paul.h

If the temperature gauge goes to max I think the air con is automatically switched off.

If it is the same as our C3 it will be in the glove compartment behind the fuse cover which just pulls off. The connection is the standard 16 pin one.

Sticker on our car (not Pluriel though but C3 1.4 sx) is front 2.1 barg = 30.5 psig and rear 2.3 to 2.8 barg = 33.3 to 40.6 psig depending on load. Tyre size is 185/60 R15 84H Michelin energy. Tyre only has max 51 psi.

You could try and source a second hand part as a temporary measure to get the car back on the road.

I do not know if this will help, but sometimes people disconnect the battery for a while to reset the car's management system when having electrical problems. The power steering not working until switching off/on for a few times has been noted before on the forum. Was the garage who did your software update a Citroen one ?

The part in the blue box - there is not one on our car 2003 1.4sx petrol but the green/yellow earth wire is there. It may be a capacitor somebody has installed to overcome radio interference, this was common over 20 years ago. As for the high temperature, it could still be either of the sensors or the thermostat. To change any of these needs the coolant partly draining so if money is not a problem it would be tempting to replace them all together or at least the thermostat (2 bolts and a jubilee clip) since out of these, this part could cause actual overheating provided the others are switching the engine fan on. If the gauge sensor is giving wrong values it could also have an effect on engine performance. The anti freeze is a type that does not need changing (possibly organic acid type OAT) so if you do not manage to save all the existing anti freeze when draining, you should use the same type to top up the level. I would get a Haynes manual for your car if you do not have one, it will explain draining and filling the anti freeze to aviod air locks. Your local library may also have one plus usual shopping sources. If you are ok at French or use a dictionary, there is a good RTA manual which Amazon's French site have.

Haynes shows the clutch on the compressor (not the condenser, this is like a radiator at the front of the car) has an earth and a feed from the BSI, built-in system interface, which gets its signal from the air con control panel. It also shows fuse 8, 20 amp in the engine fusebox has something to do with the air con system. Could this problem be related to your other electrical problems ?

Pleased it is sorted, is this the highest mileage C3, I would think most are used round town and only cover a few miles.

Seems to be the warm weather that makes them worse, black plastic expanding slightly. I have used a sealant as a glue before to stick one end down that was particularly bad.

For the roofed C3, the 2 strings fasten to hooks either side of the hatch door window so as the door is opened the shelf back edge lifts up. The front edge pushes in to slots in the plastic sides below the rear windows as for most hatchbacks.

There was recent case of a C5 with odd electrical problems which occurred after using a car wash. It turned out water had got into the towbar electrical connector through a leaking rear light. Could you ask the garage to put the old software back ?

If it is the 1.4 petrol, the red box is the GREEN 2 wire temperature sensor that operates the gauge. The high temperature sensor is down the side of the head, below and a bit behind the red box, this sensor is coloured BLUE (from memory) and has a single wire connector and to access it properly you need to remove the air filter box. Both sensors give a high temperature alarm and should operate the engine fan (via the management system). You can see the thermostat at the bottom of your picture, it is part of the pipework, being the black plastic elbow with a jubilee clip to the radiator top hose, and has a built in wax type thermostat. Maybe have a look on eurocarparts to see what it looks like. If buying sensors, you may be better getting them from Citroen using the car vin to make sure you get the right ones, since they are not much different to the ebay price on your link and there will not be any postage. Note the one on ebay says it is the blue coloured sensor so may be the high temp one and not the gauge one. One problem with an ebay link is that since it has gone past the sell time, your first link does not work. If it is a sensor problem, the gauge one probably will give between 3 and max bars (by running the cabin heater to control the temperature - but this could also be a thermostat problem) but the high temp one is max bars or nothing since it simply earths the connector wire (could be a wire fault to this). I would have a look through the bumper to see if the radiator/air con condenser is blocked with debris/flies. I have still not bothered to sort the high temp problem on our car since it has only happened twice in 3 years but I have a thermostat and temp sensor ready to fit.

On our car 2003 1.4 petrol, (I am told Lucas Girling brakes) the hub nuts are 32mm AF (1.25 inch socket) and with the hub covers cost a few pounds but need replacing every time. The covers if removed carefully may be re-usable when knocking off with a screwdriver against the outer edge. I replaced the shoes last year on about 35k miles but they did not need doing. The drums were badly glazed. One of the shoes has a thinner layer of material which I thought was due to wear but found they are like that new. The rear brakes have always creaked, even after fitting the new shoes and using the grease supplied with the new shoes on the metal contact points. A hub puller was not needed. I made some notes in Haynes since the job is a bit fiddly. There is a knack to removing the lower springs so they do not bend out of shape - remove the handbrake spring which clips around the brake shoe first as in photo 11.4a in Haynes on page 9.10. The front end of the upper spring does not lever out until the rear end is removed. When refitting - fit the rear shoe, front shoe, lower spring, adjuster, upper spring, handbrake spring, adjuster lever/spring, remove the wire tied around the cylinder pistons. Adjust the adjuster wheel and try fitting the drum - repeat until shoes are just about to bind and then finally fit drum - test foot brake before peening the hub nut.

I would have a look at the parts diagram on Citroens service website which you can join as a member of a car club. Web site is www.service.citroen.com

Welcome to the forum. If you search on the C3 subforum you will find that front coil spring failure is common. The recall was to fit a cup under the springs so if/when they fail they do not drop down and damage the tyre/brake hose - I would have thought your car should have these fitted, they are on our 2003 car. When a spring on our car snapped I rang our local Citroen dealer to arrange repair and they contacted Citroen without me asking and I did not have to pay anything. Both springs were replaced so they were a matched pair. Since the cups were fitted I could still drive the car to the dealer so did not have any recovery costs - if not then maybe the AA or RAC could do this for you if you are a member. Most people appear to not have to pay for this repair provided they have gone to a Citroen dealer - if you went to an independant then you would have to pay and try and claim off Citroen but I suspect they will refuse to pay. So, if I were you I would contact your local Citroen dealer and see what they have to say and also how much they would charge if you need to pay. Check if you have the cups fitted to see if you can still drive the car to the dealer - they are a bit like a saucer at the bottom of the coil about 6 inch diameter. If the cups are not fitted check with the dealer to see if they were covered by the recall and if not, since they are cheap have it done anyway when the springs are replaced.

I am pleased you have got it sorted. The towbar electric boxes on our car I stuck part way up the spare wheel well using a silicon sealant as a glue (it was lying about in the garage) and held them in place with squashed newspaper whilst it set. This was so they were out of the way but the electrics would not get immersed in water if there were a leak.

- high temperature switch set at 118°C. Single wire sensor, putting the connector to earth may start the fan and give full scale on the bars. - the temperature sensor resistance varies with temperature. 2 wire sensor, bridging the connector wires may start the fan and give full scale on the bars. Whilst I had the air filter box removed (to clean the throttle body) I did these 2 checks with the ignition on but not far enough to start the engine (2003 1.4sx petrol). - earthing the blue, single wire connector put the temp gauge to full but did not start the fan - maybe I would need to run the engine for this but did not want to try with the filter off. - bridging the green 2 wire connector put the temp gauge to full, again did not start the fan, but also brought up a fault code P0117 - temp sensor earth fault, which I had to clear with a Citroen specific reader (Sealey one worked) since on OBDII setting it did not see the code. So the system is sensible enough to realise there should be some resistance but I would not recommend doing this test without a code reader to erase the fault code that will come up.. Additionally the temp sensor resistance measured 3600 ohms but the reader gave 30°C and not the values in the RTA manual.

Let us know what the garage finds and I hope it is not expensive for you.

My initial thoughts are the noise could be related to applying the brakes and nothing to do with the clutch (although difficult for me to tell without seeing the car). When were the brakes last serviced/checked, it could be the front brake pads are worn down to the metal backing plate. For a proper check you would need to remove the wheels. If you are not sure what to look for, some places such as Kwik Fit do a free brake check but I have never used them so this is not a recommendation. I would also check the wheel bolts are tight.

The car maintenance book with our 2003 C3 gives timing belt change for petrol engines at 75000 miles for normal use or 48000 miles for severe use so I would be getting worried if I were you. As an absolute minimum I would remove the top belt cover and have a look at the belt - it does not take long.

A few questions that may help us. By lifting the clutch do you mean pushing the clutch pedal to the floor ? Are you applying the brakes when the noise occurs ? How many miles has the car done and does the clutch work ok ? Have you checked the tyres for damage or stones stuck in the tread ? With the clutch pedal pushed down whilst the noise is occuring, if you rev the engine does the noise frequency increase - just to see if it is engine speed related or road speed related.

Unless you need to remove the scuttle for something such as a wet footwell (a search on this gives more info and fixing), I would leave it alone since it may start such leaks (my experience, first noticed after fitting wiring for a towbar). The air intake under the scuttle is like a box section clipped to the bulkhead with a grill at the front that slopes at about 45° facing up - I can not imagine anything getting through the scuttle and to this grill and blocking it. The Haynes manual covers scuttle removal for access to the wiper motor and has pictures and I could also e-mail ones from when I sorted leaks on mine. To see if it does go on to recycle you may detect a change in the air flow sucked in from the outside by placing a hand over the grill area.

This could be normal, had you been in slow moving traffic before stopping so the engine was hot ? On most cars the fan can run when the engine is switched off if it is hot.

If it is like the mark 1 C5 they are prone to rain going in to the driver's footwell and there are posts on this. Maybe on its way down the bulkhead it passes and wets the electrics.

Welcome to the forum. If you go to the Problems and fixes pages, there is a post by phil.d under anti pollution/esp/asr fault that covers this. It is a part Citroen call a diaphragm which controls the swirl chamber - like a throttle plate for each inlet. The part is about £19 and fitted £60 has been mentioned.