Suspension sinks on Sundays! C5 X7 that works hard + 206 GTi HDi (and 406 Coupe and 306 HDi). - MattBLancs

[Huskyxantia]

Good luck with the other car Matt

[MattBLancs]

Good luck with the other car Matt

Thanks Husky, back on it in a mo.

Here's the wiper spindle problem I found:

[Huskyxantia]

That wiper has some serious movement there

[MattBLancs]

How does this bleed point work?
I'm stuck at present it does not seem to be any obvious way to open it. A quarter turn valve on the C5 but nothing to be seen here just a rubber cap!

[Huskyxantia]

Pull that clip out then pull the pipe

[Huskyxantia]

The one closest to the white plastic part on the black pipe

[Huskyxantia]

Not sure if this is already here or not

[Huskyxantia]

Clip up , pipe pull out ... slowly it should reach a stop point then the fluid will come out , try gravity bleeding, if no luck then the old way , clip up pipe out pedal down , pipe in clip down pedal up and repeat.

[MattBLancs]

Pull that clip out then pull the pipe

The one closest to the white plastic part on the black pipe

Spot on! Yep, had a play and worked it out. White plastic fitting pulled a millimetre or two back (after compressing the right hand clip - can squeeze it towards the pipe, no need to remove the wire clip) let's you pull back. This uncovered the side bleed hole and, if you don't pull it back too far, doesn't seem to let air in.

Not sure if succeeded yet, combination vacuum bleeder and pressure bleeder at same time!

This is what came out, yuk!

[MattBLancs]

Tastes as bad it looks, I really shouldn't have downed it!

(Joking!)

[Huskyxantia]

Is the clutch pedal doing what it should do ?

[MattBLancs]

Is the clutch pedal doing what it should do ?

Was hard to tell when pushing with my hand, but having got to the stage where thought it was well bled, I sat in for a test. Pedal does return but clutch is not disengaged - i.e. it is the slave cylinder, not the master cylinder.

Just for future reference:
Despite the white plastic clip snapped in two, it functions fine, holds the ball joint fine and has no noticeable play. I've given it a good dollop of red rubber grease, as I also did pedal pivot and the pedal return spring mechanism above. One or all of those lubrication tasks seems to have smoothed the pedal action. If moving the pedal very slowly it was possible to get a creak = gone.

So chalk that up as the one step forward on the weekend's two steps back!

[Huskyxantia]

So its gear box off then . At least the pedal end won't need doing , and its best doing them in pairs, having them replaced at the same mileage works out cheaper in the long run.

[MattBLancs]

So its gear box off then . At least the pedal end won't need doing , and its best doing them in pairs, having them replaced at the same mileage works out cheaper in the long run.

Yep. Definitely a "snowballing" job:

Slave cylinder needs box off, box off obvious makes sense to change the (slipping under heavy load and 147,000 miles old!) clutch and pressure plate.
Big question is the DMF, it's showing no signs of distress but is of the same age and logically just get it changed.
Gearbox I'd do both driveshaft seals and probably input shaft seal.
It's already had a gearbox oil swap (and it's got synthetic stuff in) so probably attempt to save and reuse that - if it was me.

Which comes to the biggest question:

• get a garage to do some or all the above and get the car sorted ASAP,
  OR
• Do what I would do in my ideal world and sort it myself. I've done clutch changes before, have the tools/equipment, but will be working outside.

I could do with this car functional (well, by Tuesday if not to impact my usual trips into the office. Obviously that's unrealistic) so option 1 is the sensible way forward.

I don't have a "preferred garage" for farming jobs out - other than MOT and tyres, I'm largely "self sufficient" - so need research as to where I might take it.

[RichardW]

That's annoying, Matt!