All Things V6...

[Stickyfinger]

No, apparently not. Due to the way the water tracks/drains.

Why can the bulkhead not be sealed to prevent water entry on rhd cars ?

Not sure what you mean by sealed - there is a gaping big air vent hole for the fan to draw air in...which needs to be there.

The issue is when the scuttle comes away the water runs under the scuttle and directly down into the vent instead of being diverted around it to a drain.

You could perhaps argue the positioning and orientation of the vent could have been better thought out though...

Are replacement scuttles available ? Mine is really knackered and I'm lucky that the piece by the vent is still intact. Someone has broken it in two down the middle when replacing the windscreen wiper motor I think, as the park adjustment on the wiper motor was set wrong when I got the car!

Just been out to look, water does drain away from the vent on the LHD, into it on the RHD cars

[DHallworth]

Are replacement scuttles available ?

No, unfortunately not. Last time Citroen listed them they were £98 plus change, now they're NFP and nobody's got them in stock gathering dust on a shelf

David.

[CitroJim]

David, a type of sealant worth trying on the scuttle perhaps...

See Simon's blog here https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... 38#p519838

[DHallworth]

I've been following that thread with interest, Jim.

I want something that's going to stick my scuttle to the windscreen like s**t sticks to a blanket as I DON'T want to be doing this job ever again.

David.

[CitroJim]

I want something that's going to stick my scuttle to the windscreen like s**t sticks to a blanket as I DON'T want to be doing this job ever again.

Same here!!!

[DHallworth]

Well, after a long but enjoyable run down south in the C5 I'm now at the Woburn Hotel in Woburn funnily enough.

The C5 ran beautifully and feels like a different car after a long run. I did all 380 miles in one go without stopping and have arrived at the other end feeling nice and fresh.

Although the car has performed beautifully all the way I'm not convinced it's entirely right. I behaved myself all the way and sat with the cruise control on at 70 for the entire journey (apart from when in road works and average speed cameras) and for some reason it's only averaged 39.7mpg. I say "only" as it's much better then anything else I own, however, on the way home the weekend I collected the car 12 months ago driving it in the same manner it averaged 48-49mpg.

As far as I know there's no fault codes stored, and it's 5k miles away from being due a service. However, I've got plans for tomorrow morning, but after that I'm heading to BL Auto's and dropping the C5 off. It's being given a thorough going over with a tooth comb and a full service. When on uneven roads, mainly B roads around home there's a couple of very feint clunks from something on it so I want it sorting out.

I don't trust Citroen Glasgow after their screw ups with my EGR valve and suspension pump which resulted in me not actually paying them a penny for replacing the EGR valve as they couldn't work out what I owed them. I've made the journey from Glasgow to BL Auto's before so I decided I'd do it again.

I'm getting the train home from London Euston tomorrow evening and then flying back down for the car next Saturday morning if everything goes to plan.

David.

[CitroJim]

Have a lovely weekend David... Not far from me where you are now. You may even see me out on my bike around that way later today

[DHallworth]

Well, a fantastic day was had at the Millbrook Proving Ground playing with the new Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

It's a 2.9 litre 90 degree V6 with two turbo chargers bolted to it to produce a whopping 510bhp. When driving normally the car was very civilised. It was quiet, comfy and the suspension was quite supple. Once dynamic mode was engaged, EVERYTHING changed, you could instantly feel the throttle response sharpen, the suspension instantly went hard and the valves in the exhaust opened to create what can only be described as an EPIC noise.

I did 3 laps of the Alpine Circuit, 4 laps of the high speed bowl and then we went onto the Mile straight and did a 0 - 60 - 0, then a 0 - 100 - 0. 60mph is gone before you get a chance to blink as the 0 - 60 time is 3.9 seconds. 0 - 100 takes no time at all. When you hit 100 they told you to stand on the brakes as hard as you physically could. The carbon ceramic brakes on it (£5,500 option) are enough to pull your eyes out of the sockets.

I managed to get another run around the Alpine Circuit later when the weather had warmed and the track had dried up so I could properly exercise it, it's a phenomenal car. The instructor then took us back to the Mile straight and we did a flat out mile. 1/4 of a mile sees it doing 124mph, 3/4 mile saw 160mph, then we had to hammer the brakes on as right at the end is a 40mph hair pin!

It was a really fantastic day.

I've also dropped the C5 off at BL Auto's in Welwyn Garden City as it's got a few little jobs that need sorting under warranty. There's been a bit of a clunk from it for a while. I asked Citroen Glasgow to investigate this when they had it for a month to do the EGR valve. It came back with a health check sheet completed and covered in green boxes and no mention of anything. This was only around 1800 miles ago. Robert has only moved the car from the road into the garage and told me straight away it needs bushes.

The drivers side bottom bush is knackered and there's no rubber at all left on the passengers side one. I'm glad he's found something as I noticed on the way down last night it felt a little wandery at times.

Last autumn Citroen Glasgow also replaced the suspension pump at a cost of over £1000, this didn't fix the fluid leak so they then replaced a rubber pipe for another £50. Robert found the underside of the car absolutely covered in LDS and the chassis leg soaking again so it looks like they've still not fixed the leak. Apparently at first glance it looks like the LDS tank might be burst as it looks a bit swollen.

Apparently the fuel additive is low and needs topping up too. It's also getting a full service whilst it's there so hopefully it'll come back like a new car! I don't mind spending a bit of money on this C5 as it really is a great all rounder. It's quick, quiet, comfy and ticks all the boxes I want it to for now.

I managed to miss my train from Welwyn Garden City to London Kings Cross by 2 minutes which caused me to miss my train from Euston by 30 seconds. Thankfully I managed to get my ticket changed without having to pay anything extra as the ticket staff initially said it'd cost £130 to change the ticket. I paid £25 on the train to upgrade to 1st class which was worth every penny as there's a massive amount of football fans, rugby fans and Saturday night revellers on the train so it's loud and packed.

Anyway, we'll see what Monday morning brings when Robert gets a proper look over the C5. I must admit I'm tempted to make a complaint to Citroen UK about the dealer in Glasgow as this isn't the first time I've had problems with them. One thing I do know is that they're never putting another spanner near any of my cars again! I've stopped using them for MOT's recently too so I'll only be ordering parts from them now.

David.

[Stickyfinger]

Bath and Abingdon Citroen dealers the same.......

[CitroJim]

Excellent David, sounds like a perfect weekend! That car sounds like a beast!

I did indeed ride my bike through Woburn yesterday as part of an epic ride

Hope BL Autos do their normal excellent job and all will be well with the C5 now...

[elma]

I've been following that thread with interest, Jim.

I want something that's going to stick my scuttle to the windscreen like s**t sticks to a blanket as I DON'T want to be doing this job ever again.

David.

Haven't tried it on a scuttle but I'd recommend this marine sealer from 3m. Cure time is ridiculous but they do a fast cure version as well It rewelts the soles on my boots brilliantly as it has strength, flex and it sticks.

[DHallworth]

Well, the C5 was finished last week and is awaiting my collection. There was a part that went on back order with Citroen and slowed it down.

In October Citroen Glasgow concluded that after replacing the EGR valve that the car was in good fettle and everything scored green on the vehicle health check...

However, after Robert at BL Auto's gave the car a going over he found a fair amount of work that was needed. There had been a clunk from the front for a while that used to drive me nuts when on poor road surfaces. On the country lane between our house and mum n dads there is a hump in the road that used to provoke it and it used to drive me nuts. Citroen Glasgow reported that they couldn't find anything to cause it.

Robert found that the car needed both the NS and OS bottom arm bushes replacing, this has totally cured the clonk. The LDS leak that they changed the entire pump for, then deduced it needed a pipe as well (total cost over £1000) was found to still be leaking, this was cured with a new LDS reservoir, whilst the system was depressurised the remaining 3 spheres were pressure tested and proven OK. Unfortunately the LDS fluid had destroyed a coolant pipe and turned it to a squidgy mess, it was the pipe that went on back order.

I kept getting occasional DPF messages on the screen but no other warnings and no fault codes stored, this was traced to the EOLYS tank being empty despite no warnings on the screen so someone has obviously reset the ECU without filling the tank, so it's had 3 litres of fuel additive.

It's also had 2 gearbox oil changes done which now take the total number of changes to 4 in the last 12 months so the gearbox oil is now nice and clean.

The coolant was also flushed out as it was filthy, the bottle had become quite badly stained as well so it was replaced with a nice shiny new one too. Apparently it took about 2 hours to get the cooling system cleaned up.

It's also had a major service done too.

So, to summarise, it's had:

Major Service
NS Bottom Arm
OS Bottom Arm
LDS Tank
EOLYS Fluid - 3 litres
Coolant Bottle
Coolant Pipe
Coolant
2 Gearbox fluid oil changes
3 old spheres pressure tested

It's had more spent on it then some C5 X7's cost but at least I now know that the car is in perfect fettle and hopefully shouldn't need anything for a while. It's also great to know that someone who understands the cars inside and out has been over it with a tooth comb. There's not many places I'd willingly leave a car for nearly 3 weeks without worrying about it

I think Robert has successfully talked himself into servicing it annually now so I can see us having a weekend away every year whilst the car gets serviced

Whilst it's not been here over the last couple of weeks I've been using the 407 Coupe more then I usually do as it's Cheryl's daily driver. I'd forgotten just how good a car it is. Compared to the C5, the seats are better, there's less tyre noise, less wind noise and it feels torquier and quicker despite having the same engine and gearbox. The C5 wins on the suspension though, it's much softer then the 407. The C5 weighs 1830kg, the 407 weighs 1706kg according to this site:

http://www.zeperfs.com/en/fiche3047-cit ... -0-hdi.htm

http://www.zeperfs.com/en/fiche3204-peu ... v6-hdi.htm

The weight would explain the 407 feeling quicker but you don't half notice how much quieter the tyre and road noise is when compared to the X7. I believe road noise was one thing the C5 was badly criticised for though.

I believe the 407 Coupe was built on the same production line as the C6 though so comparing it to the C5 is probably a little unfair. However, if I was put in the position of having to only keep one, it would probably be the 407...

I'm getting the train to London on Wednesday, collecting the C5 on Wednesday afternoon and travelling to Peterborough for my training course. It'll be a nice run home now the car is sorted I'm actually really looking forward to it.

David.

[bxzx16v]

It's good to hear that the C5's gremlins are sorted David.

Mark

[CitroJim]

It's hear that the C5's gremlins are sorted David.

And one hopes those gremlins have now gone for good and you can now look forward to a long spell of trouble-free motoring David...

[Skull]

Presumably you'll be pursuing some sort of financial adjustment from Citroen Glasgow David with a helpful report from BL Autos

Hope you're happy in the C5 and I like your comparison with the 407.