Rescue Operation for my Year 2007 C5

[begins]

Hi all,

I should have a good laugh at myself. I know how to help others to spot problems when shopping for used car but I instead bought a lemon car without following the practices I preached. The least I should have done is to send the car inspection prior to purchase but I choose not to.

Anyway, I always wanted to own a C5 and my choice of a used one are that very few over here but I'm determined to make the car work for me without breaking the bank . My car (Year 2007 C5 2.0L, EW10, VVT) travelled about 150km every 2 days and my average speed is about 110~120 km/h.

The problems (within 6 months) were/are:

1. Oil pump leaked and petrol pissed out at Petrol station. Dangerous indeed! Oil pump was replaced. So far so good.

2. The front sidelight bulbs (not the lane change signal light) always blown. They are not working now. I realized that the clip that hold the bulbs are cracked. Can I get the replacement from Ebay? One of the bulb cover also gone missing. I wonder how to order that part too.

3. Hit a pothole, Tyre burst and rim badly damaged. So I change to 16" rims (very hard to find) and 205/55R16 tyre. Very difficult to find the original 215/55R16 tyre here. So far so good on the smaller tyres. The front tyre, I pumped 38 PSI and the rear is 35PSI.

4. Oil return hose for front right suspension broke and replaced. Now happen to the left side and yet to fix it. Oil stain has been seen at right side suspension arm, usually after a hard ride. I'm wondering how to check the suspension level, can someone advise me?

5. The front 2 calipers were jammed. Gotten a workshop to service and grease it and so far so good. Now experiencing high-pitched scraping or squealing noise when braking to a stop. Brake pads seem thick enough though. Car pulls very slightly to the left when hard braking.

6. Realized that parts of the underbody windshield cover are torn and haven't replace yet (don't know where to buy it). Read from somewhere that this a common problem in C5. Should I tear them away completely?

7. Cars towed 3 times. One for gear selector came loose (gear shift has no feeling), one for faulty fuse box (car can't start at all) and one for radiator leaked (overheated light turned on).

8. Poor sound insulation for windows, fabric roof falling off after rain (all fixed by installing sound proof mat and spraying of silicone at seals.

9. Speedometer not working and as advised by others, will go for the stepper motor replacement. I bought an OBD II Head Up Display gadget, which is able to tell the running speed but is not compatible with C5. Wasted my time and have to return it to the seller.

10. Auto gearbox is not smooth all the time, especially at low gear, feel jerkiness when car moves from 2 to 1 or 1 to 2. There is also a leak (always a nipple size droplet) at the outlet. Again, wondering what could be the issue?

11. The car can only manage 180~190km/h at highway and can't go beyond that even though I have depressed the accelerator pedal all the way. Air-con would give out burnt smell if go up to 4K RPM quickly. Gradual pickup seems ok.

12. Wipers would be noisy during rain although I've changed to new set of wipers. Very irritating as it is now the begining of the rainy season here.

13. Air-con needs to set to 21c in order to feel the coldness. At auto mode, outside air will come in. Horrible when you have to smell the exhaust from other cars.

14. Front left electric seat cannot retract fully to the rear. Always stuck at the middle.

15. The previous owner used an aftermarket CAI so it tends to be noisy and I can also see that my bonnet cover will vibrate lightly when started. The CAI cone also hit the side of its surrounding so the front was damn noisy when going beyond 130km/h. I've since solved the problem by reworking the hose and wiring.
I hope to find the original airbox though.

Other that those mentioned problems, this C5 still drives like a car .

Should I run into new problems, will post it again here. So far, the only consolation is that the engine is working perfectly fine. May need to change the timing belt and water pump soon.

If you have any advice and suggestion to tackle the above-mentioned problems, kindly tell me.

Thank you very very much in advance.

Regards,

[begins]

Are you guys scare off of my problem list?

I hope my C5 is still road worthy. I will be using it early next year for a road trip of 16 hours (to and fro 8 hours each). There will be a break at every 4 hours interval. Hopefully the car can endure.

Regards,

[jgra1]

hi Begins..
wow that is some list for a 5 year old car! sorry to read it

you may get more responses later when people over here in the UK are back from work

John

[begins]

hi Begins..
wow that is some list for a 5 year old car! sorry to read it

you may get more responses later when people over here in the UK are back from work

John

Thank you very much for your consolation.

Perhaps the list is too long to handle, I will try to break them down by separate tropics instead.

Thanks again!

Regards,

[Chlorate]

11. The car can only manage 180~190km/h at highway and can't go beyond that even though I have depressed the accelerator pedal all the way.

In a hurry are we? ....no comment.

That's a definite tale of woe there, really wouldn't expect that from such a young car, especially given the C5 is generally considered a reasonably reliable car.

The previous owner used an aftermarket CAI

Never a good sign...

Alex

[Citroenmad]

Wow, you have outdone yourself there in finding possibly the worst effected 2007 C5 there is!

My 2006 C5 has been almost problem free!

Good luck with its lists of jobs, it sounds as though you will just have to work through each one at a time.

Are C5s rare in your country? If so I suppose parts are hard to find too.

As for the front sidelight bulbs, they always go on the facelifts C5s. Ive replaced mine with LED bulbs which last an awful lot longer, so far so good!

[begins]

Wow, you have outdone yourself there in finding possibly the worst effected 2007 C5 there is!

My 2006 C5 has been almost problem free!

Good luck with its lists of jobs, it sounds as though you will just have to work through each one at a time.

Are C5s rare in your country? If so I suppose parts are hard to find too.

As for the front sidelight bulbs, they always go on the facelifts C5s. Ive replaced mine with LED bulbs which last an awful lot longer, so far so good!

Actually picture tells a thousand words. I could have taken some photos on the problem with the bulbs. The bulbs are ok, it is the socket that hold the bulbs that are faulty and broken. I now use musking tape to hold them together. Even then sometimes it will come one, sometimes they don't and sometimes one side has and other doesn't .

I'm wondering how/where to get those broken sockets replaced.

Yes, C5 is very rare here. Parts are mostly imported. The authorised dealer usually charged double if not triple of what I can get from outside.

Regards,

[begins]

11. The car can only manage 180~190km/h at highway and can't go beyond that even though I have depressed the accelerator pedal all the way.

In a hurry are we? ....no comment.

That's a definite tale of woe there, really wouldn't expect that from such a young car, especially given the C5 is generally considered a reasonably reliable car.

The previous owner used an aftermarket CAI

Never a good sign...

Alex

So the car can really go beyond 200km/h according to specification?
One consolation is, the engine never gives problem and this car is not that thirsty. The previous owner maintained the interior pretty very well but neglect on the rest .

The majority of the mentioned problems surfaced during the 1st 2 month of ownership. All I can say is, this car can only get better each day with the advice /guidance from our experts/guru here.

Regards,

[begins]

Hi all,

Just to give you guys on the update on the problems that I’ve been experiencing with my 2007 C5:

2. The front sidelight bulbs (not the lane change signal light) always blown. They are not working now. I realized that the clip that hold the bulbs are cracked. Can I get the replacement from Ebay? One of the bulb cover also gone missing. I wonder how to order that part too.

I still no clue how to get this fixed.

5. The front 2 calipers were jammed. Gotten a workshop to service and grease it and so far so good. Now experiencing high-pitched scraping or squealing noise when braking to a stop. Brake pads seem thick enough though. Car pulls very slightly to the left when hard braking.

Already replaced the front brake pads with sensors, still experiencing squealing noise but to a lesser extent. Now awaiting the arrival of rear brake pads from UK to get the problem fixed. The root cause could really be the rear brake pads not the front brake pads as previously assumed.

6. Realized that parts of the underbody windshield cover are torn and haven't replace yet (don't know where to buy it). Read from somewhere that this a common problem in C5. Should I tear them away completely?

Still thinking hard whether to get them from E-bay. The undertray (so thats what they call it) replacement cost is high. However, can’t find replacement part for the side under windshield.

9. Speedometer not working and as advised by others, will go for the stepper motor replacement. I bought an OBD II Head Up Display gadget, which is able to tell the running speed but is not compatible with C5. Wasted my time and have to return it to the seller.

Already ordered the stepper motor and awaiting its arrival.

10. Auto gearbox is not smooth all the time, especially at low gear, feel jerkiness when car moves from 2 to 1 or 1 to 2. There is also a leak (always a nipple size droplet) at the outlet. Again, wondering what could be the issue?

Read from other Citroen C5 forum that it is a design issue and nothing wrong with the jerky gearbox. However, for the leak, I have no clue yet.

11. The car can only manage 180~190km/h at highway and can't go beyond that even though I have depressed the accelerator pedal all the way. Air-con would give out burnt smell if go up to 4K RPM quickly. Gradual pickup seems ok.

Seems like a common issue when the car is driven hard. The smell probably comes from the catalytic converter. Could it be another design issue?

15. The previous owner used an aftermarket CAI so it tends to be noisy and I can also see that my bonnet cover will vibrate lightly when started. The CAI cone also hit the side of its surrounding so the front was damn noisy when going beyond 130km/h. I've since solved the problem by reworking the hose and wiring.
I hope to find the original airbox though.

Likely to keep it since it is an insurance against flood. The original airbox inlet is nearer to the ground level.

Thanks all for the concern and input.

Thank you very much again.

Regards,

[Hell Razor5543]

Hello begins,

There is a known issue with the rear calipers on the Xantia and C5, in that weird corrosion builds up that pushes the rear calipers off line, and can, over time, damage the disks. Assuming the disks are not damaged, what you will need is time (took me 4 hours on my Xantia the first time I did it), the right tools INCLUDING a blowtorch (the C5 has the bolts glued into place), and a new set of rear pads. I would also consider making a pair of THIN gaskets to fit between each caliper and trailing arm.

The following link covers the job on a Xantia, but it should cover the C5 as well;

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =3&t=38467" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I hope this helps. Other than this, I can't help, as I have not eny experience of the C5.

[begins]

Hi all,

As of today, this is an update on the problems that I’ve been experiencing with my 2007 C5:

2. The front sidelight bulbs (not the lane change signal light) always blown. They are not working now. I realized that the clip that hold the bulbs were cracked. Can I get the replacement from Ebay? One of the bulb cover also gone missing. I wonder how to order that part too.

Can’t find a replacement for the clip. So a mechanic helped me did a little modification and the problem solved. I don’t know how he did it but it means I have to get back to him if i need to change the bulb. Now the bulbs no longer blown every now and then. So one problem eliminated.

5. Suspected that the front 2 calipers were jammed. Gotten a workshop to service and grease it and so far so good. Now experiencing high-pitched scraping or squealing noise when braking to a stop. Brake pads seem thick enough though. Car pulls to the left when hard braking. Already replaced the front brake pads with sensors, still experiencing squealing noise but to a lesser extent. Initially thought the root cause could be the rear brake pads not the front brake pads as previously assumed. Again changing rear brake pads still didn’t help.

The problem finally solved when I replaced all caliper bushing which I bought from Big Red. Fantastic! problem finally gone. No more jammed caliper and no more high pitch squealing sound when braked.

6. Realized that parts of the underbody windshield cover are torn and haven't replace yet (don't know where to buy it). Read from somewhere that this a common problem in C5. Should I tear them away completely?

Can find the replacement yet.

9. Speedometer not working and as advised by others, will go for the stepper motor replacement. I bought an OBD II Head Up Display gadget, which is able to tell the running speed but is not compatible with C5. Wasted my time and have to return it to the seller. Finally, ordered and received a new stepper motor.

Haven’t found a shop, which is confident to change it. Do you guys know where to download a step by step guide in replacing the stepper motor?

10. Auto gearbox is not smooth all the time, especially at low gear, feel jerkiness when car moves from 2 to 1 or 1 to 2. There is also a leak (always a nipple size droplet) at the outlet. Again, wondering what could be the issue? Read from other Citroen C5 forum that it is a design issue and nothing wrong with the jerky gearbox. However, for the leak, I have no clue yet.

By solving the caliper jam problem, the jerky gearbox seems to have gone away. The car drives very smooth now and I will monitor for a longer while.

11. The car can only manage 180~190km/h at highway and can't go beyond that even though I have depressed the accelerator pedal all the way. Air-con would give out burnt smell if go up to 4K RPM quickly. Gradual pickup seems ok. Seems like a common issue when the car is driven hard. The smell probably comes from the catalytic converter. Could it be another design issue?

Not quite sure whether the smell is link to a jammed caliper when driven hard. I have yet to try high speed driving after the caliper repair. Will feedback again.

15. The previous owner used an aftermarket CAI so it tends to be noisy and I can also see that my bonnet cover will vibrate lightly when started. The CAI cone also hit the side of its surrounding so the front was damn noisy when going beyond 130km/h. I've since solved the problem by reworking the hose and wiring.
I hope to find the original airbox though.Likely to keep it since it some suggest that this an insurance against flood. The original airbox inlet is nearer to the ground level.

Can’t find the original airbox here. I’m hoping to find an aftermarket one using at least a sponge filter. The current one uses very fine metal filter that I don’t feel comfortable with.

Thanks all for the concern and input so far.

Thank you very much again.

Regards,