paul.h

If you have air con, the smell, a bit like a wet dog musty smell, is caused by a build up of mould on the air con evaporator matrix which cools the cabin air down but also gets covered in moisture from the atmosphere. To clean the mould off you can try the expensive type of cleaners as you have done but also lower cost anti bacterial surface (non bleach) cleaners will work. I use Dettol anti bacterial surface cleanser (non bleach, no taint, no odour) which comes in the typical hand pump sprays for less than £2 at supermarkets. Remove the pollen filter and with the cabin fan on, spray it in to the cabin air inlet with a fine spray so it reaches the matrix. For the C5 I find it better to use a garden spray lance held just in front of the matrix. It also helps prevent mould build up if the air con is switched off but leaving an air flow for the last part of a journy so the matrix dries out. If you do not have air con then the smell, if a bit like burnt curry, could be from a leaking heater matrix.

Do you mean - sometimes the engine does not stop when the ignition key is removed but stops only after you move your foot off the brake pedal ?

Sifaan, I had a quick look back at your earlier posts and you appear to have/had problems with the windows (shutters) not part opening off the key fob and also possibly the speedo/rev counter since you asked Coastline for the stepper motors. I have gathered your car is a 2.0 petrol, automatic, mark 1 C5, not sure of the year of manufacture (must be 2001 to 2004), mileage must be around 80k for the timing belt to need replacing, there has been a fire at some point (fuse box burnt out) but with all the problems if this was in the UK they would cost more than the car is worth to repair and it would simply be scrapped unless there is access to low cost parts and labour. In the UK there are lots of C5s for sale at low prices and with labour costs of around £50 to 80 an hour your car may not be viable. What condition was the car in when you got it, the list of problems Coastline has asked for should give us a clearer picture and let us help you best we can. You have not mentioned any problems with the auto box yet but they seem to not be reliable based on some posts on this forum. Maybe I am missing something, but are cars in Sri Lanka difficult or expensive to get ? It is a pity you are having these problems since the C5 is a good car. The oil level sensor also measures the temperature and should have 3 wires to it. The oil temperature on our car, 2004 vtr 2.2 hdi bears no resemblance or movement relative to the coolant temperature but then it has never gone to high temperature.

I would copy this to the Berlingo section. Glow plugs should only affect starting of the engine and hence not top speed.

Eurocarparts is usually a good bet but I would not think it would be much from a dealer.

In the UK engines normally run between the thermostat opening and the engine fan start temperature, so in your case would be between 89 and 97°C. The fan is only likely to start in stationary traffic but if the air con is on, it will cut in and out as the air con refrigerant pressure goes up and down. The thermostat has to open since the engine has no way of losing much heat without the radiator (or the cabin heater). Some other info, the high temperature alarm is 118°C and the radiator (tank) cap is 1.4 bar, equivalent to a steam temperature of 126°C. So the order of the temperatures are: - 89°C the thermostat starts to open - check the top radiator hose starts to get hot. The gauge probably below the middle and may help confirm temp sensor. - 89 to 97°C normal running temperature - gauge probably about in the middle. - 97°C the engine fan should start on low speed - gauge above middle. It will also start if the air con is on regardless of the engine temperature. - 101°C the engine fan speeds up if 3 speed fan. Will also speed up if air con pressure rises to 17 bar. - 105°C the engine fan speeds up to max speed for 2 or 3 speed fan. I found mention of a 2 speed fan in another French C5 book for the diesel engines but it only mentions 1 (91°C) or 3 speed fans for petrol ones. It will also speed up if the air con pressure rises to 22 bar. - 112°C the air con is stopped (found against the V6 petrol). - 118°C the high temp alarm is given - gauge will be at max. - 126°C the radiator cap will lift and let out steam. Note apart from the thermostat and radiator cap, all the temperatures originate from the temperature sensor, so using live data the fan will cut in at the indicated correct temperatures (or from use of the air con) as shown by the sensor but if it is faulty, the actual temperature may not be correct.

This may be something like a bad earth point that needs cleaning up.

They could all be related, people here have reported all sorts of problems with the electrics often related to a poor battery. Also, the speedo reading comes via the abs system which is also used in the ESP system. Check if the brake lights work ok to see if the brake pedal switch is working. Where are you located, somebody here may recommend a good garage ?

Just had a look at typical weather for Columbo, Sri Lanka for November and for all of the year, the min temp is 23°C and max 30°C so warmer than UK even in our summer. Relative to the UK, the radiator may need to be larger (worth a check if this has been replaced with a smaller one), engine coolant anti freeze would only require the corrosion inhibitors (if not used the radiator could block up with rust/scale), cabin heater probably not required, air con system may need to be larger.

Sifaan, I did not realise you are in Sri Lanka, it could be your car is a bit different to European models to allow for the higher outside temperatures. In UK cars, the cabin heater matrix takes engine coolant to warm the air flow in to the cabin so if the cabin fan is set to max and the heater setting set to max temperature (with air con set to eco so is switched off), then the engine coolant gives up heat to the cabin as well as to the radiator. With the air con on, as well as more load on the engine, it takes the heat out of the cabin and loses it (plus some from the compressor) in the condenser matrix which is in front of the radiator so making conditions a bit worse for engine heat removal - another reason why it switches off on high temperature. If you are getting a garage to do the work, a temp sensor is not expensive, maybe about £20, so I would replace it at the same time as the thermostat since it will not take long and in both cases there will be some coolant draining needed so may as well pay for the work once.

Something else to add, Haynes is not much use but the French RTA manual which covers the hdi engines has the following which may apply to the petrol ones. The engine fan is a 3 speed fan with the speed depending on the coolant temperature or the air con refrigerant pressure. - speed 1 at 97°C or 10 bar pressure - speed 2 at 101°C or 17 bar - speed 3 at 105°C or 22 bar. Battery has to be above 10.5 volts. If 105°C when stopping engine, the fan will run for 6 minutes. The separate relays that cover the different speeds are located on the fan support which is mentioned in Haynes. So something to look at, could be a relay/connection/wiring/fuse failure if the fan is not reaching the 3rd speed. Make sure the radiator is not externally blocked with flies, etc.

There is lots on this forum about rear doors not unlocking, have a good search, and none of the solutions involved causing damage by drilling through wheel arches.

Did you have the problem before the timing belt, etc were replaced ? If not then maybe there is a slight blockage - bit of gasket/sealant or even faulty water pump - loose impeller/small impeller. On tickover, usually with the air con on the revs are increased slightly so more load on the engine and heat to remove. On high temperature sometimes the air con is automatically stopped on cars. I would suspect that maybe the thermostat is not opening fully (they do not last forever) - you could just remove it as a first test. A new one will not cost much so is the lowest cost thing to do. When overheating starts to occur I would put the cabin heater and fan on maximum to give additional heat removal and with the air con off. A code reader should allow live data to be read so you can see the sensor temperature and possibly a hand held infra red one could be used as an approx comparison to a few degrees by pointing at different areas. Wrong timing may possibly lead to engine running hotter and overheating. Binding brakes would not lead to overheating when in stationary traffic - just cleaning up the pads/calipers should stop them binding, I do not think the pistons are likely seized so I would leave the caliper repair kit until later and avoid any need to bleed the brakes - to get air out of the abs system you need a dealer tool (proxia ?).

The recommendation to switch the ignition on and off came from Car Mechanics mag (originally from a Citroen dealer) and was to do it half a dozen times quickly and it worked for them on their car. Have you checked the fuses - Haynes shows maxi fuses 7 and 8 and fuse 4 all in the engine fuse box as being involved for the power steering but the fuse numbers sometimes vary over the model years. If you have abs on the car the speed is via the abs system - is the abs light going off as normal ? If you do not have abs, according to Haynes, the speed sensor is on the back of the gearbox so you could check the wiring from here. You could also check the wiring to the steering motor and any engine earthing.

I guess the engine management light has come on, possibly after rain. A common fault where it drips under the washer jets and on to the injectors causing them to fail. Happened to our car and 2 of the injectors were replaced by the dealer under the warranty. Have a search on the C3 forum pages. To prevent it occurring again, seal the washer to bonnet hole with a sealant and maybe change the washer piping to a rubber type that gives a better grip to the jets. You can also seal the injector coil holes with sealant to prevent water getting in. I would not think they are difficult to replace, it is covered in the Haynes manual although they give it 4 spanners for difficulty.

Did the 2 problems start together ? I have seen somewhere that switching the ignition on and off a number of times will reset the power steering which is electrical but that must depend on the fault.

It is in Haynes under the Cooling, heating and ventilation chapter, section 7, page 3.6

Automatic wipers is the first position of the wiper stalk and a message comes up to say they are selected. The frequency of wiping depends on the amount of rain on the windscreen at the top area of the sensor which needs to be kept clean (applies to auto lights also).

As well as the switch at the left of the radio, there are 2 stalk like switches at each end of the speedo housing. The left one resets the trip mileage and the right one can be held in to adjust the brightness provided the engine is running and the side lights are on.

I had just put this on your other post, I had thought this was the sensor you had cleaned the connections on already. According to Haynes, for petrol and 1.6/2.0 diesel engines, the coolant temperature sensor is located on the coolant outlet housing on the left hand end of the cylinder head. The RTA French manual shows similar for the 2.2 hdi engine.

According to Haynes, for petrol and 1.6/2.0 diesel engines, the coolant temperature sensor is located on the coolant outlet housing on the left hand end of the cylinder head. The RTA French manual shows similar for the 2.2 hdi engine.

If you mean the engine management light (engine symbol), this can be done with a code reader which these days are quite cheap. However, once the fault code has been read and then cleared, if the fault is still there the warning light will come back until repaired.

Does it make the noise all the time or just when starting the engine ? When you turn the ignition key, a cog on the starter motor engages with the gear teeth on the outside of the flywheel (which is on the end of the engine crankshaft) and then turns it until the engine starts, you let go of the ignition key and the starter cog disengages the flywheel. If this cog sticks it may not be released from the flywheel and give a whining noise - possible causes of this can include damage to the flywheel teeth or a problem with the starter motor or its electrical supply. Flywheel replacement I would think will be several hundred for parts and a few hours work since the gearbox needs removing.

Have you checked the voltage again ? If not, it could be the battery this time.

You need the lights on at the start so you know the bulbs are working.