C4 VTS 180 Blog

[daviemck2006]

I you price them online you will find that 215/45x17 are £15 to £20 cheaper tyre for tyre. They also have the same rolling radius so does not affect the gearing or speedo. I have two 225/45x17 in the boot. They were going to go on the back, but when mr tyre man fitted it to wheel he could not get them to seal. In his opinion it was because the tyre was too wide for the rim. The tyres came off my daughters Astra, their wheels are 7J wide, our wheels are 6&1/2J wide, and 215 is as far as you can go on them. It's a pity cos the tyres in boot are nearly new and for me were free!

[Captain Slow]

I checked the MPG this morning, and over the last 600 miles I have managed 31.7mpg.

It's now time to fix the lights

Part of the reason this car was cheap is because the directional headlamps don't work, and they pointing at the floor. This is a common problem, with the headline being new headlamps @£600 each. This is enough to scare most people off.

However, a bit of investigation on t'net shows there are two sensors on the car for the lights, one at the front, one at the rear, These control the height of the headlights. Apparently it's common for the rear to fail, causing the lights to default to the "rest" position (at the floor) and consequently mean the directional bit doesn't work.

My first port of call was to get under the car and apply liberal amounts of contact cleaner to the rear sensor hoping this would fix it. It didn't. Rather than faff around taking the front of the car off to get to the front sensor the car is going to Citroen tomorrow in order to be hooked up to the diagnostics so they can tell me which sensor has failed. My bets are on the rear. A new sensor retails at £89+VAT! Hopefully this will fix my dodgy lights issue.

[Fake Concern]

I have just changed the rear sensor on my second VTS. I didn't bother having either of them checked as most problems seem to involve the rear one, I took a chance & fixed both times. It's a fairly easy job & well worth doing as the lights are really good when working. (BTW both mine failed after I'd had the cars a while!)
I always ask my local dealer (Wilmoth's of Hastings) for discount, telling them I'm a C4Owners member. They haven't heard of the club, but give me discount anyway. The most recent sensor cost me £82.80 including VAT, so worth asking.

[Captain Slow]

As I was sat in traffic today, I decided to pull out the headunit to see what lurked behind. This was prompted by the poor ice install from when I got the car.


I found many wires spliced together, and held with electrical tap. This is not for me, so I yanked it all out. I no longer have an iPod connection, but I am happy to sacrifice this for safety.

[bxzx16v]

Bodgers , if your not going to do a good job in the first place DON'T do it . I bet your glad to get that spaghetti junction out . Could you not replace your head unit with an aftermarket one that has iPod & steering wheel control compatibility etc .

Mark

[Fake Concern]

French electrics!





Seriously, can you see how the ipod was connected & do it properly again?

[Captain Slow]

Collected the car from Citroen today, who have confirmed the rear sensor is fault as thought. New sensor is 80 quid, plus they advised a replacement section of loom in order to stop it happening again. I shall be declining the offer of loom for another 80 quid as my theory is I'll just spend that money on another sensor should it fail.

whilst it was there I also had the ecu flashed and updated. This was due to a significant flat spot on occasions. The car would do nothing when pulling out of a junction for example, then surge forward. This update has cured the fault, and made the car much more responsive.

The only downside is they tried to blame the hesitation on a hole in the exhaust, then offered to replace it at extortionate rates. Not cool.

New sensor to be purchased tomorrow

[Fake Concern]

If the new sensor lasts another 7 years, should be the best option. Glad the re flash was productive.
This is why everyone gets a stainless exhaust.

[Captain Slow]

Sensor purchased, along with a replacement blanking plate to fit next to the radio so I can remove the switch that was installed for the iPod.

Rather surprisingly the ETA for the sensor is 10th April!

[Fake Concern]

Sensor purchased, along with a replacement blanking plate to fit next to the radio so I can remove the switch that was installed for the iPod.

Rather surprisingly the ETA for the sensor is 10th April!

That should look a lot neater. I'm surprised at how long that takes, mine took 2 days to come in. Rather annoying for you as when you've decided on something you just want it done, I should think.

[Captain Slow]

Indeed. I'm a little impatient.

I only called them Thursday morning, really hoped they had one in stock as I wanted to do it this weekend!

[Captain Slow]

New rubber purchased today as the fronts were pretty low. I did a deal on 4 Avon ZR5's, and changed the profile from 205/50/17 to 215/45/17 as they are significantly cheaper.

Does mean I am left with 2 marshalls with 4mm left in the incorrect size mind you....Make me an offer if interested.

[Captain Slow]

Gah! The sensor to fix the lights is the wrong one!

In other news I removed the rear flaps today. I think it looks much better.



I have also just returned from a 220 mile round trip, and can't quite explain how much of a difference the tyres have made to this car. Beforehand, the ride was frankly appalling. It would crash over every slight imperfection in the road. Now the ride is much smoother. Don't get me wrong, its still bumpy, but nowhere near as bad as it was. It really is like driving a different car. So much happier

[bxzx16v]

It's amazing the transformation new tyres make , I do think these C4 Vts look great , I wouldn't mind a drive in one someday .

Mark

[Fake Concern]

Looking really nice there!