c5 suspension

[mm1]

Hi all.just noticed today that a little oil is dripping from near the sphere at the back wheel on the driver side.any idea of what it could be.please tell me its not a big job.thanks in advance.

[wurlycorner]

Could be a number of things. You'll need to narrow down the source more closely.
Assuming it's from the suspension cylinder unit rather than anywhere else, some possibles;
- Rubber boot at the bottom of the cylinder holed/split or one of the breather pipes (that poke into it) come loose/not fitted properly (none of which are big jobs - see my c5 profile thread for info on changing the boots)
- High pressure pipe corroded/leaking/seal perished
- Sphere loose (unlikely) or seal between the sphere and cylinder perished

[mm1]

Thanks for the reply.the oil seems to be coming out from around the wide end of the boot but the boot does not seem to be damaged.the two pipes and sphere seem to be grand.i presume the boot is meant to seal up where it is joined on.

[wurlycorner]

The boot is meant to seal, yes.
There is a metal spring clip that goes round to hold it tight. Is that fitted?
As I said, pics and details of how to change it are in my C5 profile thread.

Pic of a (new) boot with the clip correctly in place below;

[mm1]

Yes the clip is fine.i removed it today and cleaned all around it.then refitted.(not bloody easy)i thought maybe some dirt got in there.but i was wrong.it was still the same after.

[wurlycorner]

How much fluid was inside the boot when you pulled it off?
There shouldn't be much there at all (literally a few dribbles and that's it).

[mm1]

There was very little.as you said,just a few dribbles.

[dnsey]

The breather connected to the boot and running up into the crossmember can sometimes dribble a little fluid , which then runs down the tube and onto the boot.

[wurlycorner]

If there's no fluid inside the boot, then it's difficult to see that would be causing a visible leak on the outside, without any obvious hole in it.
Absolutely sure that it is suspension fluid that's leaking?

[mm1]

The breather pipes seem bone dry.it just off the bottom of the wide end of the boot that the drop is coming from.is there something else that could be leaking there lain

[wurlycorner]

I was wondering about fuel tank/filler? Thats roughly above there IIRC???

[mm1]

Have been looking again this evening.there was a drop of fluid hanging from the boot.so dried everything up and got my mrs to raise and lower the car as i kept and eye on it.as the car went up towards the top it leaked some fluid again and it definetly came from the inside the boot.could there be an invisible hole in the bloody thing or could there be some dirt gone in round the boot.

[wurlycorner]

Ok well its good to have confirmed the source. Just change the boot if you're concerned - they're very cheap from Citroen (something around a fiver, IIRC).

[mm1]

Do you think a boot will sort it or will it need new seals also.AFAIK the car got new boots a few months ago.

[wurlycorner]

It's difficult to know - if the seals were gone, I would have expected the boot to be full of fluid?