c5 rear end clunk - now with pics

[C5Alan]

Managed to get some time today to spend on the car and so had a look at the back end where the noise was coming from to see if I could see anything that would help this is what I found

passenger side (where the noise has been coming from)


drivers side (quiet so far)


Now how hard or expensive should it be to sort this out I have at the min sprayed loads of wd40 all round it and this seems to have cured the sound but I know this is only temporary if this is going to be a huge and expensive job what would happen if I don't fix it and just let it totally fail as she is only worth scrap money anyway maybe just let it die and scrap it but would prefer to fix

[C5Alan]

well wd40 didn't quiet it down for long think i will try some spray grease see if that works as a longer temp fix

[C5Alan]

Well spray grease didn't work either so either I'm not spraying the right part or it is to far gone for greasing up

Is the above pics of the joint everyone talks about or is it another one I could really do with a pic as I'm still learning about this car and its complexitys

[C5Alan]

anyone got any ideas how much this is likely going to cost at the garage? Obviously I will need a new gaitor which according to my shiny new haynes manual looks complex with removing of pipes and thus fluid loss so not as easy as I had hoped then there is the ball joint as well that sounds quite complex and is recommended to be done by the pros so before she goes in to the garage I could do with an idea of how bad this is going to be and does the drivers side look like it is likely to fail in the near future from the pic. Are we talking £100? £500? £1,000? prob anything over £500 and I might think about getting rid unfortunately beginning to like this car at long last

What is likely to happen if I just leave it mot fail but that's months away yet so maybe time to save up and fix???

[acrowot]

I have recently replaced this boot, I had a similar clunk from the rear and replaced both the trailing arm bearings on both sides, this was the cause of my clunk, you need to depressurise the suspension to get this boot off, in my case the big problem was the r clip that holds the piston rod in place was well rusted in, The new boot and large clip was about £25.00, with the boot off the piston rod is removable I used a little suspension fluid to lubricate the holes and inserted the rod from the inside into the small end of the boot and then pushed the large end of the boot with the rod in it onto the suspension unit the large clip was then tightened up, the small end of the rod that is exposed in your picture was then inserted into the trailing arm and the r clip replaced. There are two pipes to replace into the boot they just push in one is a vent and into this I injected 25 m/l of suspension fluid into the boot.

[citronut]

also not had a XANT rear susp/unit push rod out yet, but on BX's the end of the rod that goes into the piston locates into the center of a nylon seat right up inside the piston,

wodge loads of copperslip into the arm where the cup/pin locates

[C5Alan]

Had her in the garage this week and they say its not worth fixing due to mileage and age of the car since the knock is only over certain bumps think this is due to the grease I sprayed around the end of the joint and he dont like the look of c5 suspension but said there is no danger of it all falling apart in the short term and to just drive it till it gets worse and then think about repair. the gaitor will need done for the mot but that is not till next year so will just run it as is for now as he was guesitmating hundreds to sort maybe look at a specialist if or when I decide to get it sorted properly

[citronut]

sound to me the garage you took it to aint got a clue,
as it wont cost hundreds if it just requires push rods and boots,

you could do this yourself
the hardest bit of the job might be removing the pin holding the cup to the arm,
once that is out it just requires the boot clamp undoing then slide the push rod and boot away and out of the cylinder,

i had a look on service citroen and they dont list the push rod separately from the cylinder for a C5,
the only model i found with it listed separately is the BX and here is price and part No. for that one ( it may well be the same part as on the C5 )

Part Number Description Quantity Price excl. VAT Price incl. VAT Total incl. VAT Selection
95568737 ROD+ARTICULATN 50.10 GBP 60.12 GBP 60.12 GBP

although it states NFP you might find one through a googly search with the part No.

otherwise of to the breakers

[RichardW]

Graeme Harper's garage off Argyll street in Glasgow will not be phased by this. It's a bit difficult to find, but worth the effort. I understand that Graeme himself has sadly passed away, but the garage has kept going.

[C5Alan]

Ive been round to Harper's before and when I get the chance will be round to him to get a look at it. The boy I took it to is a decent fellow didn't charge for looking at the car and gave me the piece of mind to drive her for a while till I can get her fixed biggest prob for me now is getting time off work to get it done can't afford to be down a car at the min being self employed and quite busy

[Jabo]

I'd still be looking at the rear arm bearings here. You can't rule out the bearings until you replace them. The C5 *naturally* has negative camber at the rear so you can't use that as a check.
My C5 had a clunk from the rear driver side going over speed bumps for over a year. I replaced the bearings in that side a couple months back and the clunk is gone. The arm wasn't damaged either.

The job will take you hours to do yourself if it's your first time but all you really need is patience and the right exploded diagram from the Citroen Service site.

Alan, I recommend getting the parts through the week and taking next Saturday and Sunday off to get it done.

[C5Alan]

If I could take a full weekend off to work on the car I wouldn't I would much rather spend it with the missus as I don't have the patience or access to Citroen service site to even think about taking this on I know my limits when working on cars and this is more than I am comfortable tackling