Citoen c5 diesel, coolant leak.

steve1951 · Post by **steve1951** » 30 Aug 2009, 12:33

Hi all new to site. Just bought a 02 Citoen c5 diesel . Have a coolant leak.
as you look at the engine, running behind it is a pipe app 1 1/2" dia, Which appears to push fit into a unit on the very right corner of the engine.
On this unit is a protrusion, which by feel, I thought initially was a bleed/grease nipple. This protrusion points towards the wing. By feel alone, as I would need to remove many parts to get a good look , it appears the leak is coming from around here. What is this unit? and is it repairable or renew only?

As an aside I also need to get hold of a workshop manual for this, is one available on site for purchase?

Thanks in advance

Steve.

Post by **myglaren** » 30 Aug 2009, 13:05

From your description it sounds like one of the cooling system bleed points - it should have a cap on it that is almost identical to tyre valve caps and in an emergency you can substitute one of these. There are new ones available at about £1 each from the dealer - they have been redisigned as the old ones were affected by heat and loosened.

steve1951 · Post by **steve1951** » 30 Aug 2009, 13:44

There was def no cap there, I will try this many thanks, for your help.

Steve

Post by **myglaren** » 30 Aug 2009, 14:02

If the cap has blown off you'll need to refill the cooling system and bleed it.

Haven't my car here at the moment so can't provide photo's of the three bleed points.

You will need to replenish with Citroen antifreeze which is fairly expensive but protects the dreaded heater matrix - if you take some time to look through the threads here you will soon appreciate that anything that prolongs the life of the heater matrix is worth having/doing.

My car blew one of the bleed caps off during it's last MOT and came close to scalding the tester and sprayed boiling coolant all over the place. They weren't amused when I collected the car and it continued to leak periodically for a while after fitting the new cap. If you overtighten them the threads get damaged and that's no fun at all. The old caps were plastic, the new ones aluminium I believe, although I have seen some brass ones.

Welcome to the forums by the way. Had to abandon the prvious post due to visitors arriving so it was somewhat incomplete.

There isn't a manual available from this site. The site is the manual

There is a recently published Haynes manual, available from Amazon or direct from Haynes. Most booksellers and possibly Halfords and the like will also have it.

It is generaly considered rather inadequate but may be a reasonable guide to what you need. If you see a reference to the BOL (Book Of Lies) on here, that is the Haynes manual.

steve1951 · Post by **steve1951** » 30 Aug 2009, 16:27

Hi again. I have now had a chance to remove pipes etc to get a better look. It appears the unit in question is some kind of water manifold, it starts at the back of the engine, where as stated it appears to have a push fit to the pipe. also in this area is a small hose going to the heater, in the middle are 2/3 electrical contacts with another hose here. At the front is the thermostat housing and outlet for the bottom hose.
What I thought by feel was a bleed nipple is actually the lowest small fixing screw.
It is in this area I seem to be losing coolant either from the push fit or seal.
My immediate thought was radweld or barseal, are they alright to use, on citroens, naturally if I do use them I realise it is my responsability alone.
Thank you and sorry the post is so long winded.
Steve

Post by **myglaren** » 30 Aug 2009, 16:47

As said, I don't have my car here to cross check against your descriptions, won't get it back until Wenesday.
If you could post some photo's it would help but don't introduce Barrs or Radweld into your cooling system.

The only one that I would go with is Forte Stop Leak, which may be rather difficult to obtain over the weekend but quite a few garages/workshops will have it when they open.

It isn't generally available at motor factors.
It is available on the net - here is one source, there may be others in your locality.

steve1951 · Post by **steve1951** » 30 Aug 2009, 17:27

Brill will get some and try that, If no better, will get pics and post them.
Hopefully it will work; as it seems a hell of a lot to take off just to investigate.
Sorry I didn't mean to appear to be pushing. I just didnt know where to start, and was loathe to try radweld etc without advice.
Thanks very much for help. I have a feeling I may well require more.

Steve.

Post by **myglaren** » 30 Aug 2009, 17:41

Don't worry about pushing* - it is something that needs to be resolved and if you are using the car, doing as quickly as possible or you may suffer further problems as a result - airlocks in the cooling system could result in the head gasket blowing and you definitely don't want that happening.

Normally you would get a lot more responses but a lot of the members are away for the weekend.

Ask as many questions as you like, that is the basic purpose of the forums.

*I didn't perceive any pushing, by the way.

cachaciero · Post by **cachaciero** » 30 Aug 2009, 18:18

steve1951 wrote:Hi all new to site. Just bought a 02 Citoen c5 diesel . Have a coolant leak.
as you look at the engine, running behind it is a pipe app 1 1/2" dia, Which appears to push fit into a unit on the very right corner of the engine.
On this unit is a protrusion, which by feel, I thought initially was a bleed/grease nipple. This protrusion points towards the wing. By feel alone, as I would need to remove many parts to get a good look , it appears the leak is coming from around here. What is this unit? and is it repairable or renew only?

As an aside I also need to get hold of a workshop manual for this, is one available on site for purchase?

Thanks in advance

Steve.

As regards your problem which diesel 2.0? 2.2?

As regards manuals there are avialble on E-Bay various purveyors of DVD's of the Citroen Electronic Parts Catalogue (EPC). These have pretty well most of Citroens official repair procedures for the C5 as well as parts lists. They are probably pirated and installation can be a little complicated but the repair information is probably the best you will find, Haynes? well I think that the last reasonable manual Haynes produced for a Citroen was for the CX, the XM manual was a comic book and I have little doubt that the C5 manual will be any better.

cachaciero

steve1951 · Post by **steve1951** » 30 Aug 2009, 20:01

Cheers all, luckily I have girlfriends car until I can get it sorted, so no need to drive her, as I dont want to do anymore damage.
Will see what I can do tommorow. Hopefully get it sorted.

Many thanks for your help

Steve.

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Citoen c5 diesel, coolant leak.

Citoen c5 diesel, coolant leak.

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