Newly purchased C5

[wurlycorner]

Not got my Activa back on the road yet, side tracked by various other cars and installing a 4 post ramp (needed so I can set up the suspension on the Activa ) but I need to do some towing and move some stuff around and there's only one thing for that as far as I'm concerned - a hydraulic Citroen estate

My Safari is a long, long, long way off being on the road, so went and bought this today;


(difficult to photograph a dark blue car in the dark )

2.0 HDI (110 bhp) 151k, MOT till Sept, very little service history but I know when the cambelt was last done and it's not due another service for another 10k (last one at Wolsley House Motors, when it had new front pads, discs and particulate filter). It's also had a new exhaust since then.
LX but with hydractive3, brand new rubber boot floor liner, tow bar, genuine locking Citroen roof bars.
It also has new wind deflectors all round.

It was up for £800, I gave £650.

I'm a died in the wool green blood Citroen owner and have generally been unimpressed by modern ones (C6 aside) and a virgin to LDS so had a read up on here about C5's first
Having done a few hundred miles in this C5, I must say I have very much underestimated them...

Has a few problems though of course... (useful for bargaining down the price )
- Front suspension height needs adjusting (low is at low, normal ride height is at intermediate, intermediate is at high) Rear is all spot on and it all goes up/down smartly with no other problems
- Tacho and Speedo under read. When at rest, the pointers are basically pointing straight down. Speedo under-reads by about 15mph, tacho doesn't go above about 2.5k.
- Tailgate doesn't stay up
- Drove it back in the dark and very occasionally the headlights flickered

Any advice on those?
I've read that the speedo/tacho stepper motors can be a problem? How do I test if that's what's wrong, or if it's something else? Would it be usual for both of them to fail at the same time?

There is also a slight judder at speed or when pulling away hard. If this were any other car, I'd say it feels like engine mount to me, or tracking out which is exacerbated by the front ride height being over high. Unless there's anything else common on C5's I should know about?

[Peter.N.]

I can't say I have had a lot of problems with mine other than with the engine and that was all down the the HP diesel pump pressure regulator.

My speedo doesn't under read in fact it is absolutely spot on which is very unusual, they are usually about 10% fast.

The tailgate not staying up is a standard 'feature' of these and I don't know anyone who has actually repaired one as you have to remove the headlining to fit it, that is if you can actually get one. All those that are advertised are either for the saloon or the late estate which uses ordinary struts. You will soon get used to carrying a broom handle with you.

The headlights flickering is normal and I think its due to the hydraulic pump cutting in and out as it draws a fair bit of current.

Cant say I have had a problem with judder when pulling away but all the Hdi's seem to vibrate at less than 1500rpm, I notice this particularly because the 2.1 XMs I have driven for 15 years+ were so smooth at low revs, it just seems to be a characteristic of the engines, my 406 is the same.

Peter

[Stickyfinger]

this is slowly building...
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... +c5+faults" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, you got the best type.

Agree on speedo, my two have always been good and close
Agree on tail gate, £1.50 fix, Handle Wood for the use of....
Headlamps, yep normal if just a hint of it....cutting out and poor indicators points to Str-Wheel contacts, yours sounds OK.
I had a smooth 2.0ltr, the later 1.6HDi juddered, take advice on the DMF?Clutch, it should be OK on those miles (2nd clutch) as it should do 180-200+k and be OK
GlowPlugs are a "constant" fault on the Lexia, the engine should not have a start problem without them.
Look for rear wheel toe-in, rear radius bearings. Do them early if you have to before the seats oval.
Frnt calipers....maintain the handbrake bearing/arm.....neglect and it seizes on.

FIT LEATHER ...it suits the comfort of the car and is a cheap upgrade, you will not add £100 to the car and benefit more than leather, great seats.

[myglaren]

As they ^ said.
One thing though, the 2.0 of that vintage doesn't have a particle filter!

[SwissSPEC]

Didn't they fit a dpf sometime in 2002 to the 2litre hdi? I don't know the build date on my 02 plate, but mine doesn't have one fitted luckily either

[myglaren]

Neither my 52 and the current 53 had one. IIRC it was only the 2.2 that had them then.
Others will confirm, I'm sure we have been here before.

[DickieG]

The judder when pulling away could well be down to the ride height being incorrect as that causes the driveshaft to be working at an angle rather then a straight line, I'd sort out the ride height then reassess the situation.

[wurlycorner]

Thanks guys, yep was gonna start with the ride height and see where the judder goes from there. It's not clutch, it's one of the driveshaft/engine mount/gearbox mount/wheel alignment/wheel balance/wheel bearing...

The tailgate problem is bloody annoying then - thought it looked like a headlining out job horribly familiar to cx safari's where the rear struts lasted no time and/or the fixings sheared off, so you end up in the same situation as this (non working tailgate)

Yep, I have been looking at leather interiors Is the loom and plug there already for the electric seats to plug into?

As for particulate filter, yep reading the owners manual last night suggested it doesn't have one, but wolsely house motors should know, surely?! Either way, whatever... If it's got one, it's been done. If not, happy days anyway

Oh yep, it also has a non-retracting drivers seatbelt too.

[Peter.N.]

Never had a tailgate problem with my CX Safaris and my last one had done 266k when I sold it.

Yes the connections for the electric seats are present but you have to fit a maxi fuse to the underside of the under bonnet fuse box, about 60 amps I think, you have to lift the fuse box out to reach.

I have never come across a particulate filter on an 8 valve, there's always a first time though, but my 2.2 had one.

Give the seat belts a clean and spray some silicon polish on them to unstick.

Peter

[Stickyfinger]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-C5-Es ... 2a4aeb8f0f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With door cards as well.................and just down the road in Kent

[wurlycorner]

Yeah, that's one of the ones I'd noticed

Only thing bothering me was the the back seats look saggy... Taxi?

[Stickyfinger]

Yeah, that's one of the ones I'd noticed

Only thing bothering me was the the back seats look saggy... Taxi?

I had not noticed that, but it is easy to swap over the covers on the original rear squabs so maybe a good option anyway, beat him down on price because of it ?

[wurlycorner]

Mine has manual windows in the back, being a poverty spec LX. If I wanted to fit electric windows at the same time (meaning just a straight complete door card swap) does anyone know if it has the loom in the door ready for electric windows?

Also, I'm assuming it would be the whole regulator that needs swapping, rather than it being possible to just ad the motor drive onto the existing regulator, right?

[Stickyfinger]

Yep, that would be a job and a half, ?? worth it ??

Good items that are easy to swap over (pre wired) : Auto dip internal Mirror : Electric Mirrors (but not fold it needs a new unit), seats/airbags (if faulty on new seats) Cruse Control (may need the brake switches).

And check/clean/grease those F'nt calipers again and throw anything after market on it except Drop Links and MAF (cheep are not worth it)

[Peter.N.]

To be honest I would rather have the wind up windows in the back, they rarely go wrong. The least complicated I can make my car the better.

Peter