C5 Estate Rear Window Opening Switch

johnway · Post by **johnway** » 20 May 2009, 12:16

Hi all,
My 2002 estate shares the common C5 problem of the rear window not opening. I have pinpointed the fault to the switch (no short across terminals when pressed) and need to replace it - easier said than done!! How does the rear wiper assembly (which is preventing the removal of the wires to the switch) come out? Is it stuck to the glass or just bolted? The wiper arm nut on the assembly spindle is rusted, so will be a pig to remove for starters. Before attacking this repair, which if there is the potential for glass breakage, may not be worthwhile: I would appreciate any advice.
Many thanks,
John.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 20 May 2009, 12:27

When looking at the C5 estate we bought, the rear glass on the tailgate did not open.

We asked the garage to look into this, as part of the purchase deal. They did and found that the wire to the switch had broken. This wire is aparently part of the heated rear window element, and it what causes the common fault. So to cure the fault it sould need a new rear window!

The garage ran a small wire from the top of the window, where the wire had broken, to the switch. It now has a black wire which runs along the side of the rear glass to the switch and operates as it should. They taped the wire to the window with black tape, so its almost unnoticed when the glass is open, and not on display when its closed.

Ill take a picture to show you, if you want?

Chris.

johnway · Post by **johnway** » 20 May 2009, 12:40

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I do know the repair procedures for the window non opening problem, it is the replacement procedures for the switch that I am stuck on - particularly the rear wiper assembly removal.
Regards,
John.

cachaciero · Post by **cachaciero** » 20 May 2009, 14:39

johnway wrote:Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I do know the repair procedures for the window non opening problem, it is the replacement procedures for the switch that I am stuck on - particularly the rear wiper assembly removal.
Regards,
John.

You do not need to remove the wiper assembly just to change the switch, however while you have the top plastic assembly off which contains the switch it is probably a good idea to remove the wiper spindle and grease it. Removal of the top plastic assembly requires a devious bit of poking with a slim screwdriver through the little square hole you will see at the rear of the assembly.

Tip: There are available on E-Bay copies of Citroens EPC & maintenance manuals 2008 version, that's to say a computer based system. They generally come on one or more DVD's and cost approx £10.00.
These do install they do work and they have most if not all of the maintenance strip down including the rear window switch for the C5 you will ever need. If you are going to do any work on a C5 or any other Cit after about 2001 then I recommend you purchase one of these.

Cachaciero

johnway · Post by **johnway** » 20 May 2009, 17:02

Hi,
Thanks for the tip - I will have a look for a manual. Perhaps I should clarify why I need to remove the wiper assembly in order to repair/replace the window opener switch - it is clamping the wires of the switch so I cannot remove them . Without removing the wires I cannot thread new wires from a new/repaired switch through the wiper assembly to the solenoid terminal connector.
Regards,
John.

den169 · Post by **den169** » 20 May 2009, 19:15

I have diagrams and photos showing how to sort the rear window problem if anyone wants it send me an email to den169@yahoo.com and i'll email it to you.

cachaciero · Post by **cachaciero** » 20 May 2009, 20:46

johnway wrote:Hi,
Thanks for the tip - I will have a look for a manual. Perhaps I should clarify why I need to remove the wiper assembly in order to repair/replace the window opener switch - it is clamping the wires of the switch so I cannot remove them . Without removing the wires I cannot thread new wires from a new/repaired switch through the wiper assembly to the solenoid terminal connector.
Regards,
John.

Hi John

Yes I understand your problem, when I went back and looked at the drawings I realized that it would be very difficult to get the wires out without removing the lower plate.

The real trick is getting the top piece of plastic off which as I said needs a very thin medium length flat blade screw driver which you push into the hole to spring the bit of plastic latching the top on while at the same time pulling the top of. Having said that I didn't succeed without breaking various bits of plastic, in the end I replaced the both bits of plastic and the switch at a cost of about £50.00. The galling thing was that I could find nothing wrong with the original switch which while small is actually quite a high quality micro switch.

Cachaciero