Mk1 c5 driver side inner tierod end

[cornesoutafrica]

Hi everyone.

My driverside inner tierod end is finished. Got some play when wheel is hanging and at the moment so bad it seems that my steering wheel gets a judder if I hit a small pothole or manhole. The noise is also quite disturbing.

My question is. I noticed the driverside got a small low pressure return pipe connected to the boot which I somehow need to loosen the clamp of to get access to the inner tierod end. Should I just pry the pipe off end somehow get the inner clamp off?

Is there any specific procedure that I should know or adhere to?

Must admit. The steering feeling got a bit worse since I did a complete LDS fluid change and all three front spheres... did bleed the circuit and quite alot of air came out...


Thats just some background info. But is there anything specific that I must be aware of?

Kind regards
Corne

[RichardW]

Left or right hand drive?

[cornesoutafrica]

RHD sorry. Same as the UK

[RichardW]

There's nothing shown on the parts database - can you post a pic?

[cornesoutafrica]

This is the part. With part number

[cornesoutafrica]

This is the part I am replacing

[GiveMeABreak]

Item 1 Tie Rod Assembly Richard - part is under Steering Rack Components.

[RichardW]

Yeah, I got that Marc.... the original question was about a pipe coming from the boot, which as you can see is not shown on the parts diagram - I was looking for a pic of the pipe in question.

[GiveMeABreak]

My question is. I noticed the driverside got a small low pressure return pipe connected to the boot which I somehow need to loosen the clamp of to get access to the inner tierod end. Should I just pry the pipe off end somehow get the inner clamp off?

Are you referring to the Power Steering pipes Corne?

Item 1 is the High Pressure Pipe (s)
Items 2, 3 & 7 are the Low Pressure Pipes.

[cornesoutafrica]

Sorry. I misunderstood

Here is a picture of the lowpressure pipe onthe steering boot I referred to.

Strange that it is not on the spares diagrams

[GiveMeABreak]

That looks like a DIY job to me - there's nothing like that on any of the racks I've ever seen. Maybe somebody has used another boot which had a return pipe - so had to route it to the LDS tank manually as they couldn't get the proper boot?

That corrugated pipe looks like some basic sleeving protection for electrical wiring - maybe protecting a rubber pipe within.

The gaiter kits are still available for your C5 (Part 4066 4). Shown as Part 2 below:

I'm wondering if the previous owner has a steering rack leak and has bodged a fix to simply return the leaking fluid back to the tank, or spliced it into another return pipe somewhere????

[cornesoutafrica]

Strange as I have a 2005 c5 with exactly the same setup. Same boot. Same pipe.

Previous owner of my car never had any work done other than at the dealerships and never complained about a leaky steering. Only the noisy inner tierod end.

I will go ahead and remove the pipe and the boot. After a close look I could see that the nipple is casted to the pipe. So I doubt it was a leaky steering which was bypassed. Guess we will find out if it was bodged....

[Gibbo2286]

I wonder if that's special for the Africa market, I've seen similar set ups on Nissan and Honda cars here and on some Yanks but not on a Citroen.

[cornesoutafrica]

As far as I know all citroens in South Africa was imported from the UK. Well. When I got it all out I will take some pictures and send it.

I was surprised to see it myself!

[GiveMeABreak]

Strange as I have a 2005 c5 with exactly the same setup. Same boot. Same pipe.

Previous owner of my car never had any work done other than at the dealerships and never complained about a leaky steering. Only the noisy inner tierod end.

I will go ahead and remove the pipe and the boot. After a close look I could see that the nipple is casted to the pipe. So I doubt it was a leaky steering which was bypassed. Guess we will find out if it was bodged....

This is interesting... but would still be expected to be on the official parts database for the VIN - regardless of county, just as parts are also listed that are specific for other countries. I don't ever recall seeing this on my MK I or MK II C5s and certainly not on the X7 for which I'm on my third rack as are many others!