Citroen C5 2003 dripping fluid from passenger rear suspension ram boot

[spiff]

Happy Christmas from Allen ( Spiff ) and Alanna God Bless you all : )

Citroen C5 2003 dripping fluid from passenger rear suspension ram boot

Having looked at the rubber boot on several occasions when under the car it looked as though it had some fluid on it but was not dripping.

There had never been any fluid on the garage floor.

There has been a problem with the suspension for a while, with a Series suspension fault warning.

The car would still drive ok, but the hydraulic pump would not run.

Some times the ride would be a little hard, or the rear would be a bit higher that the front when I stopped.

Normally after a night parked the pump would run again in the morning and level the car out.

I had obtained a height sensor to see it fitting it would clear the intermittent fault.

The pump is fine, I have tried feeding 12 volts to the thin wire input and it will run even if the fault is present.

On the 22 I ran our daughter home to Helston ten miles away, the car was in fault mode, it started to get bumpy and was dropping at the rear, by the time we came to return to Mullion Cove it was on low at the back and very bumpy.

The next day the pump ran and up it came, so I put it on ramps to try the replacement sensor, this was when I noticed the fluid dripping from the rear suspension boot.

I am wondering if the rough ride back has made a small leak in the boot worse.

After leaving it over night the dripping has stopped leaving only a small amount on the garage floor, so I am assuming it is not a high pressure leak rather a return leak ?

The car was still at normal ride height it has not sunk over night and never has.

Is it likely to be just a split in the boot as it collects any fluid that gets passed the piston to send back to the tank ?

It looks as if a disassembly would be required to replace the boot ?

Or perhaps it is possible fix any hole in it.

God Bless Spiff

[GiveMeABreak]

Spiff

You may just have a leaky boot, so to speak! Have a look at these diagrams from a 2001 C5:

Below is the return piping only (not the supply pipes), so you can see numbers (3) are the tank venting pipes:

On the following is the assembly of the rear sphere parts - so you can see the boot (3):

If you require part numbers, PM or post your VIN

[wurlycorner]

If the rear suspension cylinder gaitor is split, then yes, it will leak.
They're easy/quick to change, provided you can get good access under the car with the suspension down and you buy the right tool for refitting the clip. There are some pics in my c5 profile thread (link in my signature below, to that).

Don't bother trying to repair the boot, it won't last and they're cheap to buy in the first place.

As for your other suspension fault, I don't know what you mean by "series suspension fault"? You need to get the car into a lexia diagnostic session to find out what is going on.

[civvie]

Yes it is fairly easy to replace, you may have a problem getting the clip at the end to pull out, I had. The clip that goies around the boot was about 9 odd quid when i attempted it a few years ago, so I got a jubilee clip, not the solid ones but the two wire ones as it has to go either side of the return/ breather tube.

[spiff]

Thank you gentlemen for all that information that is fantastic, you are all such a nice bunch of gentlemen : )

Apologies I meant to put ( Serious Suspension Fault ) I shall blame the spell checker : )

I had been following a series of postings on the forum about using XP within a W7 computer, it sounded more trouble than fixing the car : )

Then yesterday I sourced an W XP laptop 32 bit, our daughter had one tucked away, so I shall be getting a Lexa.

When the car was down at the rear and in fault mode ( the pump does not run ) I tried to raise it by powering up the pump with a feed to the thin wire.

It did not rise, it could be I should have left it going longer, as when the fault had cleared in the morning the pump started, but ran a lot longer than normal before it brought the rear up.

I wondered if running the pump manually like that could have over pressurised the system and caused the leaky boot to leak more.

I do not know if running the pump manually when it is in fault mode should bring it up, or if it is wise to do that as valves that would normally be open may be closed ?

Anyway I shall after the holiday have a closer look at the boot and find a replacement.

I have a box of Jubilee clips that sounds a good tip.

Thank you for the offer of the part number for the boot.

The car VIN has been a problem in the past VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]

I was 72 on the 22nd and am just off for a three mile run round the cliffs, I am so grateful to be so well, Christmas is a time to remember all we have and especially all these lovely cars to play with : )

May you all keep well and happy.

God Bless Spiff

[civvie]

I have a box of Jubilee clips that sounds a good tip.

Be aware it is a big bugg*r

[GiveMeABreak]

The Citroen part number for the rear boot is 5272 64 and the current price from Citroen is £10.72 inc. VAT each Spiff.

[wurlycorner]

You can reuse the original clips, no need to replace them. Just replace the boots.
Hunt around for the tool I bought and you can find it for less than in toolstation (I just didn't have time to do they) e.g. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 1557817367

Nope, forcing the pump to run will not cause the rear to rise - there are valves that control fr/rr independently, as you suggest in your post. I would expect you do risk damaging the pump if you force it on though, since it is trying to pump against a closed valve.

[civvie]

Yes the clip can be reused if you can get it off under the car, I managed to damage it a bit too much to reuse, and when I went to get the bits from the Citroen garage I had a bit of a shock at the price of the clip. I had a weep past the seals in the sphere (near side) so decided to replace seals in both units at the same time so needed two clips. It was a lot easier to screw up the new clips then attempt to do it with waterpump pliers. Never have been successful using those things. I was fairly lucky as I had the wifes car I could run around in, so no rush.

[lexi]

The worst part of all this is the pin that goes through the unit. It either comes straight out or is totally seized. I have the remains of a pin in one of mine. Despite grinding and hardening tool steel punches of clearance diameter.............it remains in there!

[spiff]

Thank you all for the advice, prices and links.

It will make it so much simpler to sort out : )

The pin mentioned is this part of the clip that holds the boot on, or something that has to be removed to get the boot on ?

If you can break a task down into simple steps that you have researched beforehand, it is so much easer

With so many jobs when you look back, the doing did not take that long, it was the figuring it out that took all the time : )

Have a great day.

God Bless Spiff

[Paul-R]

The pin in question is shaped very much like a big capital letter R. The long straight edge goes through a hole drilled through the ram. The top semi-circular section holds the pin so it doesn't fall out - not a problem when it's seized in though.

[GiveMeABreak]

It's Part 4 on the diagram!

[wurlycorner]

It's described in Haynes and there are pics in my profile thread of the job like I previously said (as well as a further link to another thread where I discussed removing and refitting the clip).
Have you had a look at those?

[spiff]

Thank you yes I found the images and can see from them how to remove and fit the new boot.

So you get the clamp off at the wheel end.

Then the pin out at the end furthest from the wheel, I see from another posting it can be rusted in ?

Once it is removed will the assembly just drop to allow the boot to be removed ?

When pulling that pin out is anything going to move a lot, such as the wheel ?

I only wish I had a lift as you do I have to rely on ramps.

Should the car be off its wheels and jacked for this job rather than on ramps ?

It is a long time since I worked on cars, we had a Xantia for 17 years, the most major thing I did with that was to replace spheres, nothing ever went wrong with it : )

God Bless Spiff.