C6 MOT repairs

[Orbit Motors]

I have a 2007 Citroen C6 2.7 HDi which until recently was my daily driver. I absolutely love the car and of course the feeling of it being rather special. Recently I took it for its MOT and it failed, not spectacularly but enough to cause a large bill. As anyone who is familiar with the C6 knows, large repair bills are just an aspect of owning one, but it is more some of the specific items I am reluctant to pay over the odds for.

How difficult are the suspension units at the front to change as a DIY repair? I have Lexia to hand which I'd imagine is needed for assistance in bleeding the LDS system, they are available as a new genuine part from Neo Brothers on ebay in the region of £250 to £300, but garages I would trust to do this will only buy them from Citroen themselves who are now charging double this.

The handbrake units on these are of course ridiculous in the fact they can only be programmed once so a secondhand one is useless, luckily I've found someone who makes aftermarket cables for them, and I'm told they are not overly hard to swap out, I would do both at the same time.

Other bits I can either confidently do myself or entrust someone local to carry out the work, it's mainly the hydraulic suspension unit that I'm worried about. Has anyone here changed one themselves?

[GiveMeABreak]

I just paid my dealer to fit only - as I supplied them with the original new OEM strut that I got from Poland at at least half the price Citroen wanted.

You don't even need Lexia, as you can depressurise the system on either the front or rear axles independently if you don't want to completely depressurise the whole system.

Just don't re-use any collected LDS fluid that seeps out.

• Start the engine.
• Set the height control to the "LOW" position.
• Stop the engine.

Front:

Front suspension: Undo the detensioning screw (1) by one turn.
Wait for the pressure in the hydraulic circuit to fall fully.

Rear suspension: Undo the detensioning screw (2) by one turn.
Wait for the pressure in the hydraulic circuit to fall fully.

As for the parking brake - you have lexia to put the parking brake into release mode for cable changes (make sure you disconnect the battery following the BSI Reset / Battery Disconnect / Reconnect Procedure) after they are put in service mode, so that the system does not reapply inadvertently. Complete all work on the cables before reconnecting the battery and then I think it's a long pull on the parking brake control to ensure the cables are re-tensioned.

If you have to replace the unit, there's nothing I can see anywhere about once only configuration.

Citroen say on completion of the electronic parking brake:

• Re-adjustment of the parking brake cables
• Calibration of the force sensor
• Clearing of the fault codes
• Configuration of the ECU

[Orbit Motors]

Cheers for all that insight Marc!

Did you use a garage that is one of the known C6 specialists like BL Autos or did you use a local garage? My local Mr Tyre who are a small ish chain around the Midlands I usually entrust for some bits that I can't be bothered to do (they did the wheel bearings) but I'll see if they would be prepared to do a fit only job.

[GiveMeABreak]

I use my main dealer (which I've been using for over 30 years) as I know the Service Manager and have had all my Citroen serviced there. I keep my dealer servicing up for warranty and use my trusted local for specific jobs that don't need any technical expertise. Things like discs and pads, as I prefer to buy Brembo and have them fit for me as I don't like the Citroen discs or pads (terrible quality) as an example. But I've moved my X7 on a few years ago now, so don't have anything uber complex to stress about!

[wheeler]

The handbrake units on these are of course ridiculous in the fact they can only be programmed once so a secondhand one is useless

That's not correct, the FSE unit can freely be swapped between different vehicles. Of course the unit needs to be reset & calibrated with Lexia but they are not coded to the car.

[Rp0thejester]

The reason why garages want to use the original parts from Citroen is so that they are covered if the part goes wrong, so no liability on their part. There is no reason why they cannot fit any part you supply to them as long as you understand that if the part fails it's not their fault. Only incorrect fitting would be their fault

[Orbit Motors]

The handbrake units on these are of course ridiculous in the fact they can only be programmed once so a secondhand one is useless

That's not correct, the FSE unit can freely be swapped between different vehicles. Of course the unit needs to be reset & calibrated with Lexia but they are not coded to the car.

My bad, I have been informed incorrectly then!

[MattBLancs]

I luckily I've found someone who makes aftermarket [handbrake] cables for them, ?

Interested to hear more about this, my C5 has similar/ same?? setup that snapped cables = try and find a second hand setup including motor (or new for I think about a grand???)

[Lenny]

The C5X7 has the same front strut set up and I was amazed how easy it was to replace one.
I'd never done one before and it took me a couple of hours tops. I reckon i could do another in an hour.
Far easier than any conventional suspension strut to replace as you're not fighting with the spring tension.
The only specialist tool I needed was the sphere removal tool (about £20 off Ebay I think).

[Lenny]

Cheap front strut for sale here...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175466565153

...nothing to do with me but it's been for sale for months (probably as they've not included the part number in the title).

[MattBLancs]

Far easier than any conventional suspension strut to replace as you're not fighting with the spring tension.

[Orbit Motors]

I luckily I've found someone who makes aftermarket [handbrake] cables for them, ?

Interested to hear more about this, my C5 has similar/ same?? setup that snapped cables = try and find a second hand setup including motor (or new for I think about a grand???)

He is on the C6 group on Facebook and is based in Edinburgh I believe

Thanks all for your input, think I'll be able to tackle the repairs myself!

[DHallworth]

Michael’s handbrake cables for the C6 are excellent quality

[Michel]

I've only ever done a Xantia Activa one, but it was *SO MUCH EASIER* and a lot less scary than changing a spring on a conventional strut. I'd happily do another, but I let other people change normal springs.