Big Al

Sure it's not the column to rack joint? The splined joint can develop a very annoying rattle. I had this, thought it was drop links which I replaced to no avail. Getting the joint sorted made everything quiet again. It can be done without replacing parts.

I stand corrected - my mate just did the DPF removal on his '02 2.2HDi and quite frankly the engine appears to run just as cleanly. He did it to avoid the expense of a DPF swap and Eolys top up. Plus it's a one-off cost. His mpg hasn't changed although he thought he might get a boost. Mind you it's pretty good at circa 49mpg anyhow.

Not exactly Manchester area, but I know for a fact that the Citroen Centre in Oxford has at least one C5 estate breaking. I got a part from an '02 2.2 Exclusive last week. The car is still pretty complete and certainly has a tailgate. You'd have to get it painted (it's silver), but might be worth pursuing if all else fails. Al

Assuming the cause of your problem is the same as mine (tensioning spring slipping on its mounting) then this is the method I used to fix it: Lay the load cover upside down on a table. Remove the six Torx T10 screws that attach the roller to the panel. With the roller handle facing you locate the left hand white plastic insert that fits into the end of the tube. This contains the spring assembly (as far as I can tell there is only a single spring assembly) and will almost certainly need to be removed from the roller tube* You can make sure you are working on the correct end by checking that there is spring resistance if you push and turning the black end cap. The other end will just rotate freely if you press and turn it. The spring assembly end piece slots into the tube and is held in place by tabs. It needs to be gently prised out without breaking it – take care here. Once the spring assembly is removed the spring can be re-tensioned. In the case of mine it appeared to be the outer end of the spring that had slipped on its tapered fitting. I permanently remedied this by pulling the spring away from the tapered part, applying Loctite to the taper and then pushing the spring back into position. More Loctite was then applied to the end coils of the spring. The spring may hold in position without the Loctite, but in my experience it will slip again if not glued (especially in cold weather). Of course, it may be the other end of the spring that has slipped, but that end (the inner end) appears to grip the plastic end fitting better and so it is the outer end that is likely to be the source of the problem. Hopefully you will be able to see what is happening. Don’t glue both ends! If you do, you won’t be able to re-tension the spring. If you do use glue, then it’s best to leave it a while to set (I left it overnight to be sure). You can now re-tension the spring. Assuming you have glued the outer end of the spring you will do this by winding the spring on its inner plastic fitting. It will only go one way, and with a little practice is not too hard to do. There is some trial and error required here as regards how much tension to put on. I tensioned mine until the spring started to buckle a little on its shaft – not too many turns are required for this. Now put the spring unit to one side and rewind the cover onto its roller, turning the remaining black end cap as required so that the material feeds through the slot in the end cap. Leave a few inches of material off the roller. Re-insert the spring assembly into the roller making sure the black plastic end cap lines up with the one on the opposite end. It doesn’t matter if the white plastic insert doesn’t snap back in tightly – it is held in place by spring pressure when fully re-assembled. Now the roller assembly can be re-fitted to the rigid panel. Offer it up and as you push the black plastic end caps into position against their springs, the part of the cover that is not wound onto the roller should wind on, showing that there is correct tension in the system. Put in just 2 screws and check the operation. There does not need to be too much tension, but enough to securely rewind the cover. If all is ok, fit the remaining 4 screws and put the load cover back in the car. Job done! *it may be possible to re-tension the spring with the spring assembly in situ, but I was not able to do this. Good luck! Al

Hi Ian, I did the fix and it seems successful. I've not had time to write up what I did yet but will do it soon. Al

Hi Ian, your question is an amazing coincidence as tonight I will be fixing my load cover again! The first fix lasted quite a while but the other day the spring lost its tension for the second time causing the cover to not retract. I have a hunch that it tends to happen in cold weather. To be honest I can't remember exactly what I did, but will hopefully figure it out and will post the results here. Like you I couldn't stomach a £300 bill for a new one, and they seem to be non-existent at breakers. Best, Al

Not sure why you'd want to remove the DPF. Personally I prefer not to leave clouds of soot behind me when I gun it. Maybe there is a fault with your system. I have an '03 2.2 HDi (admittedly manual) estate which returns 47mpg with reasonable driving, goes very well and gives no probs whatsoever with the DPF system as long as you maintain it correctly. The car has 125k on the clock and was MOT'd last week. The smoke emission result was too low to register. I used to own a 406 without a filter and that was a lot more smokey.

Is it an estate? If so, don't suppose you've got an offside roofrail up for grabs?

It's a 5-speed manual

Hello all. I'm getting a vibration under hard acceleration, particularly noticeable in 4th gear. It's not severe at all (yet), but didn't used to be there. Feels like the engine/transmission is vibrating, and it disappears at all other times. Anyone come across this? Could it be an engine mount getting tired? Car is a 2003 2.2 HDi manual estate with 120k. Thanks for any help.

Sounds promising, thanks very much for the feedback. What a great site this is.

Thanks for the information - really appreciate it. I'll try them anyhow.

2.2Hdi Exclusive Estate '03 122k miles, second owner, acquired three years ago with 68k miles. Problems: blower resistor (easy fix at circa £50); 2 x exchange DPF filter and Eolys top-up (at circa £250 per time); broken swirl chamber valve linkage (resulting in premature DPF change as I didn't fix it very quickly - easy fix @ £20; one tyre pressure sensor (easy fix, but pricey at £70 + £20 for initialising); washer pump (easy fix @ £20); multifunction control on stalk (fiddly fix but free); seized front brake caliper (circa £100 fitted iirc); replacement bulbs in cigar lighter socket and multifunction display backlight (pennies to fix); replacement front sidelight and rear number plate light; rear load cover failure to retract (was able to fix for free with a bit of time); starter motor (£120, fitted myself as it's very accessible) I think that's about it apart from a busted rear window (malicious damage) and a busted roof rail (driver stupidity) Seems like a long list, but most are trivial and I have done almost all of the jobs myself so overall cost of ownership has been very reasonable. Fuel economy across the whole period averages at 43mpg (coinciding exactly with Citroen's combined figure). No major mechanical or electrical problems at all so far (excepting perhaps the starter motor, but that went at 119k miles so I can't complain really). My wife's A-Class is a different story however - 40k miles and so many problems it's almost uneconomical to repair. Think I'll stick to French cars...

I'm now paranoid whenever passing under any height restriction! Thanks for the tip, and if you have any more info about the source of your roofrails then I'd be glad to have it. If the breaker option fails then £150 is a sight better than what I've been quoted so far. Cheers

Good to know I'm not alone! Still can't believe I did it.