paul.h

You should be able to get a wiring diagram from the service.citroen website but you will have to register (allowed as a member of a car club) and for none free services such as a wiring diagram there is a cost but parts diagrams can be seen free. To see ones specific for your car will need the VIN and RPO number (at the top of the tyre pressure sticker on your car if not already known). There are some wiring diagrams in the Haynes manual but not specific to the steering sensor and pump. Similarly to the French ETAI RTA manuals where they show the steering wheel controls (COM 2000) as a larger block (as in the Citroen wiring diagrams) with the connections to the BSI but the ones here do not show the specific steering sensor wiring and pump. However, there may not be a wiring fault and paying for somebody to poke around all the wiring may be a waste. Also it may be once the COM 2000 unit is replaced (if required) it may then need programming to your car using a dealer Lexia or Proxia diagnostic equipment (if the Bosch equipment mentioned earlier can not do this). It may be quicker/cheaper in the end to try a Citroen dealer or Citroen specialist. On older cars dealers often have a lower labour rate to stay competitive.

Did it start pulling to the left after any changes were made to the car such as the springs, new tyres/different tyres on each side, brakes (presumably checked for not binding) ? If it was a bump before you had the car then I would have thought it would have pulled all the time. What has the garage checked for - obvious ones being brakes, bearings, tyres, suspension bushes/joints, track rod end wear, CV joints, front suspension strut top bearings (noisy when turning at low speed could indicate this), badly adjusted tracking - only making an adjustment on one side. I suspect you may be better getting a list from this garage on what they have checked/done, post it here and maybe trying a Citroen dealer. Their labour charges on older cars are often lower.

I guess this has already been checked, but make sure the connector to the electric pump is ok and the wiring. The steering sensor I think is part of the coms 2000 unit which is the part below the steering wheel including the wiper and indicator switches. If it is faulty then probably (but not sure) the complete bit will need replacing. There was a post not too long ago on this forum asking about the location of the steering angle sensor so maybe they are becoming a common problem. On C3s they sometimes have problems with the power steering but here the electric motor is part of the steering rack and the fix is to turn the ignition off and back on a number of times.

2 or 3 miles or about 5 minutes is probably about right for most cars I have had (petrol and diesel). When the thermostat has needed replacing, they have not got up to temperature or only if stationary but when moving again the temp has fallen, also the cabin heater has not been that warm. Some temp gauges though may not be a true reflection of the actual temperature, our C3 has bars which light up and each bar can cover 5 to 10°C. A code reader with live data is better to see the indicated temperature provided the sensor is ok.

For the 1.6 hdi estate the official figures are 40.9 / 61.4 / 51.4 mpg urban / extra urban / combined compared to 36.2 / 56.5 / 47.1 for the 2.0 hdi estate. So maybe driving slowly on a motorway (up to 65 mph ?) and not into a wind or up hills or accelerating quickly and going up hills let the speed drop a bit, you may get 50 ish. 50 mph roadworks are good for economy as long as there is not a slow queue in to them. Reset the trip meter just before a trip on the motorway and see how well you can do. Also in colder weather the fuel use will be a bit more than in summer. If you do lose your lights at night try the front fog lights as a temporary measure.

A few times at home (and once in a car park) I have had times when the remote has not locked or unlocked our C3 (2003 1.4i SX) but the key has worked and the car started. Or, if waiting a while, the remote has worked. Using the second remote has not helped. I have put it down to interference from elsewhere such as a mobile phone, phone mast or amateur radio mast (there is one not too far away). I have also read that some remote card reader terminals used in such as restaurants can have the same effect. The same used to happen to a 2005 Xsara Picasso we had and at the same time as the C3.

I am pleased the forum is back but I have noticed the contents pages are not being updated when there are new posts. Plus when you make a reply it comes back with service not available even though the reply has been posted - so have to log back in to see your reply.

This limitation on the Approved Used scheme effectively means if you are not too sure about a car, then you have to make sure they have the car you may want instead already in stock. A bit of a nonsense really, why not remove it as a scheme benefit or reword so they will also try to source a car from across the Citroen network. My local dealer will do this if you want a particular car but you have to pay a deposit.

The steering angle sensor is built in to the module at the top of the steering column. This may also be the cause of the ESP fault. I suspect you will need to go to a Citroen dealer for a new one. I think this module is also known as the Comms 2000 unit and to get the correct new one you will need the car VIN. It will also need to be programmed using Citroen diagnostic equipment.

The Haynes manual wiring diagram shows separate fuses 9 and 10 to the headlights, one for each side, in the engine fuse box, both 15 amp. but they also do the dipped beams so if the fuses have gone the lamps will not light either. The earth for the motors and switch is behind the left headlight. If the motor is OK, I suspect the connector or wiring may be at fault - from the switch, the 12v feed is the pink wire and the earth green/yellow at the RH motor. The feed to both motors is common (blue) from the switch and then splits (to red and to pink) so if one side works OK then this limits how far back from the none working one you need to check.

Do not bother with the oil temperature, from memory it is combined with the oil level sensor, and it is normal for it to go up slowly - it does on our car and I have seen it mentioned before here. I do not know why there is a gauge for it and it probably does not go into the engine management. Draper do a combined pressure/vacuum gauge for about £11. Search on Draper petrol engine vacuum and fuel pump tester. The petrol engines do have an EGR valve (Haynes manual page 4A.15).

First give the inside of the throttle body and plate a clean with carb cleaner or turps on a cloth to remove any carbon build up - this should be done each service on any car. Also have a look for any hose splits. If then you still have problems it could be the coolant temperature sensor that is faulty.

I think I have seen on this site of a seat frame that was broken , so something to look for.

The service history ought to be on the Citroen computer system so your dealer should be able to give you a print out of it. There should be a handbook with the car, your dealer should provide it (or maybe a more local one), in the meantime try asking on here for help, also have a look on ebay. The excess smoke - the 1.6 hdi is known for turbo wear so it could be from that or possibly from an injector problem. Our 1.6 hdi C4 seems to smoke when accelerating but there are no running problems and the oil level is not dropping, it is on 45k miles so should not be too worn either. I think under the Citroen approved scheme you can return a car if not happy within a certain time (30 days / 1000 miles) - have a look on their website (Approved used cars and vans, program details) - this may help the dealer respond a bit better.

I would copy this to the C5 subforum, it is likely to be read by many more C5 owners.

A wire coat hanger is probably a bit soft and would not spring into place. I would guess the spring fits a standard bulb that is used in other cars so a spring from a different car make may fit. You could also try a small magnet on string and hang it in the headlight to see if it will find the old spring for you or have a look with a small mirror (such as a dentist type) and torch.

Could cover both problems.

In last month's Car Mechanics mag there was a diesel with poor performance and it turned out the egr valve and the MAF sensor were both at fault.

I have seen this before on this site but can not remember exactly what it was but it could be the height sensors on the front and rear anti roll bars need a good dose of WD40 to free them up.

Welcome to the forum. For info, a couple of common faults on the C3 to watch out for are front coil springs failing and petrol injectors failing. On the coil springs there should be a cup fitted at the bottom of them to stop the bits cutting into the tyres and maybe brake hose if they fail - these were fitted as a recall on earlier cars but should really be on them all. Citroen also have replaced the springs free of charge at Citroen dealers when they have failed. The injector failure is caused by winscreen washer water or rain dripping through the bonnet holes where the washer jets are and also from the washer jet pipe joints. This drips onto the injectors and through small holes causing the coil to rust and fail. A bit of sealant under the washer jets will prevent this, plus I also replaced the washer piping with a rubber type that sealed better at the joints. For good measure, it is also recommmended to put a bit of sealant on the small holes on the injectors. Having 2 injectors fail after heavy rain within a few weeks of getting the car (replaced free of charge by the dealer), I did the above measures and there has not been a problem in the last 4 years.

I am not sure how accurate the views number is, when you look at the names of the active users at the bottom of the page they are things like google, yahoo and names of people I have never seen before in posts on this site. I have not cleaned a C5 egr valve but on a Saab 900 I used to clean it and its pipework each year by a mix of scraping and white spirit/carb cleaner to remove the carbon and oil deposits from the plunger and its seat. The aim was to ensure the plunger could easily move and when closed gave a good seal. I think the reason for recirculating the exhaust gases in to the cylinders is to lower the combustion temperature which reduces the amount of nitrogen oxides produced. From memory, the egr valve should only open at higher revs.

If you do not have a Haynes manual, on page 8 of this subforum, there is a post Haynes manual for C5 started by ant7. Within this Shelden has put a link to his copy of the Haynes manual. I do not know about the legality of this but the link does work.

The right hand one is the overspeed warning. To set the speed at which you want a warning, when at the desired speed give a long press on the button until it gives a gong. Then if above this speed you get the warning beep. As you have found, to switch the warning off, press the button so the button is not lit up. You must have it set at quite a low speed if every time you set off the warning is being given. The button on the left is part of the alarm. The button switches off the interior ultrasonic detectors, possibly used if a dog is left in the car ? All this is from our C3 handbook (not Pluriel) so if you try to get one any C3 one should do. You can also see them for the more recent cars on the service.citroen.com website without having to register and pages can be printed - I find using a mouse right click works.

If you disturbed the timing belt and the timing is now out it could be giving the symptoms.

Something else very easy to check. At the gearbox end of the cylinder head is the swirl actuator - called a diaphragm by Citroen. It looks like a thin rod with a ball and socket connection on the end and the plastic socket often breaks. New cost is about £20 but it is a pig to fit. There are a few posts here on how to do it. When it breaks the acceleration may be down and some have had warnings (anti pollution ?) but in my case I just noticed it was broken but once replaced it did accelerate quicker. Some different fuel supplies have been reported as giving poor economy, Shell is reported as giving good mpg, I tend to use Sainsburys and that gives good mpg and is also the cheapest here.