truemouse

Upon re-reading my posts, I have to apologise about how critical my response was. I personally have a grudge against Automatics of all types, and that had clouded my judgement. For that, I am sorry. Being restricted is not easy. Most Americans feign a handicap so's to make their life easy. You'd see some fat chick in a QFC store riding one of those electric scooters with the shopping cart attached, claiming that her obesity is her handicap, or some chicken USMC phreak on North Fort Lewis going on about his knee injury he sustained in the Vietnam war (carefully omitting the part about how he has never been outside the Continental US and the injury was when he was fooling around with his CO's underaged daughter - or son [can't really tell with jugheads] ) just so he can park in a handicap space. In the case of the Picasso Automatic, Pork Pie has hit it on the head. Citroen have sacrificed performance and fuel economy on the altar of convenience.

Got a phone call today from Citroen. They booked me in next Tuesday so's my 'casso can go online with their terminal and download new software for a smoother runing engine. :( O-kay. So my car is internet ready? It should be pointed out right now that I am a certified techno-phobe. My first six cars had about as much to do with computers as Rolex has to do with digital watches. Still, I'm looking forward to the dyno-test results after I get the software upgrade.

Then that is a matter of hand controls, not of "Stick it in drive and leave it there." Even I still managed to drive stick-shift U-Haul GMC Topkicks around Tacoma WA and US Army Deuce-and-halves on Ft. Lewis after a vicious attack from fire-ants in Orlando FL middle of last year. And that was with right leg the size of a small german sheperd.

Why is the Picasso so damned sexy?

Oh yes, but I think that it had more to do with 60+mph 4-wheel drifting on twisty roads, 2 litres of soda and a nervous passenger.

Well, now I have 2 new 'double filament' LED bulbs in (Just so's I never have to change 'em ever again. 2 down, 6 to go.) I have to take my serving of crow pie now. It's been built for ease of bulb replacement. It's just that I've been re-wiring tail-lights for so long I've gotten myself into a rut. I decided to think outside the box for a change. There are NO SCREWS! So here's a run down of bulb replacement. Expose the access flap (You have a storage compartment on the left and the shopping trolley on the right) open the flap (May stick a little as the carpet hasn't been cut all the way though so's to keep the interior looking clean prior to bulb replacement) pull the sponge out of apeture in metal frame (sponge - Citroen's friend since 1948) deep inside you'll see a metal clip. Using a large long-shafted plain screwdriver (Or lever of choice) push the clip upwards (Do not remove) until you hear a click. Remove the cluster from the outside, bottom first. You have two plastic locating lugs on the outside edge of the cluster and two clips, one top, one bottom. Discconect wiring, un-clip centre bulb assembly from lens and replace bulb. Re-attach wiring to check bulb (If you fold the middle seat down, you can see into the trunk for when you want to check the brake light) To re-assemble re-attach the lens to bulb assembly, locate top clip first, the two locating lugs next and push firmly at the bottom, replace the sponge bung, fabric access flap and side storage led/ shopping trolley. (So it's a little long-winded, but I reckon it's best to give as detailed an account as possible. The driver's manual is a little vague.)

The central display is divided into 2 sections. Right hand half of the display. On the steering column you'll find two controls. One for the wipers and one for the stereo. Forget the stereo controls. On the end of the wiper control you'll find a button (In the very end of the control) pressing this will change information displayed on right hand half of display. Cycle through until you see something that looks like the 'casso driving towards a sign or driving away from it. As far as I can tell, that tells you the last time it was serviced and the next time it's due. Don't confuse with the last time you gassed up and how long it reckons you'll need to pull in for some more go-juice.

Never thought about that one. You might have water up your pipe. (Yeah, that totally sounded innocent, right?) Could also be moisture in the carb, and that it's just at a certain RPM that it's getting sucked into the engine?

Every modern car company does that. Pontiac make their cars so cheap you end up busting all the plastic ties and seals doing it yourself. So unless you have a limitless supply of disposable clips and ties, you cannot do anything with them. I installed a towing hitch to my Sunfire coupe and electrics. I tried to be super-cool with it and route it so I wouldn't have to drill small holes in it. The nuts that hold the clusters on them are PRESSED out of SHEET METAL. So it's not just Citroen.

Left rear side-light blown. How do I get the cluster out? I've opened the trunk and failed to find the usual screws that'd loosen it, I've check in the trunk and found the access panel (Inside the left hand storage compartment on the vertical surface nearest the tail-gate) but it's tiny and too damned close to the back of the cluster to afford access. It's like playing proctologist with my Picasso. What's the secret? (I was too dumb to pick up a 'casso Haynes, thinking that with a new car I wouldn't need to do any serious repairs to a '05 car. Shoulda been the first thing on my shopping list.)

Would anyone 'fess up to using a 'fagamatic? I mean, unless they have a pretty good reason like they lost their leg after stepping in a pirhana infested puddle, why should anyone be permitted to drive with a lazy left foot, and a mortal fear of the shifter?

Just noticed the 2nd question. Not too sure about the service intervals. Don't have my service book with me. I'd just wait until the little yellow light 'whinge' light comes on. They're generally based on mileage since last service. Come to think about it, you should be able to go through the menu on the dashboard telling you how long since the last service and when the next service will be. Just cycle through the crud on the radio's display screen.

It's only the 1.6 HDi and the 2.0 litre Gas (Automatic) that have it. I don't believe the 1.8 has 4-point disc brakes. Niether fo the have Emergency braking assistance, although they all have the ABS electronic brakeforce distribution.

Sounds to me like you're trying to treat the poor ole C5 like a Land Rover Defender with 'Descent Control'. Used to do that with my '96 AX back in the day, only because I had just passed my off-road test with the army. Stopped shortly after when the mechanic on Rhein Main airbase went ballistic, told me to go see the Frankfurt Citroen dealer, who went ballistisch, (Ballistic only with a German accent.) Chances are you've confused the crap out of your ECU. Best thing to do is change gear, or change your gearbox (Like automatic?) "Learn to drive in a stick-shift, forget in an Automatic."

www.2cv2007.se http://www.2cv2007.se/index_gb.html Old Citroens, Meatballs and vodka, on an airstrip. Ooooh momma! Who's going?

www.sniffpetrol.com Good clean fun. http://www.sniffpetrol.com/AdC5.jpg Not just a shameless plug, just figured that if I posted the image and didn't give 'em a mention they'd get pissed.

So, I've seen roof-bars here there and everywhere, but does anyone do a real honest-to-god roof-rack for the 'casso? Perhaps even a trunk lid-rack?

Buy Sony explode head unit and speakers (Amps to follow.) from harlfords, and if it comes to £100 they'll fit it for free. (Usually good for head-ache free experience.) If they give you crap, just tell 'em to shove their head unit up their arse unit and start going about it yourself. What I'd suggest is basically starting from scratch. Best to get advice from our local stereo shop. Word of warning though, the AX was a very compact car. In order for the clever buggers at Citroen to put so much car into such a small space, they had to mould stuff around the driver. The original car was designed for the left-hand drive market, so stuff like air-ducts and antenna routes flow so that they'd be accessed from the passenger side - the right hand side. (Can you see where I'm going with this?) Took me ages to install a new antenna in Germany after I took my British AX through a German car-wash (They have this stupid safety switch deal where you have to stand outside while the machine automatically washes your car. You can't back out or drive forward if you forget to remove the antenna or fold down the mirrors.) Be prepared to remove lots and lots of facia/ dashboard/ instrument panels and steering wheels.

Picasso Base Blanking Bungs, Picasso Base Blanking Bungs, Picasso Base Blanking Bungs. Just had to sa that three times fast. How about you just unscrew the antenna? The base is so low anyway . . . may as well leave it in.

I personally wouldn't bother. It's a 3-door. Definition of central locking in a 3-door : "I can sit in the driver's seat and reach both doors." More hassle than it's really worth.

Gently prise them off with a butterknife. Everyone's toolkit should have one of these. Put down a non-abrasive rag over the metal to avoid scratching. You'll also find there's a polythene layer stuck onto the metalwork of the door under the door card. If you remove it, replace it with another polythene layer. This really does help to baffle the road noise. Alternatively since you're obviously going to go for other mods such as ICE, try just spraing the inside of the door (With the window up or out) with a sound insulation foam. Feel for the clips. If you break the clips, don't get too uptight. You can go to your friendly Citroen parts store and get a bag of them, or failing this, just pop along to your nearest car accesory store, most of these clips are interchangeable.

Unless I really knew what I was doing, I'd just get a regular replacement. Altering the exhaust flow and catalytic converter can screw your engine's computer up. Back in the old days, before electronically controlled engines, it didn't matter that much. The less shizzle you had on your exhaust the better the flow, the more power you got. Nowadays you could end up driving 500 yds and the engine deciding that it wants to take off, or die completely. If you just want the looks there's all sorts of tail-pipes you can buy and install from your local hand-dandy car accessory store.

6'2", at the time I was around 300lbs and I have size 14 feet (uk) Owned an early '96 AX and rented out Saxo's in Germany through SixT and AAFES. I had no problem at all. Dem thing fitted me like a glove. However, I did have a glass-tile sunroof which I had in the back-seat most of the time and had my hair blowing in the breeze of german autobahns. (And I'm not bald yet) The only vehicle that I've ever had to use the sun-visor on was a 26 ft 9 ton GMC top-kick U-Haul furniture truck, but I still maintain that the AX and Saxo were very comfortable vehicles.

Well, if you re-spray it a different shade of the existing colour, you could get away with that. DVLA don't really go into detail about the colour. Usually it'll come up 'grn' or at the most detailed 'drk grn'. So you could go for an alternative shade, so long as it's generally the same colour. For example 'Iceland Green' (Or whatever that new cabbage looking colour is) could be re-sprayed 'Forest Green' or even the old 'Amazon Green', and you'd still be painting it an official Citroen colour, and you wouldn't have to inform anyone. Think it through. What colour is it now, what colour would you like it to be, what image do you want to give about yourself (if you want lurid pink and yellow I'm not posting here again.) and what would be the easiest way to do it? You could go 2-tone in the same colour, you'd only have to paint part of the car.

Hair-dryer (and a really long extension cord - do this in the middle of the night so no-one can see you and label you as a weirdo who likes to blow-dry their car.) If you need to pry it off, butter-knife with a non-abrasive cloth wrapped around the blade once. You will find that once you remove the badge(s) that the paintwork behind it won't match the rest of the car since it'll be fresher and less sun-damaged. Re-painting is usually a good idea anyway, if you're looking for that individual look. Try for a Citroen colour, but not from that period (Saxo with the Pluriel Orange and Storm Grey roof-panel would look neat.)