Please install a program or if one exists create an association"

Mechanical stuff I can deal with but computers are a mystery. What do I need to do to get the program running?

[Bandit12]

Good news! I think. I've sprayed the R pins holding the suspension struts with WD and they move freely from side to side when I gave them a wiggle. Not so good news is I spoke with my mechanic neighbour who refused point blank to even look at the car saying the suspension system will need to come off so it looks like I'm on my own.
My background is motorbikes and I've replaced sterring head taper bearings, swing arm bearings wheel bearings and monoshock needle rollers many times over the years. I'm happy to have a go and replace these bearings, do I need any special tools, star drive sockets etc? If so what size and I'll get them before I start. Do I need to de-pressurize the suspension spheres? If so how?

[RichardW]

No need to depressure the suspension as such - set the rear on stands, then put it into low suspension. Pull the R clip, and separate the ram and the arm, then push the ram back into itself. Undo the caliper bolts and lift it clear. Undo the ARB / arm bolts (no idea how these work on a C5 - on a Xantia they are T50). Figure out what you are going to do with the ABS sensor - unlikely it will come out of the arm, so you may need to unplug it - but AFAIK the plugs are accessible under the fuel lift pump access under the rear seat, so the wire is loooong!! Undo the pivot bolt, support the arm, pull the bolt out, and withdraw the arm.

Belt the tube out of the centre of the pivot, then knock the outer bearings out. Run a short bead of weld on opposite sides of each of the inner races, then you should be able to knock these out as well. Re-assemble with plenty of grease!!

[Bandit12]

Cheers Richard

you make it sound very easy Other threads here have suggested unplugging the ABS sensor as its quite delicate and can be broken. Thanks for the tips on the suspension system, this is my first citroen and thats the one thing I really have no experience of.

Daft question, do I need to disconnect the battery? I had a slow puncture a couple of months ago and took the car to my local tyre fitters who jacked the back of the car up and took the wheel off. While the wheel was off, the suspension system had a bit of a tizzy and moved the suspension up and down a few times before settling on the lowest position. Once the wheel was back on I had to leave the engine running for a few minutes before the car would respond to the suspension switch, raise the suspension to "normal" so I could drive off!
It was quite funny and the tyre fitter was scratching his head in disbelief

[Mandrake]

On a C5 I would be cautious when working on the rear suspension replacing bearings with the suspension de-pressurised - on a Xantia if you de-pressurise the the suspension to disassemble the bearings there is no way it can be pressurised again unless the engine is started. On a C5 the hydraulic pump is electric and CAN operate under some conditions when the engine is stopped. You don't want to loose a finger because the computer decides that it wants to pressurise the suspension while your fingers are in the strut area!

So I would find a way to definitely disable the hydraulic pump after de-pressurising the suspension BEFORE doing the work. EG remove the maxi-fuse that powers the pump (and confirm it disables it) or leave the battery disconnected. (Follow proper battery disconnection and reconnection processes)

[Peter.N.]

That never occurred to me when I did mine but its a point, the easiest way would be to disconnect the battery but it means resetting the clock, there is a pump fuse you could pull but don't know where it is. The pump will only usually start up if you open a door.

Peter

[Bandit12]

Thanks for the thoughts on that guys, I'll drop suspension down to minimum, disconnect the battery and then remove the wheel etc. Luckily (unklike a BX) there is enough clearance