'59 C5 - a couple of questions

[sergiup]

So, good and kinda confusing news - I gave it a quick try this morning (so it was all cold obviously), it stalls in first and third if I just let the clutch go as expected, there's no judder in first or third, and the bite point is around half (no change from when I bought it if I remember right). I suppose it could be seen as good news, but I know I'm not crazy enough (just a little) to have imagined it slipping in 6th gear at the weekend, and reproduced it a couple of times. Now I'm just confused! I've booked it in with the dealer for tomorrow, hopefully they'll figure out what it is without much fuss.

[qprdude]

Citroen UK have a fixed price offer of £699 new clutch, fitted for the Phase two C5. Not with a new DMF obviously.

[bobins]

I'm guessing your Cit dealer will tell you something along the lines of - 'we can take it apart and examine the clutch for you, but it'll only be covered if there's a manufacturing fault, otherwise you'll have to pay for all the work'.
If you want to try and get the clutch to slip, try accelerating moderately hard through 1800rpm in 3rd, 4th or 5th and see if it'll slip.
My C5 was sold with a slipping clutch (so much for their multi-point inspections !) and I noticed it on the way home on the motorway, but it could only be provoked to slip by using the above method - there was little scope for provoking it to slip whilst driving it around town. When I phoned to complain, the dealer eventually got back to me to say that clutches weren't covered under their warranty, but as a matter of goodwill they'd replace it for me. When they did replace it, apparently the DMF had 'signs of overheating' so that was replaced as well. On collecting the car they told me that, providing certain condtions were met, Cit UK would meet the whole cost (to them) of the work. This was 18 months ago on a '59 car that had done about 37k. I've no idea what the conditions are or were that Cit UK apply to the clutch 'warranty' replacements, nor what actually caused mine to go.

[sergiup]

Citroen UK have a fixed price offer of £699 new clutch, fitted for the Phase two C5. Not with a new DMF obviously.

Yep, I know - but since I've had it less than 6 months and only drove about 2800 miles (mostly on motorways), I'm not really willing to pay even that much for both since the issue was most likely there before I bought it.

I'm guessing your Cit dealer will tell you something along the lines of - 'we can take it apart and examine the clutch for you, but it'll only be covered if there's a manufacturing fault, otherwise you'll have to pay for all the work'.
If you want to try and get the clutch to slip, try accelerating moderately hard through 1800rpm in 3rd, 4th or 5th and see if it'll slip.
My C5 was sold with a slipping clutch (so much for their multi-point inspections !) and I noticed it on the way home on the motorway, but it could only be provoked to slip by using the above method - there was little scope for provoking it to slip whilst driving it around town. When I phoned to complain, the dealer eventually got back to me to say that clutches weren't covered under their warranty, but as a matter of goodwill they'd replace it for me. When they did replace it, apparently the DMF had 'signs of overheating' so that was replaced as well. On collecting the car they told me that, providing certain condtions were met, Cit UK would meet the whole cost (to them) of the work. This was 18 months ago on a '59 car that had done about 37k. I've no idea what the conditions are or were that Cit UK apply to the clutch 'warranty' replacements, nor what actually caused mine to go.

Thanks, that's quite useful! I haven't really got the space to test it in 3rd/4th/5th anywhere very near home annoyingly, I might try to get out somewhere later on today though if I feel like I want to check again. As I've said, the car is already booked in for tomorrow morning and I've already sent a recorded letter to the dealer just to make sure it all moves as quickly as possible if I do encounter any unreasonable resistance. I would guess that Citroen would replace clutch/DMF/etc if there was an obvious manufacturing issue or if it really had failed too early, otherwise they'll probably resist. Since I bought mine less than 6 months ago and only did 2800 miles (mostly on a motorway), I'm going to push as much as I need to for a FoC fix - whether it's clutch, DMF, contamination or whatever else. Even if it comes back with no fault found and it doesn't appear again for 1-2 months, then I can point back to this and say that they just didn't look hard enough.

In all honesty, this Citroen dealer has been genuinely great so far and I really hope it all gets sorted amicably; I'm only covering myself in case it turns nasty, I dislike getting all official to get things done properly. Thanks for your story, it gives me hope

[sergiup]

Citroen have looked at the evidence and decided to replace both the clutch and the DMF (which had apparently begun to seize), and cover it all. So far so good, quite impressed with the service! The only "downside" is that it will end up taking 7-8 days in total (start-to-finish), but that really doesn't matter to me.

Thanks Citroen, that's how you keep a customer
I'd be looking for a DS5 in a couple of years at this rate, unfortunately that analogue clock on the dash completely ruins it (I'm serious, it does!)

[qprdude]

Great result! Just had 4 tyre valve sensors replaced by Citroen F.O.C. so I'm another happy customer. Had a DS4 loan car on both trips to the Citroen garage and was quite impressed with the car. When I'm ready to downsize, the DS4 will be a contender that's for sure.
I've no personal experience, but would other manufacturers offer a clutch/DMF replacement on an out of warranty car?. Even if there was a manufacturing fault, I think some might try to shout "it's a consumable"