paul.h

You can see the dealer parts diagrams yourself if you register on the service.citroen.com website. If you read the terms and conditions this is allowed as a member of a car club such as this. From memory, I can not remember the check control screen doing anything on our car - maybe somebody will provide a bit more info.

Sometimes odd things happen if the battery voltage is low, a mobile phone has been connected to the car, an aftermarket radio has been fitted. The wiper stalk end button could need cleaning - I vaguely remember something like this stopping the trip computer changing screens. Using the chassis no. (VIN) will give the exact parts used on your car but it may be a replacement Comms unit (if needed) might need programming to your car. Switching off the auto headlights is in the handbook but for a mark 1 C5 (up to 2004) is something like - turn ignition key to the accessories position and then hold in the button on the end of the lighting stalk. The light switch may need to be in the off position when doing this. For a mark 2 C5 it is probably done through the radio menu button. If the rear wash jet works when trying to wash the front, then this could be a blocked washer pump outlet to the front jets and just need cleaning.

If you have the car handbook it should say which fuse does the door mirrors (our handbook says dashboard fuse F22 but this also does mirror adjustment and number plate lights so easy to check). If this is ok then it could be a broken wire where it goes from the body to the door. Also could be something to do with the dash mounted mirror switch, handbook says to turn so pointing down to fold mirrors and back again to open mirrors, check if the connector is fully on the back of the switch. Handbook says to activate auto headlights - turn ignition key to accessories position, move lighting switch to position O, press at the end of the control stalk until confirmation sound given.

Did you find out what was done to stop it pulling to the left (to add to the info on the forum)? Auto headlights - our C3 (1.4SX, petrol, 2003) does not have them and the required light sensor is not stuck to the windscreen behind the rear view mirror. Our C5 did and to activate them the button was held in at the end of the lighting stalk. It may have needed the engine on to do this. We also had them on a C4 and here the light switch had to be turned to the position with a square. Folding mirrors - again not on our C3. Citroens with them have a switch on the driver's door with a window picture on and this is pulled back to move the mirrors (sideways allows adjustment of the mirrors). Have they ever worked and what model is your car ? Headlight levellers share the same fuse so if one side does not work them could be a faulty motor, electrical connector or wiring.

Could be the tracking is out from the work that has been done. I once replaced a steering rack on a Saab and until the tracking was set up at a garage the car pulled all over the place.

Hopefully the problem is now fixed and it is the best £40 you have ever spent on the car and you have found a good dealer.

Our C3 (2003 1.4sx petrol) passed the MOT today but to get through it had to have all 4 indicator bulbs replaced and a slow puncture repaired. I have not seen the car yet to tell if the indicators are any brighter but the bulbs are the orange painted ones and were still the originals. Since any loss of brightness (or orangeness) would be gradual it would be hard to check before the test and the day before they looked ok to me. For the next test though I may just replace them all to save the possible labour charge and keep the old ones as spares (or maybe just temporarily fit the new ones for the MOT). I did not take the car for the MOT but maybe we should have asked to look at the old bulbs to see how they had deteriorated.

So, doing a long motorway trip and allowing for the pit stops for the range rover, then most other cars probably get there first doing normal speeds. Also the high number of these passing you on the motorway are actually the same car that has kept stopping at the services.

The parts diagram shows the 2 cables are the same for each side but the cable guides are different. They have separate part nos. so each part must be sold separately. Cables are 4745R5 needing 2 to do both sides and the guides are 4769 20 for the left side and 4769 21 for the right one. Encouraging news for us all about the particle filter and passing the MOT. How is the car running since you had it drilled through ?

If it is just an o-ring leaking then these are listed in the parts diagrams separate to the pipe. The pipe part may be 4014EN and not EM but the vin or RPO are needed to check.

You have probably read other posts on locking problems and things to check include are phone/radio masts nearby, mobile phone in use, are the doors fully shut, does it happen in more than one location. You could try a dealer check and one poster ended up replacing the comms unit but in this case the car was not starting. Changing our car battery did not make a difference to our C3, it still occasionally does not lock or unlock with the remote but we just live with it.

The fuel price should come down, the oil price has fallen over the last week from its high of about $125 to about $119 due to the sanctions against oil sales in Iran, before which the oil price had been about $110 a barrel. I still have to avoid the 80-90 mph range rovers hurtling down the outside lanes of the motorways so not everyone is too bothered by the high prices.

Sorry I can not help but try copying the post to the C5 pages since this engine is used on the C5 and the C5 subforum has many followers who may be able to help.

A quick check of the brakes would be to remove a wheel and look at the pads to see if they are the same thickness. The brake discs should also be checked to see if they are worn too thin but unless there is something wrong they ought to last maybe 40k miles. The juddering may be if the new front brake discs had not been fitted properly. If the hub onto which they were fitted was not clean the disc may not be flat against the hub so would wobble very slightly when the wheel spins - not enough to notice by eye but would show up on a dial gauge held against the disc and to be felt through the brake pedal. There will be a maximum amount for this 'run out' and should be checked when installed. This may be a reason for now needing new discs since if like this when installed and if not corrected (usually by checking the surfaces are clean and possibly by rotating the disc against the hub if the disc machining is slightly out) the disc may not wear evenly so it would be thinner in some parts. As a check though the garage ought to check the disc run out before doing anything and the disc thickness. If new discs are needed then new pads should also be fitted. I once had juddering caused by a badly worn rear brake drum so if checks on the front brakes do not show anything then the rear ones should be checked. At the last MOT of our C3 the dealer said it had failed on a front brake imbalance and it needed new front pads and discs - I pointed out I had done this nearly a year ago and about 3k miles although the car had not been used much recently, the service manager then had another word with the tester and said they probably just needed a clean which they did and the car passed. So, if not already done, I would point out your pads and discs have only done 12k miles.

Have you checked the pads and discs yourself in case the garage is trying to get work out of you ? Is the garage one you can trust/ a Citroen dealer ? I seem to remember Kwik Fit trying to get work this way on TV (Watchdog). The MOT testers manual can be seen on-line from the direct gov website and you can see what checks are done for brakes - uneven wear may not be a failure point unless the brake balance is affected or a pad is very thin. Likely causes of uneven front pad wear are a sticking brake piston and pads seized so unable to move freely.

Had to replace ours at 36k miles (7 years). The passenger side one was badly worn but was a MOT advisory and had been making a knocking noise for some time. Cost of parts was £29 each side so not excessive from a dealer and did not take me long to fit so any labour charge will not be much. I think the socket in the joints is plastic so not likely to last too long.

A few weeks ago I got a C3 tailgate from RC Edley in Scunthorpe (01724 280 915) from a 2002 C3 1.4 petrol. I do not know if they still have the rest of the car. May also be worth getting a price from a dealer as a comparison since delivery charges could be relatively high making a s/h part not much less than new.

There is also a pinned note on doing the rear brakes that is worth a look. A bit of copper grease should be used in the pad retaining bolt holes on the caliper to help prevent it corroding away. If the rear pads are now a bit loose (Citroen changed the design) and clunk when the brakes are first applied, Citroen now supply a new shim to go on the pads held by the spring - this can be seen on the Citroen parts diagrams for the rear brakes.

The mark 1 and mark 2 front grills are different so to fit mark 2 fog lights would need some mods. The mark 2 fog lights look similar to on the C3 and C4 so there are options if using a scrap yard and you would probably best run separate wires and a switch/relay/fuse outside of the car existing wiring/BSI. These round lights are held by screws in to part of the grill and the beam height is adjustable by a long screwdriver from underneath - I had to do our C4 recently. A look at the parts on the service.citroen website will show you the possibilities (if not already registered this is allowed as part of a car club in the terms/conds such as this one) - you could also see what parts your car is missing if it had the normal fogs for a mark 1 C5.

If it is just loose due to corrosion around the fixing holes can it not be refastened using large diameter repair washers from such as toolstation/B&Q with a bit of grease between the washers and aluminium to prevent further corrosion.

Using our C3 RP no. this gives its production date as 26th Feb 2003, 2 months before the reg date, despite the VIN 10th digit being 2 which according to the wiki notes would be 2002. Our old C5 gives a production date of 7th July 2004, which is close to the reg date 31/7/2004 - wiki would give the 10th digit of 7 as a 2007 year car. Maybe wiki needs modifying to include something specific to Citroens.

How would wiki explain my 2004 C5 with a 7 as the 10th digit. I got the car in 2006 as the second owner.

Your interpretation of VIN dates does not tie up with our Citroens either (to date we have had a C3 reg April 2003 and 10 th VIN is a 2, a 2004 C5 10th VIN a 7, a 2007 C5 10th VIN a 7, a C4 2008 10th VIN a 7 and now a 2011 C4 10th VIN a letter 'b'). If you do any work on your car such as remove any trim panels, they will have the date of manufacture stamped on them and usually this is a few weeks/months before the reg date. Also have a look at the car windows, these include the year of manufacture. If you register on the service.citroen website (allowed as a member of a car club such as this, see terms/conds), you can enter your VIN and see your Vehicle Characteristics which includes the vehicle warranty start date - this will be the same as on your car service book, just as a help to satisfy you of your car reg date.

After having both my springs replaced, I later had to replace the top bearing on the off side strut since it was then noisy and once I had it apart found the balls in the bearing had come out of place, probably during the spring change but at the time did not realise this was the cause. So if it is noisy when turning the steering, take it straight back. The bearing was £52 in 2009 and took me a full day to do - longer than the dealer to do both springs but they have all the equipment/practise. Spring failure is common these days on lots of car makes, maybe due to thinner metal/speed bumps etc. If you read Car Mechanics it is often featured.

Have you checked for a broken front coil spring ? You do not need to be moving for this to happen and a broken end could be rubbing against a tyre giving the smell.