C5 is now a squeak free zone

[Bandit12]

Just want to say a big thank you for all your tips on fixing the squeaky rear suspension on my C5:-)
I replaced the nearside rear trailing arm bearings. After comparing parts n prices from main stealers I ordered some from fleabay and some from the Stealer. Total cost less than £50
I allowed a full day for this and after spending every previous evening for a fortnight squirting all relevant fasteners with WD40 it all went ok.
Only snag was the the jobs that I thought would be easy were tricky and teh jobs I thought would be tricky were easy! Typical Citroen. First job after removing the wheel was removing the rear brake pads-the long thin bolt had corroded and snapped! Luckily I got the last one off the shelf from the dealers opposite! Phew
Rest of the job went slowly but steadily. Found a 5mm thick layer of white corrosion on back of the brake caliper which I removed, this also caused the brake pads to wear unevenly-all sorted now but with hindsight I may have made an error. I used copper grease on the back of the brake caliper on assembly to prevent further corrosion-was this a good idea? Should I have used normal grease instead?

Having never done this job on a car before I couldnt have done it without all your tips. Thanks again for all your help guys

I plan on doing the off side next month and got finger crossed it goes as smoothly:-)

[Hell Razor5543]

That weird corrosion is a known issue on the Xantia and C5 cars. It is caused by dis-similar metals in close proximity (the steel of the trailing arm and the alloy of the calliper). Nobody is sure what will happen if a different metal is introduced (i.e. copper in copper slip grease). I used normal grease when I had this on Gracie, but I intend to fit some sort of gasket between the callipers and trailing arms next time I work on the callipers.

I don't know about C5 callipers, but the ones on a Xantia are mirrors, so it is possible to swap them across (nearside to offside, and vice versa) so you can have a flat fit between calliper and trailing arm.

[Peter.N.]

Well done. The most difficult problem is usually getting out the pin that goes through the pushrod but you obviously subdued that, the other problem I had was undoing the brake pipe as the nut had seized onto the pipe, so I removed the calipers when I eventually got the bolts undone, and unscrewed them from the pipe, I then lost the seal between the halves and later when I lost my brake fluid realised that you must use threadlock on the bolts.

Peter

[Xantidote]

I used copper grease on the back of the brake caliper on assembly to prevent further corrosion-was this a good idea?

I've used copper grease on my Xantia calipers with no problems. Probably any grease would be better than nothing, but I'd make sure it's High Melting Point.

[Bandit12]

thanks for the tips guys and yes with hindsight I was concerned that the copper in the grease would speed up the corrosion. I did use thread lock on all appropriate fasteners. When I do the other side I will also order a new brake pad retaining bolt just in case i break that one too I did not remove the brake hose from the caliper but found that once the torque arm bolts were removed there was enough movement in the hose to rest the whole caliper on the floor and off to once side.

The suspension strut pin did concern me so i made sure it was well lubed and loose with a wiggle test before i started the work. I replaced the pin with a nice shiny new one It took longer to remove the disc shield bolts than to collectively remove the pin, torque arm bolts and main nut and bolt holding the whole trailing arm in place!
the bearings came out (with the aid of a 4lb lump hammer and decent drift) in 5 minutes! Very satisfying use of a hammer;-)

I think the main tip for anyone attempting this is to spend at least a week getting under the car and giving all appropriate fasteners a daily spray with WD40 or similar before starting the job

[Hell Razor5543]

Plus Gas is far better than WD40, as it was designed as a dismantling fluid, whereas WD40 is a water dispersant (hence the WD part of the name).

[lexi]

I don't think there is any Copper in copper grease.

[Hell Razor5543]

Erm, yes there is;

http://www.chemodex.co.uk/MSDS/CHEMODEX ... GREASE.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.molyslip.com/wp-content/uplo ... -Sheet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://storage.commaoil.com.s3.amazonaw ... oGdhAlg%3D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Stempy]

[Stickyfinger]

Personally I would NEVER use any copper based product next to a steel/Ally setup.....Use silicon HT or a good red seal paste. I still cant understand why there is not a isolator shim between the two.

What happens under your floor
http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/ ... -pipe.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Bandit12]

As soon as put the copper grease on i began to second guess myself, I thought I had made an error but for the life of me could not think why??-Far better to make up a suitable 'isolation' gasket so thats what i will do when I do the other set of trailing arm bearings. And yes there are far better sprays than WD40 but thats all i had to hand at the time. Lfe is but a learning curve the Citroen learning curve has been made manageable by this website so once again thanks guys:-)

[Stempy]

The Citroen learning curve is an exponential one...

[dnsey]

Fairly heavy-duty polythene makes a good isolator.
I have used offcuts of damp-proof membrane with no problem.

[Peter.N.]

The Citroen learning curve is an exponential one...

... especially where a Lexia is involved.