Ben's Citroen in Sweden

[Ben82]

Thanks David, I think that mostly applies to ones with the 4hp20, not sure it applies to the ml5t, but will definitely double check.

[Ben82]

Right, I was totally wrong, it's down to age My Current Auto has the new rad... The car I'm looking at does not (can look up the VIN from the reg over here ), and the replacement hose is slightly better cost for the V6 Manual:



On the Swedish side the total is 2,966.25 SEK (almost £295).. So worth knowing. Will need to inspect the radiator a fair bit I think, as knocking the price down based on a potential need for replacement won't fly without evidence that it will need it.

[Ben82]

Started mass mailing Citroen Dealers/Service centres around the area of the car we are interested in for a 120,000km service with a timing belt change, basically as haggling material.

Got a number of quotes back (about 50% reply rate)... one it was lucky I wasn't drinking anything at the time as it would have gone everywhere - they (a stealer) came back wanting 21,500SEK (at the current exchange rate about £2125 ) for the 120K service.

Still, got plenty of haggling material now of ones wanting 17,000SEK+ .

I really think I'm in the wrong industry. Seems like I could make a fair amount of extra money home servicing C5 V6s etc.

Also came across another V6 today, was an 03 but had only done about 70,000km, and looks like it was deSORN'd and MOT'd a few days ago, so maybe a bit risky like David's... they want more for that one though. Another one that probably should still have it's timing belt done due to age. Dubious thing with it is they're after much lower than it has been valued on "parkers", so makes you wonder about what else maybe wrong with it. It's not a close one either (about 4hours away, so not one to easily go view etc).

[DHallworth]

Yikes! That some price for the major service!

I wondered about offering V6 cambelt replacement as a service as it's not a bad job tbh. Especially since I bought that timing kit that was on eBay last night. I bought the 4HP20 toolkit as well.

Funnily enough, the guy selling it was the same guy I bought an XM from around 5 years ago!

David.

[Ben82]

Is that the proper tool kit David? How much was the timing one? (Over here it costs about £240). Might be worth me getting one from the uk since it'll still cost less than getting the belt done elsewhere.

[DHallworth]

Ben,

On eBay you can buy them new for around £70. There was one on eBay last night that nobody else bid on, I won it and the gearbox toolkit for £25 each.

David.

[Ben82]

Hi David, What was the item number please?

Thanks

Ben

[DHallworth]

Ben,

Here's the £61 quid one that's currently on eBay at the moment:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Timing-Pins-C ... 53e8244b0d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's the one I managed to get last night:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peugeot-Citro ... true&rt=nc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's the gearbox toolkit:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peugeot-Citro ... true&rt=nc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The only thing with that kit is the tool for turning the camshafts over won't fit over the VVT lumps on the end of the camshaft pulleys. I got away with using a hex in the bolt on the end of the camshaft pulley.

Tbh, as long as you can turn the camshafts over using a socket on the sprockets, you can get away with using 4 x M8 bolts with the thread turned off them. I've done two timing belt changes this way now.

David.

[Ben82]

Thanks David,

I will probably hold out until I can find one that works full with the C5.... here's the one in Sweden:
http://catalog.meca.se/ProductSheet.asp ... yType_ID=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If only I could find it in the UK (or in europe), have had no luck so far.

Probably finding the official kit from Citroen UK is cheaper lol!

[Ben82]

And found one just like it:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-VS1213 ... 43b3535703" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Half the Swedish price, but more expensive than the one you listed. However it's something I can factor into the cost, when I get one of the cars to do it on.

EDIT: noticed the eBay page doesn't show that it's compatible with the C5 but the product page does.

[DHallworth]

Makes sense waiting if it's the ES9J4S that you've got.

I've got two of the older engines and only got the newer one in this C5 which probably won't need doing again in the time we've got it which is why I took a punt at £25.

I guess the postage would make it uneconomical, however I'd be happy to post them to you to do yours if you want.

David.

[Ben82]

Hi David,

That's a very kind offer, I do come back to the uk about once every 2 months, so could be arranged to be delivered to my parents and I bring it back on the flight with me, and get it posted back to you either from here, or during the following visit. At the moment neither of the short listed cars will need it done right away. But obviously wouldn't want to leave it too long as it'll get cold again, and doing it in minus temperatures won't be fun.

Thanks again

Ben

[Ben82]

Today marks 4 weeks since the BSI Reset, and still without starting issues... I think we can assume for now the BSI reset has fixed the issue

Helped a VW Golf owner last night push his car into a parking space, it had died.... I was fairly certain it was something up with the battery (or starter), he said he had the same issue the previous week and it wasn't the battery... Had offered to use my battery booster, but he said no... Today he had a couple of people come look at it, they did some bits under the bonnet... and then resorted to? Jump starting! oh well.

On the new car front, have had a bit of a back and forth with the owner of the low mileage C5, last proper service was done in March 2010, so I think it's well overdue an oil change at least before driving it 350km back. He also says the AC doesn't cool, which I'm not sure is a dealbreaker or not.. Not entirely sure what I can get him to try to diagnose it a bit further without getting a lexia on it?

A few more C5 V6 Manuals have cropped up over the past few days (cheaper too), so will be more haggling material - or potentially ones to go for).

[Ben82]

Might as well give a short update of what's been going on.. Biggest news by far is that in Saturday is SWMBO and I got married

Our wedding car which was a surprise treat from Cay's eldest brother was a 1930's Packard, which whilst not a French car looked really well looked after and was quite an experience to be a passenger in:

Not to mention had a tonne of space in the back, which was a good thing as her dress was huge The original plan was for my mum to drive us in our car, with Cay in the back and me in the front - since all the transport we explored were far too expensive for the 4km journey from the church to the reception.
The packard turned out to be perfect though

On the new car front... the one with the AC problem has been sold, so that's off the list.

The current C5 has been running well.. this morning I filled her up with a full tank of 95 Octane rather than the ~50/50 split with E85... as I want to try to get a benchmark petrol figure for the mpg, and to give a better indication of how much money I am saving with using 50% E85 rather than guessing.
My gut feeling is that E85 gets drunk a lot quicker in open loop than 95 octane, but hitting closed loop it's fairly similar. We shall see once I've gone through most of this tank

[Hell Razor5543]

Ben, may I be the first on the forum to offer you both my heartiest congratulations. May you have 4 times as many reasons to laugh or smile as to frown or cry.