citrophile

thanks john am going to adjust the sensor linkage on the roll bar to see if I can get it down to that rob

Help! Can someone with a 2005 C5 tell what height their front suspension is at when parked on level ground locked with engine off, measured from ground to wheel arch. Mine at the moment measures 75cm which to me looks about 5cm too high. Thanks Rob

Hi Seem to have mislaid the special key for removing my locking wheelnuts (DOH!) Do citreon dealers have a "universal" key so that they can remove any citroen locking nuts? Thanks Rob

Hi mlkey Am having an issue with the front ride height on my C5, could you send me the procedure for adjusting it. Thanks Rob

Hi All Managed to get under the car today and, yep, the sensor had got turned around when the roll bar was taken off. Have now positioned it correctly and reset the roll bar ends (50mm below the subframe as per haynes!) and tightened everything up. Started her up and hey presto the front suspension, after a bit of pursuasion (seemed to have got stuck a bit probably due to 3 weeks of inactivity) now moves up and down when buttons pressed. Only issue at the moment is that the front does seem to be a little higher than I remember it and ride seems a bit hard and bouncy when I just took it down the road for a short drive. Is it possible that the ride height could have changed slightly when everything got taken off? Maybe the roll bar wasn't set at the 50mm previously? How can I check if the ride height is correct or not? Thanks

Didn't follow any procedure to be honest. Annoying thing is that Haynes says to disconnect the anti-roll bar from the subframe but you can actually leave it attached and I wouldn't have had to do anything apart from unplugging it. So, if I start fiddling with it now, how do I know it's correct?

Yes, I did disconnect it but reconnected it when I put the anti-roll bar and sub-frame back on. Do I need to do something to reset it?

if its the small unit fixed to the middle of the anti-roll bar then i disconnected it. I reconnected it and didn't change the position where it was fixed to the anti-roll bar but the connecitng arm would have moved when it was taken out. If this is where the problem is how do I reset to the correct ride height? Rob

Oops - Have just posted this in another topic!! Finished the turbo change and everything works great except that the front suspension doesn't go up and down. Rear suspension is fine. Do you think something needs to be reset? Could it be related to the anti-roll bar which I took off when I removed the front sub-frame? Cheers Rob

Well, finally finished the turbo change and everything works great except that the front suspension doesn't go up and down. Rear suspension is fine. Do you think something needs to be reset? Could it be related to the anti-roll bar which I took off when I removed the front sub-frame? Cheers Rob

i was a bit worried that the back would lower itself when i was under the car but to be on the safe side i have now put a jack under each jacking point at the back. should have it all finished tomorrow, fingers crossed

Am in the middle of changing the turbo and suspension was on low setting until I jacked the front up and now the back has changed to a high setting. How can I get it to go back down if the engine is not running. Thanks Rob

Hi Guys How do I turn over my 2.0 HDI engine without starting it? Is there something I need to disconnect? Rob

One other thing, a lot of the air intake tubing and the intercooler are full of oil. Whats the best for cleaning those too. I'm sure I read somewhere that paraffin was good but sounds a bit "low tech" to me? Rob

Have ordered new CHRA cartridge for turbo, should be here tomorrow. What's the best thing to use to clean the turbo bits and should I try and clean all the carbon and soot out of the turbine housing as well? Rob

Hi All Well, after 3 days, finally got the turbo off! If it hadn't been for the awful wind and rain, especially on Friday and today I reckon it could have been off in a day. It's definitely failed, the shaft wobbles about like a drunken teenager on Saturday night, but the rest of it looks fine. There's no impeller damage so nothing has been thrown into the engine, other than oil sucked through the air intakes and intercooler. I'm going to write up a more detailed post about the removal and refitting (once I do that next weekend) as there are a number of pitfalls to avoid which would have made it a bit less frustrating. For now I will say that the pre-cat is a complete pain in the a*se. Such an awkward shape and with heatshields which make it almost impossible to get at anything. Even when loose it is like the krypton factor (40 somethings will know what I mean!!) to try and twist it and turn it to remove it. In the end I left it where it was and removed the turbo around it. I didn't take the sub-frame off but took out the right hand drive shaft as it was pretty easy to remove once you got over the balljoint removal on the hub. I might take the sub-frame off next weekend when I refit the turbo just to see if it makes a difference as there should be a bit more room. It's not impossible but does require perseverance and a certain amount of patience. If you're using the haynes manual as a guide then there are a few fundemental errors. More of these later but one biggy was the fact that there is a bracket underneath the exhaust side of the turbo which attaches it to the cylinder block - no mention of this anywhere!!. Will be stripping it down tomorrow and then ordering the necessary bits to rebuild it. Quite funny when I eventually got it out and run in the house with it........look, look, I haven't been just hiding for 3 days, here it is. Bit like I had won a trophy or something! Thanks all for your advice, would never have tackled it otherwise, even though I am reasonably competent when it comes to cars. More to follow next week when it's refitted. Cheers Rob

OK, so started to strip the car yesterday, at least up until the sodding weather (heavy rain) made it impossible. Managed to get the cat/ particle filter off without too much trouble and it does give you reasonable access to the pre- cat heat shield. Engine undertray wasn't too difficult either although I managed to break off a corner as someone hadn't refitted it properly previously. Exhaust and cat looks pretty clean inside so looks like no issues from the turbo failure thankfully. One thing I'm still not clear about is whether I still have to remove the drivers side driveshaft. Cheers Rob

Have just been looking online for a replacement turbo and the GT1749V that I need seems to have some sort of cartridge bit in the middle (CHRA?) which contains the shaft and impellors in one unit. Does this mean I don't have to buy a complete unit and can just do a rebuild with a new CHRA cartridge and seals?

BTW, anyone recommend a good supplier for a reconditioned turbo?

Thanks coastline, this is beginning to sound a bit easier than i thought

Thanks Coastline That's a really helpful bit of advice. To be honest I have been a bit nervous about it as lots of people have said it's a pig of a job. You don't mention the sub-frame. Do I need to take that off too and the steering rack, like the book says? Also, do i need to do anything with the suspension? I cant raise or lower it because the engine doesn't run but i read something about de-presssurising it. Is that necessary and if so, how do i re-pressurise it after. Thanks Rob

Had a better look at it all today. Looks an awkward job but I'm gonna have a go! I disconnected the engine air intakes from the turbo this morning and the engine does start and run and seems OK at the moment. Fingers crossed it will just need a turbo replacement and cleaning out the air intakes and intercooler. Rob

Hi Paul Yes I was thinking of taking the parts off my donor car, if it wasn't too difficult. I'm pretty good with a spanner just a little out of practice. The symptoms I had were a distinct lack of power earlier in the day which I put down to it going into limp mode which it rarely does but usually resets itself when restarted. This time it didn't and when driving home after a few miles the power was almost non existent and I barely made it up the exit ramp off the north circular. When I got to the roundabout at the top and dipped the clutch there was a horrible rattling noise, cloud of smoke from exhaust and the engine started to race away. I just managed to pull out of the traffic before it stopped. Called AA and when chap arrived he suspected turbo failure, checked the oil (almost none left) and then took off the air intake pipes from the inlet manifold and they had loads of oil in them. He said the turbo will have sucked the oil in when it failed. His advice was not to attempt to start the engine as it may cause further damage. Do you think it will just be a turbo failure or will I have to replace lots of other bits too. Thanks Rob

Hi David Haven't done rear discs but I changed my front vented discs and pads a couple of weeks ago and it was actually really easy to change the discs. And yes it is as simple as removing the two small screws, pulling off the old discs and slotting the new one's on. It's actually the wheel nuts that provide the mechanical connection of the disc to the hub. Good luck Rob.

Thanks Parkesie You say it isn't that difficult but I have now looked in the Haynes manual it talks about removing the subframe, drive shafts, wheel hubs, depressuring the hydraulics etc which to me seems like an awful lot of work. I'm pretty handy with cars but all that seems too much to be able to do over a weekend on my drive! It may be that its so difficult because it is the 2.0HDI with the turbo behind the engine. My wife's C3 1.6HDI has it nice and conveniently placed right in front where you can get at it. (Maybe the Engine designer had a question mark over the reliability so put the 1.6 turbo there to be kind to the dealers!!) My dilemma now is that I really like the C5's and, having fitted a new clutch, flywheel, timing belt, front discs and pads, 4 michelins etc in the past 3 months I don't really want to get rid of it. :( However, I don't think it's worth taking to a garage as it will likely cost more than a replacement car (if I can find the right spec?) Any more thoughts anyone before I start trawling through ebay and autotrader! Rob