My C5 the ups and downs

[C5Alan]

OK thought I would share my ups and downs of my C5 ownership.

This car was bought new by my dad in Northern Ireland and was nearly going to be a pinky grey coloured one if it wasn't for my brother seeing it and refusing to ever use it (thank you little bro). It has been all over the place he has taken it to France, Holland, all over the UK several other European countries even drove it all the way to Eastern Germany where it was famous driving through Dresden with loads of people taking pics as it was the first right hand drive they had seen this was when I was working there for 6 months. With all this travelling it covered 198,500 miles and then he gave it to me as he was trading up to a new C5 estate with loads of toys and they wouldn't give him anything for it off the price of the new car even though it was the same dealer he bought it and had it serviced oh well there loss my gain.

That was Christmas 2011 (great gift don't you think) since then I have taken her to 205k miles and I have done a few jobs to her first was to replace the passenger side skirt that had gone missing. Next was to replace the heater fan control module thingy as that had packed in and that was a pain getting a new one from the dealer but its was great to have heat back lol. Apart from that its been wash and fill with diesel.


Recently I have had a prob with outter edge tyre wear still not sorted 4 tyres and tracking didn't sort it now heading to a garage to hopefully get it diagnosed and sorted

MOT brought up a couple of problems bulbs, wipers, front pads, and a pair of drop links all sorted and 12 months tax

Today I fitted black wing indicators and I think they look good very pleased with them
from this:

to this



The future if the tyre problem isn't too much and make me sell her will include:-
- a good service soon
- replace the headlight that looks like it has over spray on it spare sitting here just need to swap
- Leather interior or replace the drivers seat base
- carbon fibre or matt black the vinyl the bonnet
- sort out a way to remove the chrome look to badges and trims
- oh and pile on the miles pizzahut and my business should help nicely

I will get some pics up as soon as I can find my cable to down load the pics

[bxzx16v]

Looking forward to more updates & pics Alan

Mark

[Citroenmad]

A good introduction to your blog there

What year is your C5?

Looks like its a 2.0HDi 110 SX is it?

Im sure the tyre wear problem will not be serious, if its had a recent MOT there should not be too much worn on the steering/suspension, though you never know. Hopefully its just a mater of tracking.

Out of interest, what pressure are you using in the front tyres? C5s are quite heavy and rub tyres off quicker than a lot of cars, they rely on the right tyre pressure and can soon eat through tyres if they are under.

[C5Alan]

Its a 2003 110 HDI could be an sx will check the boot lid latter to be sure. Yes this is bad but when I asked my dad about her he was its black diesel 2ltr c5 this is after owning it from brand new so I'm still new to is and learning quickly I hope lol

All the garage could find was a worn track rod on drivers side passenger is fine so its getting sorted and I will get tracking redone else where to where it was done 2 weeks ago and hope I don't need new tyres. Presure wise slightly over inflated over recomended presure I always do this just personal preference think more likely to be right if there is a leak or drop and normally only check once a month so this suits me

[Citroenmad]

The earlier C5 saloons didn't say model spec on them, unless exclusive, it looks like an SX to me. Has the right wheels and no headlamp washers which would suggest Exclusive.

Your right in to have the pressures slightly over standard, as a soft pressure will only make a tracking problem more painful for the tyre.

[C5Alan]

still haven't checked the spec of her yet really being lazy lol

I think the cruise control is on the blink was working fine last night but today it wouldn't engage I havent really looked into it yet but will get her out on the motor way and have a try it is so handy round town 30 and on and fall asleep wake up with a weird banging sound coming from underneath jack her up and fine another old fart trying to cross the road has got caught under her and is damaging the underside with his walking stick how dare he does he not realise how much work it is going to take to get that fixed next time dont cross the road when people are sleeping behind the wheel

n.b non of this happened he lost his walking stick and it was the dog barking that woke me lol

[Citroenmad]

It could be a faulty switch on the clutch/brake which is stopping the cruise from working. It only works in 4th and 5th though.

[C5Alan]

It could be a faulty switch on the clutch/brake which is stopping the cruise from working. It only works in 4th and 5th though.

Any easy way to check without just ripping them out and swapping them with new ones???

[C5Alan]

Had lots of fun today had an imobiliser fault after fiddling with the battery and she woudnt start ahhh took the merc to get batt checked came back and she started fine pita but ok had a look for break and clutch switches to sort cruise control they aint at the pedals or at least I couldn't see anything jiggled peddles and cruise control worked on the drive to the shops filled up with some diesel and on way home cruise control had stopped again ahhh

If I can't get some control over the list of faults this car has I think she will be up for sale

[myglaren]

It is fiddling with the battery that caused the immobiliser fault.
There is a procedure and letting it sit around for a while is an important part of it.

[C5Alan]

It is fiddling with the battery that caused the immobiliser fault.
There is a procedure and letting it sit around for a while is an important part of it.

I figured that must have been it. These modern cars and their fancy electricery

[CitroJim]

It is fiddling with the battery that caused the immobiliser fault.
There is a procedure and letting it sit around for a while is an important part of it.

I figured that must have been it. These modern cars and their fancy electricery

Indeed When fixing Robyn's 206 today I still find it odd that an essential tool for fixing this modern stuff is a laptop. Gone are the days when the only electrical test kit you needed was a bulb on the end of a couple of wires.

Progress I guess

All I know is without said laptop, Robyn's car most likely would not have been fixed today...

[C5Alan]

not having a good day with this car gear stick is acting up again and the collar not dropping down to disengage reverse, fuel gauge has gone funny dropped £20 in and no change in level so who knows how much fuel I have at the min. not so sure about the recent tracking check she still feels twitchy in the corners to twitchy and has resulted in me drifting the back end a couple of times if its slightly damp roads been too dry at the min so its been ok. Had some kind person take out my rear passenger light and scratch the bumper and bu66er off lovely new one sourced and awaiting collection. The engine tray has dropped and scrapes along the road and even with a fist full of cable ties its dropped will need to get that sorted. the drivers seat has lost all padding on the outside and is very uncomfortable and cant source a matching one locally and waiting a reply from ebay on one that looks like a match. The drivers door card has come loose and catches so you cant open the door. I know cars can be a a bit of a pain but this one is getting to me part of me feels like selling up and moving on but anything i can get will prob be just as bad ahhhh

[C5Alan]

OK thats it I have had enough yesterday the speedo packed in yesterday morning so I am going car shopping

List of problems is:
bust drivers seat - £55
faulty speed - £700 was quoted on here for a new one or £50 for 2nd hand
mystery tracking prob needing 2 new tyres again -£80 tyres & £60 tracking per month so £140
cloudy head light - time I dont have to sort
broken tail light - £20
engine under tray broken and catches on every speed bump cable ties not enough
Passenger wiper blade - £10
Needs a service - £60

there is more but I am getting really fed up writing this already got to find over £300 this month to get her going and know there is more bills and work ahead its been a blast will see what I can get for her and put the repair money into some thing else more suitable for my needs

[C5Alan]

Ok after looking what is available out there and looking at one too many rusted piles of sh1t and clapt out bangers just cause I want a diesel doesn't mena I am happy to pay you 2 grand to drive it to the scrap yard for you ahhh. Decided I would have a better chance of selling the C5 if I could get a new speedo so popped down the scrappies today 5 mins and 2 credit cards with the amazement from one of the workers there the speedo was out and £35 and another 10 mins I had a working speedo in my car whoop whoop. When there got front tyres fitted. Still waiting on a rear tail light from ebay to arrive dont want to buy another one till I either get my money back hurry up ebay. Aero wiper blades ordered so that is another thing off the PITA list.

Still need to sort:-
Head light - waiting on the weather and time
Engine tray - waiting on the weather and time
Service - keeping will sort, selling let new owner
Drivers seat - swaying on this if I plan to keep I need to change but if its going doubt I will get any more for her good seat or bad????

With the amount of rubbish out there I feel its a case of better the devil you know but I just cant make my mind up. With the back seats down it swallowed up more equipment for a scout camp than one of the other leaders estate. I had to collect a couple of copies of the yellow pages to deliver only 1800 odd copies and she swallowed up 2/3 of them and could have taken more if I had tried still plenty of space only left as there was a long line of people wanting to load and she handled as norm everyone else was going with shocks on the bump stops fired her up and the suspension just lifted the lot. Not many cars can do this so I think she is staying well today she is anyway lol