paul.h

The following are general things that could apply to any car: If the engine temperature is low then it is likely to be the thermostat needs replacing. If not, then check if the coolant pipes to the heater through the bulkhead are hot. There could be an air lock in these pipes or the heater matrix which needs bleeding out. If you have air conditioning then make sure it is not switched on. The mechanism for moving the air flap to the heat position in the ducting may not be working.

The original post and replies about tyres are on the technical pages. The mark 2 C5 is from about August 2004 so 54 reg onwards.

Do you notice the vibration more at low engine speed, such as stationary or slow corners ? The hydraulic pump is either driven by a belt or is electronic (2.0 hdi only electronic) and when you turn the steering there is more demand for power from the engine which may need to increase speed if stationary or could stall. Now if the revs are falling too low, then the engine may be vibrating/juddering a bit more than normal - something to check when parked with the bonnet up - get somebody to turn the wheel and see what happens. Also try the same but with a foot on the accelerator to increase the revs to see what happens. Depending on what you find, as a guess, there could be a problem with a sensor (if there is one - steering angle sensor located under steering wheel) that detects the steering is being used and the need to increase engine power (engine management problem).

I would try another one to compare it against but there are people on this site with a new C5 1.6hdi who may still reply. Recently I sat in a 1.6hdi tourer at a car supermarket and started the engine (all that was allowed unless you were considering buying it) and did not notice anything untoward, but then I was not looking for vibration of the steering wheel. I have also driven a 2.0 hdi exclusive tourer and never noticed any steering wheel vibration but there was a lot of road noise from the front tyres. Does the engine vibrate or is it just the steering wheel ?

Why not remove one bolt and put it through the new wheel and see if it sticks out as far as on the old wheel, or is there more to it than that ?

Could be worth asking what the fault codes were then you could do your own searches on likely faults but it should be something that affects emissions. There should also be freeze frame live data stored when the fault occurred but this would be lost when the code was erased. I may be wrong, but it sounds as though the garage is using a process of elimination by replacing parts at your cost, hoping to get it right.

If it has the filter there will be a white plastic tank under the car near the fuel tank. It holds the eolys fluid. You may also notice on starting the engine there are no clouds of smoke and the inside of the exhaust tail pipe will be clean.

If you want to avoid economy mode switching the radio off after some time (6 minutes in your case ?), then you will need to take a positive feed direct from the battery or the supply to the ignition switch (Haynes has as 100A(BE) - blue). The wiring diagrams in Haynes may help you but the wiring colours sometimes change over the years. You could use Scotch locks but add a separate fuse to your new supply. Only problem is the car needs to see the radio or you may have problems. Haynes shows the normal radio connecting to the BSI.

For car washing fairy liquid and water but for hand cleaning Swarfega original (green) which has on the label C9-16 alkanes and cycloalkanes (I think the last tub had kerosene on the label). Other things used are turps/white spirit, brake cleaner, carb cleaner.

The filter is DIY although when I was going to do mine, I bought the parts (about £16 ?) but the dealer fit it free when doing an oil change service which saved me disposing of the diesel. The temp sensor in the left door mirror may need replacing.

1. I have read here that you can fit the 2 line display unit to cars with the 1 line one without any problems. 3. Looks like it is due a fuel filter replacement, should be about every 40k miles. You are probably at the mileage where the exhaust particulate filter needs replacing unless this has been done. Haynes do a manual for the C5 which is useful but does not cover the 2.2 hdi engine although there is a French RTA (ETAI) one which can be obtained direct from ETAI and possibly Amazon's French site.

Guess you have seen the Problems and Fixes pinned note on the rear brakes. At least once the loctite has been removed from the calipers the job will be a lot quicker next time.

We have a mark 1 2.2 hdi VTR and that sounds ok and you do not notice it when moving. Maybe you need to get somebody else to listen to yours or try and listen to another 2.2 for comparison. Ignore the first reply to your note, this site seems to be getting a lot of spammers in the last few days.

If the C8 is like the C4 and C5, the auto lighting and wiper sensor is at the top of the windscreen in the middle. You need to keep the glass clean for it to work ok.

Maybe you have not got the lights set to come on when the doors are opened. On our Citroens (mark 1 C5, C3, C4), when the key is removed from the ignition the lights come on for maybe ½ minute only but then when a door is opened they come on again unless economy mode has started. Coming on when a door is opened can be switched off using the courtesy light switch - it may say in your handbook how to do this. The economy mode time seems to vary across our cars, maybe 15 to 30 mins, so possibly it can be adjusted by the dealer.

Usually a temperature sensor on the cylinder head will set the fuel mixture (along with the air flow meter and accelerator position) plus possibly some input from one on the air inlet to the engine. I suppose first you need to get the garage to agree/see there is a problem before doing any diagnostic checks (and then they pay for them since they think they are needed) but this would mean having the car at the garage when it is first started. It will be interesting to see what other people think and with more experience of diesels. I would also think you could go to another Citroen dealer if you are not happy with the service with this one.

Could be a temperature sensor problem. I would have thought it should be sorted by Citroen as part of the 3 year warranty.

If it is only a leaf or similar, you may be able to get it out by removing the cabin pollen filter if it has gone through the blower.

It may not be too difficult to see if it was an oxygen sensor, the diagnostics would be able to see if it was switching. See what other people suggest though. Have a Citroen one fitted, I have read in such as Car Mechanics magazine (who also have a help desk and a forum) that lower cost ones sometimes do not work well. Edited 26/1/2011. After looking in Haynes, etc. it appears diesels do not have oxygen (lambda) sensors, only petrol engines so this could not be the cause of the problems.

1. It may help to replace the accelerator pedal since the internal electrics (potentiometer ?) may be worn. A new one was about £36 3 years ago when I replaced mine and is held on by 2 nuts and an electrical connector. There may also have been some replaced under warranty on early cars but I am not sure. I found setting off a bit of a struggle since the first part of the pedal did not increase the revs. It may also help to clean the throttle plate and body (with carb cleaner or turps or similar on a cloth) which may have a build up of carbon. 2. Not sure about this but you could try switching the child locks on/off at the door latches - page 12 in the handbook.

The gauge on our C3 is steady. Will move up (more bars) when filled or drop a bar about every 1½ gallons of petrol used (60 to 70 miles).

If you put the key in the ignition and start the engine does it stop ?

First thing to check is the fuse - the handbook should tell you which one and where it is located.

Once you have it started it runs ok so I would have thought the injectors are ok or at least letting fuel through (but may be not enough for starting ?), but I am not an expert. Seems odd also that after the filter seal replacement, it ran ok for a few days which may suggest it is still a related problem - hence the suggestion to check the pipe connection seals. No wonder you are doubting the guess work diagnosis. If you have to go to another garage it may be better to go to a Citroen one with the correct diagnostic equipment. Where abouts are you, somebody here may be able to recommend a garage ?

Haynes does not say much (and suggests using a dealer or upholstery specialist) - lower headlining, prise off the retaining clips at each end and detach the struts from the balljoints, use a second person to hold up the heavy tailgate, refitting is a reversal of removal.