c16rkc's mad house

[c16rkc]

What have I bought...

Today I did a little DIY, then my plan was to service the C3, and fit the new wiper motor to the C5 for as easy win

But before that, this is what I have (probably foolishly) bought...

Its a 2007 C5 Exlusive with the 2.0 diesel engine, with an automatic gearbox. Its on around 160,000 miles, but has been serviced relatively well, so I'm thinking it will be good for a few more years.











Headlamps are both cloudy at the top half.



The moon roof will be nice for the kids when we go places.



I love the chrome on these handles...



This chrome looks a bit tarnished, we'll see if it polishes up or not.



Mirrors looks good both sides, and powerfold works well.



Black leather seats, in pretty good nick for 160,000 miles.











The massage works, but the heating appears to be broken...



Odd how just that one button is worn away



...and worrying the glove box fuse compartment is open...



A bit grubby or worn in places...





Rear seats are more or less like new.







Mirror is a bit spotty, could be the electrochromatic liquid failing, or might just be dirty...? Interestingly this mirror looks just like the one in my old Daimler Super V8. I wonder if Citroen and Ford shared parts in the 90's and 00's.



My hooligan leaving footprints on the armrest.



That hilarious cup holder...



This pop out armrest is very comfy. Why on earth don't more cars have these?



A few concerning bits here...



The blinds are good to have, but they don't fill out the window very well.



There seem to be extra mats, I did not think to check the ones underneath...







I rather like the wheels.



But they are a bit scabby!





This was tucked away, no idea what its for...?



Electric tailgate is very cool



Boot is lovely and bit, but very dirty!



Aston could not resist a pose...



Some odd things left in here...



...and a worrying tub of fluid here!... is it losing hydraulic fluid I wonder?



This is seriously nice! A neat power socket, and those button lift/lower the rear suspension to help with loading.



Free dash cams front and back.





Two chips in the windscreen.



...and I would think this is a replacement screen as it does not say Citroen on it.



Then lastly... the dirtiest engine bay I have ever, ever, ever laid eye's on.



So that it...

[mickthemaverick]

Looks like the basics of a nice car, you have begun the journey Chris which many have found has no end but is thoroughly enjoyable en route!! Good luck, we'll be watching and enjoying the ride with you!!

[c16rkc]

The naked mechanic

Aston insisted in helping me today, but he insisted on doing it nudey. Who can figure out kids, but in fairness it has been a hot day.

We serviced the C3, oil and filter - both Aston and Spencer could only watch that, but their fingers scrabbled around in the engine bay, as I struggled to keep them away.

Their hands were filthy in no time, Spencer went indoors and never returned...

So on to the naughty C5 wipers.

Aston prepared to help me in the dirtiest engine bay in existence.



We removed the -ve lead from the discusting battery...



Then removed the windscreen base trim.





The drivers side motor was supposedly replaced by a small independent garage. If it was they didn't use a new part...



I decided to replace the passenger one anyway, worth a shot. But the passenger one actually looked in better condition than the drivers side one.





So then I replaced the wiper blades, and put the battery back on. Without me doing a thing, the blades twitched a bit, almost seemed like they were trying to go downwards rather than up.

I disconnected the battery again, and removed the wiper arms again.

Then I tried operating them to see what the motors did. The drivers side seemed to be moving, but the passenger side did not move at all.

So I turned the wipers off, and then refitted the wiper arms. Then I tried again.

The drivers wiper seemed to move about, but not normally. The passenger blade did not move at all.

So I tried the Citroen BSI reset. Hoping I did it right...

I tried the wipers again, and the drivers side raised, and stopped vertically. Now it won't move at all.

The passenger side still has not moved.

So I'm clueless for the erratic wiper behaviour, and hoping I have not somehow blown the new passenger one.

I ran out of time today, I'll hopefully take another look tomorrow...

Pesky Citroen

[Hell Razor5543]

I would wait until you have received (and set up) your Lexia system before replacing any more parts. It will help to get error codes (and quite a bit more), and then you can post up the error codes.

[c16rkc]

That won't be an issue... I don't have any more parts

[Michel]

Thanks guys - lovely to see a bit of humour lives here, I'll fit in better if there are more nutty people like me amongst you all!

You must come and meet up with us one of these days Chris You can then decide for yourself how nutty we are

You've been warned now

[bobins]

That's a very early version of the C5 X7 you've got there. There weren't many '08 registered ones. The cables sticking out of the radiator grille looks to be for a battery maintainer / charger. The windscreen wiper that's gone to the upright position has gone into its maintenance park position - I think if you move the wiper stalk just after turning the ignition off (or summat like that) then they go into maintenance park mode.

[Hell Razor5543]

Once you have got the wipers working properly I would do a bit of preventative maintenance, stripping and cleaning the BHi motor (which is otherwise known as the suspension pump). Over time LDS mixes with the carbon dust (the motor has four brushes), resulting in a conductive sludge. This will (given time) cause problems; a new member from Estonia has asked for help as the brushes plate has melted! Last year my C5 (facelift) had this issue, and I ended up having to replace the unit (as sometime in the past a previous owner had fitted a 60A maxi fuse in place of the correct 40A maxi fuse, resulting in the windings overheating). It is not that difficult to do, but it could save you from future grief.

[c16rkc]

That's a very early version of the C5 X7 you've got there. There weren't many '08 registered ones. The cables sticking out of the radiator grille looks to be for a battery maintainer / charger. The windscreen wiper that's gone to the upright position has gone into its maintenance park position - I think if you move the wiper stalk just after turning the ignition off (or summat like that) then they go into maintenance park mode.

Thank you, so someone probably had this on trickle charge. I hope that doesn't indicate a battery drain somewhere...

Time will tell.

I may have accidentally put the wiper in maintenance mode then.

[c16rkc]

Once you have got the wipers working properly I would do a bit of preventative maintenance, stripping and cleaning the BHi motor (which is otherwise known as the suspension pump). Over time LDS mixes with the carbon dust (the motor has four brushes), resulting in a conductive sludge. This will (given time) cause problems; a new member from Estonia has asked for help as the brushes plate has melted! Last year my C5 (facelift) had this issue, and I ended up having to replace the unit (as sometime in the past a previous owner had fitted a 60A maxi fuse in place of the correct 40A maxi fuse, resulting in the windings overheating). It is not that difficult to do, but it could save you from future grief.

Sounds like a good idea... though being the coward I am, I might just replace the pump. They look to be about £500 refurbished.

[bobins]

Hopefully the motors will start to work properly. You may already be aware but the wiper motors only really have 2 common failure points. Water ingress onto the circuit boards in them can cause them to fail - you may be very lucky and find you can clean them up and they're good again. The other issue is a small magnet on the wiper shaft by the motor comes loose. This magnet is used to determine where the wiper is in its stroke. The magnet can be glued back into place on the shaft and all is good again until it comes loose again.

[Armidillo]

Re the bottle of LDS in the boot - this is not necessarily a sign that there's a problem (as a bottle of coolant in the boot would be), it's simply part of being a hydraulic Citroen owner.

You wear a beret, you keep a bottle of LDS (or LHM for us older Cit owners) in the boot, you've become a member of an exclusive club!

Next level is to learn about "the Eye" and "the Bureau de Batardes".

Cheers
Alec
PS - would love an X7 Estate, but very few made their way to Australia.

[MattBLancs]

I'd assume fastidious owner (interior in good nick, installed charger connection, free part bottle of LDS for the next owner) rather than a sign of problems to come. (But am massive optimist too! )

Mines a '09 but otherwise similar to yours. My headlights are also cloudy at the top - on the to do at some stage. Big glass roof is great, always amazed how gloomy it seems when I shut my blind! Makes a difference on interior temperature though in direct sunshine.

Electric boot is good and annoying at times - "Economy Mode Active" disables the electric action. Don't force it, if you lift the boot lid manually (say about 50mm or so, a little lift) you should hear a short whirr and the motors are disconnected - it'll then close normally.
Same on way up, if push button on boot or key fob results in two beeps = Economy Mode Active wants you to open the boot manually instead. Obviously normal electric boot action should return when engine is/has run.

My one was also giving inadvertent stopping on closure (the "anti pinch" type safety system kicking in despite no-one in the way!) I managed to get some grease into the boot system and it's cured it for me.

Research topics for you (once the wipers are behaving ) is probably steering rack leaks and corroded suspension pipes, pretty much the X7 C5's Achilles heals, though several are working on solving both issues.

Hope you enjoy it, I should warn you the suspension does have a habit of making "normal suspension" cars feel broken!

[Hell Razor5543]

When you are going to jack up the car (and have wheels hanging) you need to do a couple of things first. The first thing will help you, which is to raise the suspension to full height. The second thing is to loosen off the LDS cap. Failure to do this second step can weaken the LDS reservoir, and lead to it failing. I am NOT joking on this! The added link explains this further.

https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... hp?t=62058

Once you have got the wipers working properly I would do a bit of preventative maintenance, stripping and cleaning the BHi motor (which is otherwise known as the suspension pump). Over time LDS mixes with the carbon dust (the motor has four brushes), resulting in a conductive sludge. This will (given time) cause problems; a new member from Estonia has asked for help as the brushes plate has melted! Last year my C5 (facelift) had this issue, and I ended up having to replace the unit (as sometime in the past a previous owner had fitted a 60A maxi fuse in place of the correct 40A maxi fuse, resulting in the windings overheating). It is not that difficult to do, but it could save you from future grief.

Sounds like a good idea... though being the coward I am, I might just replace the pump. They look to be about £500 refurbished.

It should take a few hours at most to remove the BHi unit, open and clean the motor, re-fit it, and get the vehicle up and running again. Cleaning the motor is about 30 minutes of this. If I can do it, you should find it a doddle! The hardest bit is undoing/refitting one nut that is out of view (and a right bl00dy sod to get to!). There are guides on the Forum, should you wish to look. If you do decide to do the job yourself, it will cost about £100, based on a couple of cheap washing up bowls (to catch the LDS/clean the motor in), a toothbrush, an abrasive rubber (to clean the motor commutator), 5l brake cleaning fluid, and 5l replacement LDS fluid.

[Michel]

I think if you move the wiper stalk just after turning the ignition off (or summat like that) then they go into maintenance park mode.

Yes, various Citroens do it but even though I've owned them for 30 years, I only learnt this a couple of months ago. I thought my Xsara Picasso was doing some electrical weirdness when it happened.