paul.h

There may be nothing wrong since it may be a one off electrical glitch. Our 1.4 petrol 2003 sx a year ago, at the end of a 60 mile motorway journey, jumped from 3 temperature bars to all the bars lit up + the warning and the engine fan came on. At the time I turned the engine off in case it was overheating and once cooled down I did some checks and found nothing wrong and it has not done it since. However, check the coolant level, look for loose or frayed wires/connectors at the engine temperature sensors - on the petrol engine there are 2 on the cylinder head. Check the coolant hoses by touch to see if the thermostat is opening so coolant goes to the radiator. If it does it again I would have it looked at in case it is overheating since there is a risk of engine damage. When our car warms up the bars light up one at a time, usually 3 are lit but in the cold weather may only be 2.

Our C5 does not take a minute or so adjusting its height when the engine is switched off. Any adjustments are usually one movement and that's it. In this month's Car Mechanics mag (Feb 2009) there is a letter where somebody has cleaned up/greased the height sensors/arms that fasten by ball joints to the front and rear anti roll bars to sort a similar problem. I think I have read on here something similar.

Are the reversing lights on as the car is started, if so could be the reversing light switch is sticking. Other bongs could be if locks are set to lock automatically, possibly seat belt not done up but on mine these are once the engine is running.

To remove the back bumper from the hatchback, it appears the rear lights need removing to access the top bolts holding it on. Also need to undo the screws in the rear wheelarches and along the bottom.

If only muck on the sensor then maybe a baby bottle type of cleaning brush poked around inside may work and saves taking everything apart.

If I have read this right, the wiring diagram in the French manual I've got, shows a single wire going to the sensor, possibly from fuse no. 4. It should be on the washer bottle and being only one wire is most likely providing an earth through the water. If this is the case, then earthing the wire would remove the warning indicating a sensor or bottle earth fault. Inserting an earthed wire into the water in the bottle would rule out a bottle earth fault. I think access to the bottle is through the wheel arch liner.

Try a search on anti pollution, this gives a lot of postings. How many miles has the car done from new ? Is your reference to oil and filter change for the engine oil/filter or to those for the exhaust filter ? The exhaust particulate filter problems for a mark 2 C5 should not start until around 70+000 miles when the eolys fluid (this is dosed into the fuel tank to burn off the particles that are collected in the exhaust filter) may be running out and the filter due for a change.

There is a lot of info here. Have a look through the postings in each section, possibilities depend on whether a diesel (exhaust filter) or petrol and mileage covered so far.

An internet search on P0303 came back with this - misfire on cylinder 3, possible causes Faulty spark plug or wire Faulty coil (pack) Faulty oxygen sensor(s) Faulty fuel injector Burned exhaust valve Faulty catalytic converter(s) Running out of fuel Poor compression Defective computer So cheapest thing is to look at the spark plugs first.

Going by Seefive's signature, I think his car is a manual gearbox.

To remove the dash: along the lower edge there are 2 small pinhole size dimples. Under these slide plastic cards to release the 2 clips. Then with these still in place pull the dash forwards and out.

Our 2003 1.4 petrol sx does not show outside temp either.

Additional thoughts:- Whilst previously being fixed, the fuel filter will have warmed up (and bi-metal strip thus moving to direct the flow to the cartridge and not the heater - may be able to see the end of the strip by looking into the fuel inlet nozzle) allowing the car to run when the code was reset. The length of time between the apparent fixes and the fault re-occurring could be explained by the time it has taken the filter to cool back down again after warming up in the garage. If used on a warm day and the fuel in the tank had also warmed up then this could take a while - but if all is cold then just a few minutes. Maybe a way to test for this fault would be to warm the filter with a hair drier, reset the code and see if it runs. If Coastline had not been on the training course and learnt of this fault then it could have been next summer before the car ran again.

In the RTA manual there is a cross section of a Bosch fuel filter which if I have got the translations right - shows the feed from the low pressure pump going in to the side of the filter casing to a (element thermodilatable) bi metal strip (?) which either directs the fuel down to a lower connection and out to a (boitier thermostatique) heating box (?) or up to the filter proper. The return from the heating box is at the bottom of the filter. The fuel goes through the filter cartridge from the outside to the inside and inside is a pressure regulator which either directs the flow to the high pressure pump or back to the fuel tank, through the top connections. It does not show the water detection which is on some other pictures. There appears to have been a change of filter types, up to model OPR no 8936 it was a Bosch and from model 8937 it was a Mahle. In the Bosch filter the fuel heater is separate to the filter but in the Mahle filter it is part of the filter and has a 12v supply. This is providing my translations are about right. The above may make sense to Coastline having now seen the insides of a filter.

If you have a look on the Picasso forum this topic is being discussed in the technical section - seems to be a common problem. (http://www.citroenpicasso.org.uk or via http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk)

Could the bio metal strip be anything to do with water detection in the fuel filter ? Does it join up to the electrical connector on the bottom of the filter ?

The Haynes C5 manual is due in December according to their website - but unfortunately for many of us, it will not cover the 2.2 hdi and the 3.0 petrol. Will have to stick with the French RTA ones (diesel only), now about 27 euros from Amazon.fr inc delivery.

In the RTA book the transmission is the drive shafts. Had another look in the manual and the different numbers are for the left and right drive shafts - for the 2.0 hdi ML5T gearbox the left shaft is 8LN85 and the right 8LN86. The ML5T gearbox in the 2.0hdi also appears to have the no. 20LE94, the 2.2 hdi is 20LE96 and the 3.0V6 is 20LE95. This may help. There is no info on the cv joints. In the RTA manual for the mark 2 C5 it shows the outer (wheel end) cv joints can be split like any others - it is held together by a split ring on the splined shaft and needs a sharp blow to separate it. To refit it shows using a jubilee clip around the ring when in place on the shaft and then inserting the shaft back into the joint. Here the cv joints are different diameters depending on engine type - 86 or 100mm.

Have you tried Euro car parts and German French and Swedish (GFS or GSF) - both have web sites. The French RTA manual lists the transmission ML5T 8LN85 or 8LN86 if it has an intermediate stage (Palier in French). I do not know what this means but it shows additional bits to remove.

I would have a look to find where the water is getting in or the problem will continue.

If the engine fan comes on the engine may think it is hot - is the indicated temperature normal, coolant level ok - at a guess it may be a faulty temp sensor and giving wrong fuel mixture.

It is possible it is just an electrical blip and may not happen again. Our 1.4 2003 petrol did this last year after a 60 mile M62 run and on the last 100 yards the temp went from normal to max in one jump. Did lots of checks and even bought a new thermostat and one of the temp sensors but it has not done it since so the bits are still in the box. It is still worth doing some checks though - try letting it idle until the fan comes on to see if the thermostat is faulty (stuck closed), see if the cabin heater is getting warmer, etc.

Yesterday I removed the loctite from the driver's rear caliper yesterday with the caliper still in place and learnt a bit more (previously I had just undone the bolts enough to clear the suspension arm on this caliper and the other one I had to remove completely before hammering out the bolts). One caliper bolt was removed and the loctite drilled out of its caliper hole whilst the other was kept in place as in the above procedure so the caliper did not split. Once a bolt is undone from the threads on the suspension arm it stopped moving out. After futile attempts with a hammer and also trying a bolt from the back of the suspension arm with the same thread (10mm x 1.25) to push out the bolts, I eventually successfully used a pry bar/crow bar to lever against the back of the bolt head (protected by a large washer) against the caliper whilst continuing to turn the bolt. Gradually the bolts moved out but it still took a lot of effort and time and it was then too late to bother removing the pads and cleaning up the back of the caliper. WD40 and brake cleaner were used in the small holes in the calipers but their benefit was not great (if any). The pry bar I have is a Draper one, L shaped with cut outs for nail removal so this helped keep it against the bolt. There is probably a puller that would make this job easy. The long 10mm drill was a masonary one since these are cheaper. The bolt hole is probably 11mm so the loctite also needed cleaning out with a file and long screwdriver so the bolt is a nice loose fit.

The RTA French manual shows a combined fuel pump and filter and gauge in the petrol tank so there probably is not an external one to change. See if the service schedule includes changing one.

Anything special about this hill - long, steep, location so we can all avoid it, which gear/revs needed to get up it, etc ? Also how many miles has your car done ?