Leaky suspension ram C5 mk1

[Kristian27]

Hi!
so recently I started noticing that one of my rear suspension rams/cylinders was starting to drip LDS fluid on the ground. looking around previous posts I figured this was probably a leaky boot.
got the car jacked up today and cleaned up the boot but found no tears, however... I found that where the boot is clamped to the cylinder there has been enough corrosion to where there are small pin holes in the bottom of the cylinder, safe to say this is the culprit...
has anyone successfully welded these or am I just making it harder to replace the thing when it eventually starts leaking again?
seems like these cylinders aren't that easy to come by, not new at least.

i have temporarily patched it with some two-part "chemical metal" , but don't expect this to last
is there any difference between cylinders 5272 - 70/69/72/71 ?

Citroen C5 Mk1 2003
RPO : 09467

[GiveMeABreak]

Left and right struts and whether the vehicle has Hydractive suspension or not. Only 527270 is available from Citroen now (Left strut without Hydractive suspension).

[aspire_helen]

Yup, had that! No point in trying to obtain a new ram. I achieved a fix using a fuel resistant sealant (I used Loctite 5920 copper silicone gasket), making sure the fluid groove is not blocked. The LDS inside the boot is low pressure so the sealant should hold. I did mine last year for an MOT and it has lasted without a sign of a leak. Indeed, many years ago i did the same on both front struts when they started weeping.
I have produced an illustrated "how to" pdf. PM me if you want it.. I produce such guides every time I do a repair and would publish them on the website as pdfs if permitted.

Extensive aluminium corrosion

Copper coloured sealant is Loctite 5920

[Kristian27]

Yup, had that! No point in trying to obtain a new ram. I achieved a fix using a fuel resistant sealant (I used Loctite 5920 copper silicone gasket), making sure the fluid groove is not blocked. The LDS inside the boot is low pressure so the sealant should hold. I did mine last year for an MOT and it has lasted without a sign of a leak. Indeed, many years ago i did the same on both front struts when they started weeping.
I have produced an illustrated "how to" pdf. PM me if you want it.. I produce such guides every time I do a repair and would publish them on the website as pdfs if permitted.

sounds promising if it's lasted you that long, I'm guessing any fuel-resistant RTV/Silicone sealant will do the trick?
sealant might be a better alternative than the metal compound I used, don't know how much it seals or how good it adheres to the aluminium
feel free to send me the pdf if you like

[GiveMeABreak]

We don't allow PDFs on the Forum, but by all means you can provide a link for the OP to download or contact using PM or email for a link.

[Paul-R]

You could wrap the PDF inside a ZIP file and upload that providing it doesn't exceed the maximum size allowed.

[Kristian27]

so I found someone selling used rams from a 2005-2008 c5, I read that somewhere during 2003 which is my car's model year they changed from 37mm rams to 40mm rams.
however, when plopping my RPO (9467) into a decoder it gives me a production date of 10 October 2002. so is it in fact a 2002 model, with 37mm rams?

[GiveMeABreak]

I'll need your VIN to advise you in that case as there are registration dates and build dates (please post your VIN in full without spaces - it will be automatically masked from public view after submitting your post & will only be visible to staff).

Secondly you haven't mentioned if this is an estate or a saloon. C5 MK I Estates have always had a Diameter of 40, but saloons changed from 37 to 40 from RPO 09823. So C5 MK I Saloons up to 09822 were 37 Diameter. So if your build date is correct then yours are 37 in diameter.

[Kristian27]

It's an Estate (The one with the Flat Rear) so it can only be 40mm then ?

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes and of course whether hydractive or not, which I can't tell until you provide the VIN.

[Kristian27]

VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]

[GiveMeABreak]

Ok, so confirmed as 40mm and non-Hydractive struts, so you need the 527269 (right) & 527270 (left) parts that you already listed in your first post.

[Kristian27]

Whats the difference between the non hydractive struts and hydractive ones?

[GiveMeABreak]

Well it's more to do with the pipes to be honest.
Hydractve 3 (which you have) has the 4 corner spheres only and Hydractive 3+ has the additional front and rear centre sphere. The H3+ system adapts not only to the vehicle speed and road conditions as H3 does, but also to the user's driving style, so can switch into sport mode for a firmer ride depending on conditions.

The spheres will be different pressures and will have different damping holes.

But this also affects the pipes connecting the struts to the Hydraulic Block on the Centre Rear sphere and also the supply and return pipes which are different diameters.

[Kristian27]

Are you able to check if i can use the rams from this c5 ?
VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]