james08

Hi Ro88o0, Thanks for the reply. The garage offered to fit a new winch if I paid for the part. Seems like a design fault, but I didn''t have the time to argue the point. Hopefully the new part wont be so prone to reverse winding. The new winch does have a plastic stand which rests on the ground supporting the spare wheel when fully lowered. Not sure how this helps the cable but it suggests Citreon are looking at the problem. I am now much more careful and removed the wheel myself when I needed a new tyre fitted to the spare wheel. Replacing the cable doesn't sound like an easy job. I hope I never have to find out! Regards James

Hi Hacked off Can't help with all your problems. I've only got a problem with my spare wheel carrier. The wire no longer winds around the drum. Citroen think the winch may have been operated with an air wrench. Do you have a similar problem? Could this be a design fault? Should Citroen be fixing this for free? Citroen say I should complain through a dealer. Any information you have could help build a case. Please get in touch.

The trick is NOT to squeeze! The metal clip is held in place at three points; two of which form a type of hinge, the third is held by a hook. I made the mistake of squeezing this clip and was left hold a 'U' shaped piece of wire. I was perhaps lucky that my clip came away completely allowing me to examine this bent piece of wire. I was finding it impossible to refit the clip with the bulb in place and so decided to work it out without the need to force the clip against the back of the bulb. If you feel the back of the bulb housing carefully there are two small metal hoops; These hold the two ends of the pieces of wire which form the open end of the 'U' shaped clip. The very tips of the wire are bent outwards and if the clip is squeezed slightly these tips can be slotted in and out of the small metal hoops on the bulb housing (this is a lot easier to do without the bulb in the way). With the tips of the 'U' under the hoops the clip is free to swing open and closed against the back of the bulb housing. We now come to the third fixing point; Although not immediately obvious this is in fact a hook and the wire clip is designed to catch underneath it. This all works quite easily without the bulb in place. When the bulb is refitted the wire 'U' needs to be forced against the back of the bulb in order to allow the clip to reach under the hook. So to open the metal clip put a thumb against the 'U' shaped end of the clip and force it against the back of the bulb while maneuvering it out from under the hook. If you resist the temptation to squeeze, the clip should swing open while staying attached at the tips of the 'U' This is far more difficult to put into words than it is to do.

We live on a hill and have found the oil sensor doesn't like slopes. This can also affect the brake fluid sensor. I'm not suggesting you ignore the warning but I now think of it as an indication that the slope was too great to give an accurate indication of oil level.

The spare wheel winch cable on my second hand C8 has been mysteriously frayed for a while, probably from before I bought it. This has not been a problem. However, when my local Citroen garage replaced a wheel during an mot, the cable became detached from the winch mechanism. Although still held in the housing the cable could not be rewound. Is this a common fault? How could this damage happen. Should the garage fix it, or could it have been there before they removed the spare wheel?