New C5 owner with a few questions already

[aerodynamica]

Timing belt was changed yesterday - only trouble was the tension pulley underv the cam pully being very difficult to fit with the belt in place - I had to transcend to a different dimension for that.
Discovered a few 'incidentalomas' during yesterday's session namely the RH engine mounting is completely sheared off! No idea how long it's been like that.. so that's on order.
Having a deeper look under the car for the first time there are a few worryingly rusty bits here and there. The steering rack appears to have had a lot of black grease applied to the troublesome cardan shaft that rusts so no idea what condition is really in. There are 2 hydraulic pipes that look rusty though. There's also a rusty pipe that runs along the RH subframe and looks like a PAS pipe that has a lot of corrosion on the metal section (it's right at the wheel arch) that some previous keeper has covered in black sealant stuff. The pipe looks like it will cost a lot to replace....

Spheres. I finally spotted where citroen chose to locate the front regulator sphere.... right down the back left corner of the engine room hard up against everything. It looks very difficult to replace. The suspension is very soft and when it switches to stiff springs it still rides well however I removed the RH front sphere to help access to the TB job and later on refitting I noticed that the sphere 'rattles' when shaken....... there was no evidence of it being flat but why does it rattle!? Another surprise was to learn that the sphere fitting thread is the same as on old LHM citroens - I thought that the saucer spheres had a different sized thread - not sure where i got that idea from. Anyway it means I can fit the sphere to my sphere tester albeit with lhm but I can blast it out with compressed air afterwards.

Finally changed the LDS and the stuff that the previous owner filled was certainly standard PAS fluid.... it took over 2 hours to change the fluid because I had to be super methodical to partly flush the system and clear the PAS circuit of the wrong fluid before refilling. Incredibly I did manage to somehow overfill the tank and when I depressurised the suspension a second time the tank overflowed and it was fortunate the front wheels were on ramps giving space underneath to catch the spill in an oil drain. Still, what a waste of liquid gold. But it's reassuring to see clear golden colour in the LDS tank instead of RED stuff...

This is becoming more of a blog now ha.

Anyway, not much I can do until the new engine mounting arrives.

[GiveMeABreak]

Always check the LDS level with the vehicle on the LOWEST suspension setting Graeme.

It should be between the 'a' & 'b' marks above.

[aerodynamica]

Hiya thanks Marc, it was more due to the fact it was being part flushed and refilled and that I had trouble getting it to prime initially.

Just to check: the level is to be checked in the low setting by the car's own button or the slammed-to-the-stoppers depressurise setting via the lexia? I thought it was the latter. I think I typed s full litre extra in there...

Oh, I might need a part number for the steering pipe that runs between the steering pump, along the rh inner wheel arch and then to the steering rack... it has a rusty section and bet it doesn't last a year.. ditto the L & R rear suspension pipes. The front to rear one was replaced by the previous owner.

[Hell Razor5543]

Suspension bottomed out will do. If you depressurise the system you will then need to re-pressurise the system afterwards, as the pump does not self prime.

[GiveMeABreak]

Commonly just with manual low setting, as not everyone can depressurise it with Diagbox. There is sufficient capacity in the tank to accommodate this.

As for the pipes - this is the front supply piping, but unfortunately pipe (3) part: 5270VQ is no longer available from Citroen.
If it's pipe (4) 5270VT, this is available at present £35.03 inc. VAT.

[aerodynamica]

Hi Marc, sorry it's the pipe for the PAS. It runs to or from the PAS pump back along the RH side above the subframe and takes a dip under the RH driveshaft to then join the steering rack at the pinion. It is a pipe that has flexible sections and steel sections and it's a larger diameter pipe, at least 10mm. It has a lot of surface rust on the metal sections and someone has completely coated this with sealant right back to the steering rack. I think that actually helped increase its life. It doesnt however look too long for this world!

It actually seems like a feed to the pinion or a return back to the PAS pump which is huge by the way ha

[aerodynamica]

Here's a shot of the RH engine mount as I discovered it...

I had the RH front sphere off to allow better access for the cambelt job and today I decided to see if this sphere (which actually rattles when I shake it) has any pressure left in it. I got all excited when I spotted the Citroen logos on them. Oh! genuine spheres! Ah, they'll be the factory fit ones then.... sphere tester and it shows that the sphere has 25 bar remaining out of (I believe) 50. So it has lost half its pressure in about 13 years.

Looks like I'm going to have to change the lot

[GiveMeABreak]

Let me know which one - BUT:

Items (1) & (2) are no longer available Graeme.

Edit: Corrected item (1) above as the '0' came out instead of the bracket

[aerodynamica]

Suspension bottomed out will do. If you depressurise the system you will then need to re-pressurise the system afterwards, as the pump does not self prime.

Hi James, I managed to repressurise it yesterday by doing the unthinkable - getting my gob around the LDS tank filler and blowing. I read on a different thread that it worked. It only needs 500 millibar to get moving. I do kind of wonger why I didn't use the compressor set to a small output pressure and maybe seal the top with something like a rubber glove...... only I know why

Anyway, I'm delighted to now actually have fluid that's the right colour in there as the presence of that PAS fluid was giving me the fear

[aerodynamica]

Let me know which one - BUT:



Items (10 & (2) are no longer available Graeme.

Good grief what an arrangement! I think it is item 1. in the drawing. Is it usual for parts to be unavailable for such a recent car?

[GiveMeABreak]

Just corrected my Post Graham - the '0' came out instead of the ')' so looked like item 10!

So items (1) & (2) not available unfortunately.....

[aerodynamica]

That pipe number 10 is ridiculous! what's that all about? I think I was looking at parts of that while underneath doing a closer inspection. The mind boggles as to why they chose to route these low down through each wheel arch... and make them out of terrible steel. Maybe everything in the C5 steering is supposed to dissolve. I hope the steering wheel doesn't dissolve, I like it, it's cool the fixed center does not get old!

[aerodynamica]

Just corrected my Post Graham - the '0' came out instead of the ')' so looked like item 10!

So items (1) & (2) not available unfortunately.....

O no! hope is fading....

[aerodynamica]

Do we know anything about these pipes? are these the pressure feed and return to the steering pinion? I wonder if they can be remade. I replaced the front L and R 10mm suspension pipes for the xantia and apart from the end union nuts being broken the full length, 10mm steel pipe and crimped flex sections is similar to these. I wonder if bits can be spliced together. If the pressure used isn't as high as in the suspension for example.

Ah, who knows. I wonder if new steel sections could be brazen in or something.

Cripes, I wonder if there are any of these pipes in breakers.

[Hell Razor5543]

Suspension bottomed out will do. If you depressurise the system you will then need to re-pressurise the system afterwards, as the pump does not self prime.

Hi James, I managed to repressurise it yesterday by doing the unthinkable - getting my gob around the LDS tank filler and blowing. I read on a different thread that it worked. It only needs 500 millibar to get moving. I do kind of wonger why I didn't use the compressor set to a small output pressure and maybe seal the top with something like a rubber glove...... only I know why

Anyway, I'm delighted to now actually have fluid that's the right colour in there as the presence of that PAS fluid was giving me the fear

I got a cap for the LDS reservoir (from a scrappy), drilled a hole through it, and fitted a tyre valve. Then I can just fit this cap and use a cycle pump to pressurise the system.

It was Paul (citroenxm) who said he had pressurised the reservoir that way.