*C5 rear suspension major fluid loss*

[Deadhand]

Hi everyone, I hope you've all had a great Xmas.

I'm in a bit of bother with my 2003 C5 2.0Hdi hatchback and I really hope you can help me with any advice/tips.

Just to try & set the scene, I live in Aberdeen Scotland but I am currently in the north-east of Poland. And at 1400 on Xmas eve the rear suspension of my C5 went rock solid. I did finaly get the suspension raised back up but then lost the power assist in my steering.

I lifted the bonnet to check the fluid level & of course there was none in the reservoir. Since how I clearly had a fluid leak I went searching for the leak & in seconds I found it. Unfortunatley the leak is pretty big & the remains of the fluid was pouring out from it.

I checked the snowy parking spaces where I'd been parked in previous days & therer seems to be a slight trail of fluid there so I'm thinking it has been leaking for a little while but now just given up the ghost all together.

So now my mind has turned to solutions. I am a car mechanic of the last 15 years & I've also spent time working for hydraulic companies so I'm quite happy to just go ahead & fix the issue as the speres themselves seem to be basically a fluid & gas accumulator system. In all honesty though (1)I've never touched a Citroen hydractive suspension unit before, (2)I'll be fixing this by the roadside in a foreign country & (3)I'm 1600miles away from my toolbox.

So basically any help & advice you can offer my would be greatly appreciated. My main question though is what would cause such a huge fluid loss?


Looking at where the fluid was pouring from I kinda got the impression that an o-ring had failed where the sphere threads in place. Does this sound like a logical assumption to you guys? And is removing the Sphere just a matter of unscrewing the entire unit?

Regards
Deadhand

[Peter.N.]

Most sudden hefty leaks are caused by rusty pipe failure but if you say its coming out from the base of the sphere it should be quite simple, the sphere just unscrews, I say just, but they are usually pretty well stuck after a high mileage, you will need strap wrench of some sort and a lot of force, although once you have it securly fixed a sharp blow with a hammer will often shift it, a very large pair of stilsons might do the job.

You will need to depressurise the system first - although it sounds as though yours already is, you should find a bleed nipple somewhere round the rear height regulator.

The sphere has an 'O' ring around the top, these don't usually fail unless of course your sphere has come loose for some reason. When refitting the sphere do it up hand tight only.

Peter

[mooseshaver]

I've had two C5s with leaking rear suspension cylinders.
The first time a dealer found it and replaced the whole cylinders.
The second a local garage just replaced the seals after I found people on here had had it done and didn't need whole new cylinders.

Both cars were estates and my wife's disability scooter (18 stone) was sometimes carried in the back. Sometimes across the boot so I assumed this to be the cause

[citronut]

the other possibility might be the cylinder has corroded through, that is if C5's suffer with the same as BX's do/have, usually were the cylinder body sits in the sub frame

[Deadhand]

Nope, none of the above. The lip around where the o-ring sits has been broken away requiring a new cylinder. It really wasn't a pleasant job & the local dealer couldn't get me 1 until between the 5th & 10th of January. Luckily a scrap yard had 1 at only 1% of the dealer price. Sadly however I've damaged a pipe whilst replacing the cylinder.

Hopefully the dealer can be a little more helpfully tomorrow as again this strikes me as a dealer pipe with ther seals and such.

Anyhow I'm very tired, it's been a long day of trapsing round places & getting dirty.

Thanks guys