My turn for a C5!

[Hell Razor5543]

Hi Marc. Paul had already changed the seats before I got her ( although he did ask if I wanted them; when I said yes he went ahead). The five 30A fuses are in the passenger compartment. I will have to see if MF6 is (unless it works other equipment that was already fitted?).

EDIT; It looks like MF6 will be there, as it does a lot of things, according to this link (fifth post);

viewtopic.php?t=57949

However, Steve posted (last post in this thread) that he added fuses MF4 & MF5, but I don't know if they would be for the whole seat, or just the heated function.

[GiveMeABreak]

MF6 is an 80Amp Fuse and provides the supply to the whole of Fusebox BH12 that contains up to 5 fuses:

F36 - Trailer Unit
F37 - Pass. Elec Seat Adj. Relay
F38 - Drive Elec Seat Adj. Relay & 12 V Forward Socket
F39 - Radio Amp (HiFI Equaliser Amp Option only)
F40 - Pass / Driver Heated Seat Timer and Relays

[Hell Razor5543]

Hi all,

I need to pick brains (as I would not pick my own, given a choice!). My C5 has decided to throw her toys out of the pram. I was accelerating away from a roundabout (and she was in Sport mode) when there was a drop in performance (she is reluctant to idle and is 'lumpy'). I had her recovered, and my Lexia shows P0299 (in the Injection menu, and NO other faults are shown there). I think an intercooler pipe somewhere has failed (which would make sense as it happened under acceleration). I assume that the air flow goes from turbocharger to intercooler to intake manifold. Would it be possible for anybody to confirm this?

Thanks.

[Hell Razor5543]

OK, well I have found something. The 'rubber' pipe that connects to the intercooler (from the metal pipe that seems to be connected to the turbo, passing under the engine/gearbox) is looking unwell. It is loose where it joins onto that pipe, and there are clear signs that soot has blown out of this junction. Could somebody let me know about BOTH of the pipes for the intercooler (I am of the opinion that if one has failed the other might be following it.

[Dormouse]

generically P0299 is low turbo output so a hose that has popped off would put you into limp mode

[Dormouse]

doesn't this layout have 3 rubber hoses - 2 for the intercooler ends and one to the inlet?

[Hell Razor5543]

The rubber pipe in question has a spring clip to hold it in place, but if there was a jubilee clip (to seal the rubber pipe to the metal pipe) it has long gone. I may have one large enough. However, when she is 'lumpy' she feels like something unbalanced is spinning. Would that be due to the bad air flow?

[Dormouse]

can you get someone to work the throttle while you check if the pipe is blowing? not the same as driving I know. Silly question! Is the pipe that is "blowing" definitely the feed from the turbo?

[Hell Razor5543]

Looks like I need a jubilee clip 220mm in circumference.

[Dormouse]

by my calculations that is 2 3/4 inches - 70 mm. A hose with a spring clip on should resist blowing off though

[Hell Razor5543]

The metal pipe (where it joins with the rubber pipe) has been widened to allow the spring clip to retain the rubber pipe onto the metal one. The jubilee clip is there to make the seal by tightening the rubber pipe to the metal one. The rubber pipe clearly has the indentation of a jubilee clip about 1cm from the spring clip. Because this pipe is so low down (it passes under the gearbox/engine) I think it has picked up crud (there is currently no undertray) and slowly corroded through. I was booting her away from a roundabout (Sport mode in a 2.2L twin turbo C5 is FUN!) when she complained, so probably the jubilee clip gave up, and then the pressure was able to escape through the junction. I will get a couple of jubilee clips from B&Q (about £3 for a pair), fit one, slather it in grease (not sure which is better to protect it), and see what happens.

Michel told me that, when he had intercooler pipes fail on a Skoda and a Xantia the cars became gutless and lumpy (like they were running on a couple of cylinders), so I hope the clip will get her back to her spirited self (and we can enjoy startling sports cars from the lights!).

[Hell Razor5543]

OK, well, that jubilee clip did NOT resolve the problem. The jubilee clip is done up nice and tight, but she is still gutless and lumpy. Drat.

[Hell Razor5543]

Well, I suppose I had better update this thread.

It appears that the cylinder head has taken damage. I took her to a specialist, and he did find a couple of timing issues. Once these were resolved he turned the engine over manually, and it appears there is poor compression on two cylinders. She will run, but not well.

I have three options here. I can try to get her fixed, sell her as spares/repairs, or scrap her. Given the choice, I want to get her fixed. I KNOW that I will have to spend more than she is worth (on ebay there is a similar C5 (but Exclusive as opposed to VTX+) gong for around £2,400), but I am looking at the long game. There are Xantiae going around that are 30 years old. My C5 is 14 years old, and she could last for another 14 years if she is looked after. She has a nice amount of toys (both from when she rolled out of the factory, and from being added later in her life), is comfortable and (when she was working properly) is quick and economical, and has plenty of space.

I do not have the resources to sort her out myself. I neither have the knowledge or the space to fix her myself. The mechanic where she is currently is has declined to work on the head (he does not take on the 'heavy' stuff), I have lost faith in another Citroen specialist I used to use (I am not going to explain why), but I have a couple of feelers out. There are a couple of other things that need looking at, but until the engine is running properly there is no point in fixing these. I know there was an offer (on a thread started by Michel) of a cylinder head from MGmike. I will have to get into contact (and discuss the logistics). Michel had suggested parking the C5 on his driveway for us to work on, but for personal reasons (that I entirely understand) he has had to cancel that offer (although, through him, I have the use of a Xsara Picasso, so I am still mobile. Thanks, Michel).

viewtopic.php?p=688350

All being well, I hope I will be able to say she is running properly and providing me with good service at some time in the future.

[citroenxm]

I refuse to agree head damage. Untill the rocker is removed I'd hedge my bets on rocker fingers being the culprit for the lack of compression. They are designed to break rocker fingers rather then valves or head damage..

Id strongly reccomend looking at rocker fingers..

[Hell Razor5543]

I will get the rocker arms checked first.

Is there a guide anywhere on the Forum to explain how to do so? I know that the 2.2l engine is not covered by Haynes, and the Pocket Mechanic guides (that do cover that engine) do not have good reviews.