paul.h

Hope it does not cost too much to fix. Diesels would also suffer the same problem. The cars you saw going through probably had the air intake above the water level.

Could be the height sensors at the front and back need spraying with WD40 or similar to free them up. Seems to be a common problem and there are a few posts on here about it.

In the handbook (page 36 warning lamps) it gives reasons for beeping as low fuel level and a system malfunction for the following warning lamps - engine running, air bag, battery charge (low battery voltage), engine oil pressure, handbrake, ABS, ESP. On the times ours has beeped it was about 3 beeps and stopped - causes were low fuel level and also low battery voltage.

If you are getting water in your diesel fuel tank you need to beware of biological growth of jelly - coastline did a lot of work on this last year when a customer had a problem with a van. Make sure the filler cap is a good seal.

Are Renaults noted for their reliability ?

It is 4 years since I wired up the towbar on our 2004 mark 1 2.2 hdi VTR hatchback but I used the 7 way relay for the lighting and a smart type relay for the caravan electrics (12S). Supplied by Towbars Direct in Warrington. The towbar is a Tow Trust one (part no. TC639) and was a good fit, I have had some makes in the past where a bit of filing was needed. There is a trailer socket connector in the car at the back but the voltages were a bit odd so I preferred the 7 way relay - the alternative would be a car specific wiring kit to the connector which would be a lot easier to fit but at a price. For the 12S socket a supply has to be taken from the battery so it is not much more effort to take a second one for a 7 way relay. There are a few posts on here on towbars and a good search should find them - there is one on page 43 of Technical subforum - Towbar electrics started by Leon Nov 2006.

I think I saw somewhere in the French RTA (ETAI) manual for the mark 2 C5 that if you have a particulate filter in the exhaust then you should only use 5W/40 or 10w/40 and not the w/30 energy saving oils. However, it should say in your car handbook on what is allowed.

Is this not the normal sound of air going in to the servo ?

If you have a hand primer it will be under the engine cover.

Have you looked between the front seats under the arm rest lid ?

I am surprised you do not have a small white sticker on one of the front door A pillars (between the hinges) which as well as the tyre size also gives the tyre pressures and paint code. If it is not there then it must have been removed. A brochure I have for 2003 gives the hatchback (SX)/LX model as steel wheels with 195/65 R15 tyres and the VTR with alloy wheels with 215/65 R16 tyres. The estate 15 inch wheels have 205/65 R15 tyres and the alloys as before. Do not know if there is a misprint here since it would result in the VTR models having wheels/tyres overall about 1 inch more in diameter.

You have not noted if there is an indicated high temperature or if the gauge is showing anything with the ignition on but before running the engine.

Haynes do a manual for the C5 which you should find useful. Does not cover the 2.2 hdi engine but everything else is the same. To remove both - slide a credit card or similar under the lower edge to release the clips and then pull the lower edge forward. On the speedo the 2 clips are below 2 dimples.

What size does it give on the sticker on the door pillar - this is the one I would go for.

It may pay you to service the brakes, remove all the pads and clean them up and the calipers since they are prone to seizing on the C5. The rears also need cleaning/greasing at the contact point between the caliper and suspension arms to remove corrosion which causes the calipers to be pushed out a bit giving squealing and bad wear and if bad, the caliper can touch the wheel - there is a pinned post on this. Also have a look under the bonnet at the passenger side of the cylinder head to see if a plastic cup has broken off a pivot - a common fault on the 2.2 hdi which affects performance and can bring up fault codes. I would check the battery voltage without and with the engine running - should be 12.7 and about 14 volts. Check the battery connections are on and tight and check the wiring at the alternator is in good condition. Has the exhaust particulate filter and eolys fluid both been recently replaced/topped up - this is an expensive job at about the mileage of your car ? Diesel filter is supposed to be replaced every 40k miles.

If it is the engine cooling fan, if you turn on the ignition does it show a high temperature or anything on the gauge ? If so then there may be a temperature sensor fault - check the connections are clean and dry and the wiring is not damaged. If nothing is found then a sensor may need to be replaced. If you have a code reader with live data then you will be able to see the indicated temperature to show there is a fault. On the C3 there are 2 sensors at the end of the cylinder head, (one for the gauge and one for a high temp alarm) cost about £20 each so not an expensive job to replace. Until you get it sorted then it may be worthwhile unplugging the fan or removing its fuse when the car is not being used.

Welcome back. I used copper grease on the bolts to stop any corrosion between the bolt and caliper, not wanting to go through the bother of removing the loctite stuff every year or so. Somebody else may comment/correct me, but since stainless steel is still a different metal to the alloy caliper, there may still be the possibility of galvanic corrosion occurring - as a minimum it may be worth putting a blob of high temperature grease/sealant on the loctite injection holes on the calipers to keep out moisture. Interestingly, on the new C5 the design of the rear calipers has changed to similar to front ones with a single piston so without bolts going through the full width of the calipers and only the area of the bolt holes on the carrier is in contact with the suspension arm. The handbrake is also on the rear brakes.

Haynes does not mention anything special but it only goes up to 2005 models so need to satisfy yourself it is the same. Jack up, remove wheel and arch liner, raise suspension arm to compress spring a bit then undo bolts and remove shock absorber. Lower bolt may best be slackened on the ground first since torque is high - also need to renew this bolt and nut. Lower bolt has to be tightened fully once on the ground.

Haynes manual for the C3 includes the 1.1 engine and I would expect it is the same one as in the C2. There is a French manual for the C2 which you can get direct from ETAI and possibly Amazon's French site. The spark plugs are under the ignition coil unit at the back of the engine and this needs to be removed. The torque setting for the spark plugs is 25 Nm, do not over tighten them or you risk damaging the cylinder head threads. Make sure the seating area is clean before fitting the new plugs.

I would be tempted to go to a Citroen dealer (or a Citroen independant garage) and ask them to have a look and give an estimate for the repairs. They can then redo the MOT. Seems odd the track rod ends are worn out, often these last a car's life, have you done a lot of miles ? The tyres at the front will likely be showing a wear problem which may be visible or felt in the treads as feathering. If the power steering problem is with the steering rack and it requires it to be replaced, then have the track rod ends done at the same time to save money. If the tracking (setting of the track rod ends) is not correct then you can get the car pulling to one side and my experience is that a garage is more likely to correctly set up the tracking than a tyre dealer if it needs adjusting. The wheel bearing is likely to be giving a whining noise when driving which you may have detected.

For economy mode to go you need to start the engine so will go once running again. Refit the battery following the procedure in the handbook (do not start engine until after a minute or so from switching on the ignition to give the electronics time to reset) otherwise you may get some odd faults.

If you look on the service.citroen website, you can access the car handbooks and print pages. The fuse layout will be in there. If it is still different may be you need to visit your dealer.

Sounds a bit like a fuel draining problem. See if you can prime the filter following the procedure in the handbook - there may be a hand pump to use. Also look for any leaks around the piping around the filter that may let in air. I think there was a case here where there was a pinhole leak in the hand pump that under fuel pressure did not let out fuel but under vacuum let in air so the fuel could drain out back to the tank when the engine was not running. I think a symptom was air noises when using the pump. A good search may find the post. There was also another odd one which coastline found. In early cars the fuel filter has a built in temperature sensor with a bimetal strip but it gave a problem of stopping the fuel flow when cold. Ran ok in the warm garage but then once outside the enginer would cut out and give fault code P1138. The filter body had to be replaced. However, this is probably not your problem. If you push the traffic master button it will stop but may come back on if you stall the engine.

mark 1 handbook gives the diesel tank as approx 68 litres and petrol tank as approx 66 litres with low level light at about 6 litres.

The temp gauge lights are not that good an indication, they cover a wide temp band, if your code reader can give live data that is better. Our C3 usually has 3 lights up after 2 to 3 miles but that depends on how cold it is outside. Live data check on ours gave 2 lights at about 70°C and 3 lights at 81 to 96°C when the fan cuts in. The thermostat is supposed to open at 89°C so in our case should have 3 lights up. Other people have reported here that they only see 2 lights up. It could be if you do a lot of miles and motorway driving the C3 is going to cost too much in fuel so not worth having and a diesel would be better. I tend not to use the C3 on motorways with it being such a small car. We have a 1.6 hdi C4 which gives 60 mpg on motorways (M62 Warrington to Hull) but over Xmas dropped to 52 but then was -9°C.