seefive

Hi For anyone considering a C5 diesel because they are more economical than petrol models, consider a few facts and figures before committing. Citroen dealers will always push diesels hard, saying they do "30% more MPG than petrol". This plants the idea in your head that you will save 30% off your petrol fuel bill. Wrong. You will actually save 30/130 - 23% of fuel volume. Factor in the 5% price premium and your cost saving is 19%. So if you are doing 12,000 miles pa on petrol at 32mpg it will be costing you (12,000/32 x 4.70) = £1,762 19% saving is £338. Add your road tax saving and you are £400 in pocket. All good so far. Now comes the bad news. A browse through this site reveals numerous expensive problems associated with the particle filter, fitted only to diesels. This is such an expensive item, Ebay publish a warning which pops up when you search for an HDI car.They have obviously had to mediate in some nasty disputes after these cars have changed hands! Cost estmates vary, but it appears £1,000 is about the cost of filter replacement. On post -2005 cars this is a service requirement at 50,000 miles. Citroen keep very quiet about this. Whatcar.co.uk warn of diesel C5's frequently burning out clutches at 50,000 miles or so, with replacements "stretching into 4 figures". This is a result of the higher torque of the diesel engine. And there's worse... There are an alarming number of posts on this site about 2.2hdi's prematurely snapping cam belts, no doubt due again to the aggresive power delivery of the diesel. The cost of engine rebuild is frequently prohibitive. Added to this, there is more frequent routine maintenance required, all of which makes the £400 fuel and tax saving look like a poor reason to choose diesel. And to cap it all the smell of diesel makes me feel sick!! Guess what - I run a reliable petrol C5 and refuse to be drawn into this misery. Think very carefully before your next purchase. Citroen ( and other car makers) love diesels because that's where the big maintenance profits are - they make very little on the car itself. I know all you diesel devotees will want to douse me in petrol and burn me at the stake for this, but the more miserable/desperate posts I read , the more I am convinced that c5 diesels are trouble - "nothing but trouble" to quote the RAC in a recent post...

Hi I don't believe the external temperature sensor affects the climate control. My temp display went crazy last summer - gave me an ice warning on a warm May afternoon, but the cabin remained cool, as it should do. On a cold morning, my 2002 sx petrol is warm within 2 minutes, then the blower slows down and remains tepid to maintain the internal temprature. I leave the temp on 19 (my side) and 20 on the passenger side all year round, and it's always comfortable. There must be an internal sensor that looks after the cabin tempearture. Interested to know where that is...

Mine has a sport setting too...

Had exactly the same symptoms on my 2.0 petrol and cost me £40 to fix - clips on low pressure part of the circuit had worn and weren't holding the jointed parts properly. If you live anywhere near South Bucks, I can recommend Louis Barbour - see his website. Very helpful and knowledgeable. Might be worth getting a second opinion on this.

Thanks for that . I have tried STP injector cleaner in fuel and engine treatment in oil and got a bad reaction - more misfiring than normal. Could this mean it was starting to do the job? Maybe worth tring Greased Lightning or Slick 50, or Wynns as you suggest?

Diagnosis is not good - looks like a sticking valve. Way too expensive to proceed with, so I'll live with this until I finally run the car into the ground. Apart from this minor irritation, the car continues to be great - very reliable, smooth quiet and super-comfortable. Seems that diesels have more "issues"....

Hello again Thought I'd dig up my old post and see if anyone has any ideas on this. I know cat and anti-pollution faults are hugely common on C5's , but mostly on diesels, and not usually temperature - dependant like mine. I've booked the car into an idependent diagnostics specialist for January - Citroen dealers were worse than useless at diagnosing the problem - they just managed to screw up the external temp sensor, which has now settled down again. Would wlecome any comments from anyone with similar experiences. Thanks

If the blower is not working at all it's probably the resistor pack - this went wrong on my C5 sx ( with climate control) - but may be different if you have manual air conditioning (3 circular controls for temperature, blower speed and direction). Cars with climate cntrol have a digital display and 2 temperature controls - for driver and passenger. If it's the resistor pack, it will be about £100 in a main dealer (£50 part £50 labour). These cars do consume oil by burning - that's normal. If no signs of leaking, I would just top up and keep an eye on things.

My C5 has been unwilling to get going the last few mornings. Engine starts fine, but when I let the clutch up and release the brake, it feels like the handbrake is still on. I have to rev higher, then there's a clunk and the car moves. There's no nasty noise or problems with the brakes, no fault light and the car feewheels fine. No dead cat under the wheels either. Any ideas? Thanks

This item is proving very popular! Here's an update to my previous post. Sad to say my Halfords bulb lasted less than a year, so I went to my Citroen dealer and paid the £20 labour charge to replace it again. This is interesting - when I got the car back, | noticed one of the turn-buckles securing the radiator grille was loose. I reckon the way they do it is to remove the grille (2 screws and 2 buckles) to gain access to the inside bolt securing the headlamp unit. The other bolt is easy - topside of the unit. Ease the unit away and voila - you have open access to the back of the unit , connectors etc. They did the job while I waited, and I didn't see any sign of the car going up on a ramp. Judging by the time it took, I'm fairly sure this is the way it's done. I have no way of testing my theory, as the screws are star-shaped, and I don't have the right tool.

Took mine to Halfords for a nearside bulb. No hassle - £5 fitting charge and 5 minutes. And he wasted a bulb by touching it and had to get another at no cost to me. Bulb cost about £4 I think.

I have a 2002 c5 2.0sx petrol (manual) - not the HPI engine. In colder weather, it starts misfiring about 1 minute after starting up perfectly. As soon as the temp guage gets beyond the 2 blue lines, it runs perfectly again. It seems to be flooding My dealer has replaced the coolant temp sensor as well as the coil pack and plugs, in 2 sepearate visits. No improvement Occasionally, it misfires immediately on starting. On a bad day I get catalytic converter fault on the screen, (accompanied by flashing engine light) followed by anti pollution (accompanied by solid engine light). Then the faults clear as if nothing happened. Dealer can't find any faults in the ECU...

In answer to your earlier question, the check control will display a message when you hold the button in - only if the "service" light is showing. This can be as simple as "Washer fluid Low" etc. Cheers