seefive

Hey 72dudes you need to have a word with your cat - stop him walking over the keyboard when you're posting! But getting back to the discussion - I take on board what you say about the Kia. I'm not expecting it to be as High Tech as the Citroen, but then that could be a good thing - less to go wrong. Heavy depreciation is good news to the second-hand buyer. If I bought that car for £5k and ran it into the ground over 5 years my capital cost is £83 per month. (forget loss of interest at today's rates)- not bad for a car with minimal mileage and a nice long warranty. As my 7 year old C5 now books at around £500 px, I don't see the problem with the Kia. The thing that makes me hesitate on a Korean car is the possibility of waiting for spares to arrive , and having to spell m-a-g-e-n-t-i-s to a puzzled looking lad at the local exhaust emporium. The old Citroen is behaving itself at the moment, but I know it will turn ugly again in the winter, and I want to avoid that pain. I'm still dithering though. Maybe I should become Prime Minister..

If you really feel there is a legal case to answer (sale of goods/fitness for purpose) a class action would be a more powerful and economical route to pursue, if there are other people out there with similar grievances.

Hmm interesting. I took a look at one ( but couldn't drive it) and thought it felt really solid . The door closed with a whisper, and everything felt durable. The older model was flimsy and a bit of an eyesore, but the current version is very European-looking. Reliabilty seems to be a strong point ,and at £5k - ish for a 2007 car, a real bargain, I would have thought. I know - this is a Citroen site - but any other opinions on this? Stop me throwing away 5 grand?

Hi PamC8 Looking at this and the C8 post, I'm not sure where you are going with this. It appears that you bought a second-hand 3 year old C8 in Jan06 from a non-franchised dealer? and the cam belt snapped in Aug08, apparently because the car had not been taken in for recall rectification, and you were not notified of the recall, is that it? I'm not sure what the manuafacturer's responsibility is beyond the first owner, but I doubt if they have liability in this case. The dealer who originally sold the car probably has no trace of it, and I can't see a manufacturer using the DVLA to track down every owner who has bought one second hand. I previously came down hard on your side on this thread, and I'm still apalled by the money they have charged you, but I really don't think this has got legs, now I've gone back into the c8 post. Recall aside, there have been a number of cam belt disasters reported on this site on the 2.2 hdi engine - it seems there is an inherent weakness /complication in the engine design, as this has happened in C5's as well. Very difficult case to argue, I wish you the best of luck, but I wouldn't spend any money pusuing this one. Sorry

Update - fault lights went off today. Very strange - seems like a delayed reaction to the scanner. It must have cleared the code, as in previous occurances the light goes out after a day or 2 if there is no code stored Result!!

My point is - the scanner confirms codes erased and engine light off, but the car refuses to switch off the light. It seems that Citroen have made the car impervious to non-citroen powered scanners trying to clear faults, an example of protectionism, whch is supposedly illegal. I should be able to clear codes and switch off the light without going back to Citroen, who have failed to diagnose and fix this real or imaginary fault on repeated visits. All very frustrating.

OK Got the scanner and it threw up code PO401 (EGR insufficient flow). Although the scanner erases and confirms all clear and light off on rescan, the fault lights remain on, and when I scan again after starting the engine, the code appears again. AAARGH I'm getting fed up with this car. I was offered the princely sum of £500 to trade it in or a 2007 9k mile high spec Kia Magentis at £5,300 this week. Maybe I should have gone for it??

This one looks interesting - see compatibilty petrol and diesel... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAN-Bus-OBDII-OBD2-T...%3A1%7C294%3A30

Mine's a 2002 petrol (not hpi) - see my signature. The blurb on ebay says that scanner's good for everything from 1996. If not, what protocol should I be looking for please? Citroen CT - which sensor needs replacing? The coolant temp sensor was replaced at the same main dealer 2 years ago, and it immediately started giving me crazy external temp numbers on the screen (ice alerts on a warm May afternoon) then settled down again.. Thanks again

Thanks for the reply They didn't give me a code, but said there was an air shortage, and suggested a new pump. As the air pump only operates for a minute on startup (per Haynes) I don't belive this is the cause here. Their Lexia machine read the coolant temperature as minus 40c so I'm none too confident in this. I tried the off and on approach with no luck (didn't hear the noise or see the speedo flicker, mind you) Would this do the trick? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OBD-2-II-EOBD-OBD2-F...%3A1%7C294%3A50

Hi My car has deveoped a habit of suddenly throwing up "Antipollution fault" whilst the the engine is warm and running fine. It's done it twice now, about 5 minutes after starting. No limp home, no nothing - just the dreaded engine and service lights. Last time I had to take it to the main dealer to get the light switched off, but at £45 a time for pointless diagnostics this is going to get expensive Can anyone recommend an affordable hand held scanner that will do the job? Any idea what would cause this? Thanks

Hi I had my car in the main dealers this week for diagnostics and to switch off the engine light, and they diagnosed intermittent fault on the air supply to the combustion chamber. Probable cause - air pump. This makes sense, as my car has a tendancy to misfire and feel like it's flooding on cold Problem is the cost - £250 plus labour plus vat- £400 ish Is there a possibility this could be a leaky hose or something? I have no idea where the pump sits or how it connects. Thanks

After reading your post, I noticed the offside sidelight had gone on my Mk1 C5 whilst driving home Replaced it when I got home - 5 minutes and 50p! The old-uns are the best!!

Update on this one A couple of days ago the car went straight to "AntiPollution fault" with a solid engine light, and the fault light won't clear ( first time that's happened). The car's running fine now , although it was a bit "wobbly" at the time the AP fault came up. Could this mean there's a fault code stored in the ECU which may finally solve this? If not do I need to disconnect the battery to clear the light? I remember reading something about a procedure which doesn't involve the dreaded battery reconnect on this site - switching off and on 5 times,or something. Can't find that post. Thanks

I have replaced with an aftermarket unit and it works fine with the supplied iso power lead.(also plays MP3 discs - a big advantage) However there are 3 things it doesn't do it doesn't come on and off with the ignition - there is no switched feed as the C5 employs Canbus/Vanbus protocol it doesn't talk to the remote stalk it doesn't send anything to the dash display, although everything else keeps working on the display ( temp date time etc) I tried a Connect2 lead for the stalk and it didn't work. I am currently thinking about an Autoleads lead, which supposedly creates an ignition pulse to cure point 1 and is sufficiently clever to communicate with the stalk. Unfortunately it costs £65, so I'm not sure it's really worth it.

sorry - I meant "Autoleads" not "Audioleads"

I'm trying to connect my JVC radio/MP3 cd to the remote stalk on my car, and the Connects2 lead I tried failed. Halfords have an audioleads connector which says t's good for Peugeot/Citroen cars using VANbus protocol, and includes the 2002 C5 in its compatibility chart. I though the C5 had CANbus?? The main dealer insists it's imposiible to connect to the stalk, but the lead manufacturers insist they have got it sorted. I'm a birt nervous to risk £65 on the Audioleads solution, and I don't understand the CANbus/VANbus issue Any advice please? Would an alternative be to retro-fit a unit from the new C5 ? (looks like it's DIN size and MP3 compatible) Thanks

Hi I'm trying to get the steering wheel stalk control to work with my JVC radio/cd using an aftermarket patch lead-no joy. The power comes through to the radio OK and everything works as it should.Jack plug inserted in the back of the radio but nothing doing. Lead manufacturer lists it as a match for the the car and the radio. I know the stalk works because it operates the original Citroen/Clarion unit (not reliable enough to reinstall, plus it doesn't play MP3 discs, which I'm committed to) Any ideas? Main dealer job? Thanks

Another possible reason I don't go through so many bulbs could be that I have H3+ suspension ( with the sport button I never use) I believe this gives you an extra sphere, and may be less fidgety than H3. I certainly don't relate to talk of "Citroebics" when I get in the car. The main dealer mentioned if I upgrade to Xenon, the bulbs are guaranteed for life (inc fitting) - might be worth considering

Good to see some positive news! I have to disagree about the petrol versions though. My (non HPI) 2 litre petrol is on 123k miles now and running as smooth as silk. Mixed driving around 300 miles per week. New clutch at 112k ( thrust bearings collapsed - I blame the first owner - probably using the clutch pedal as a foot rest - what can you do?) I don't thinkink I'll keep it that much longer, but I can see it doing 200k without too many problems. I read a letter in the Times from someone who had just got rid of their Peugeot petrol delivery van with 613k miles on the clock and original engine and gearbox. It was still running fine..

I only had problems when I had after-market bulbs fitted (lasted less than a year). Had an OE bulb fitted by Citroen garage in autumn 2007 and no problems so far (tempting fate I know). On the one occasion I tried to do the job myself I couldn't shift the connector, and was afraid of breaking it. I think the pins get hot and weld themselves to the connector. So I grit my teeth and pay £30 to the dealer now - probably cheaper in the long run.

I have noticed lately that used C5 prices seem to be going up. I'm considering something a bit newer than my 02 car - but 2004 models are coming in at around £5k or more on ebay classified ads. I've taken a shot at a couple of auctions, but not made reserve. I would have thught you should be able to get a 5 year old example on auction at around £2k?? Maybe I'm being mean with my budget, or maybe the dire state of new sales is causing shortages in the used sector. When I see (for example) a brand new Kia Magentis up for £8k (list price £15k) with 3 year unlimited warranty that even covers the exhaust, I'm not keen to pay £5k for an older car. Any thoughts or insight?

Very keen to fid this out myself - I've been posting similar questions recently. I'm happy to risk engine damage to break free of the yellow light tyranny! The way I look at it - none of my previous cars have had engine management lights and limp home mode, and I never suffered any problems. This system creates more problems than it prevents. Anyone with a shiny new Haynes manual out there can give us a steer ? Where should I wield the scissors? ( I'm not at all technical, so will need an idiots guide to finding the wire and doing the deed) Thanks in advance

Thanks Dave Thre is no fault code stored when this happens, and over the last 2 years I've had the coil pack and coolant temp sensor changed. Injector cleaner has no positive affect. Yesterday I started the car and let it idle, watching the engine. It's just been serviced, so the plugs are new and the oil clean and topped up. It started and idled fine, with virtually no vibration of the engine. Yet still the light came on! I'm thinking - if it wasn't for the light, I wouldn't notice anyhing! I know some mobile car electrics people will reset the engine light, but can they disable the function? This would save what's left of my sanity...

Hi This is a long shot, but is there any way of disabling the engine light/limp home routine? My car is now running fine, ( but for a barely perceptible misfire on cold) but I'm still getting the dreaded flashing light and engine going into safe mode. A restart instantly clears the limp home, but the engine light hangs around for a day or so. C5's are notorious hypochondriacs, demanding to be taken to the garage when there's nothing really wrong. It would be great to get rid of this "feature" Thanks for any suggestions