Johndouglas

When my daughter took her Xsara for its 12K service she was told to take it back in six months for new discs and pads. At the time I checked them and told her to leave it. I eventually replaced both at 36000, two years later. The French 'Haynes' manual says the minimum thickness of pads is 2.5mm. The original thickness of your discs was 28mm, therefore if what you've been told is correct the 'lip' should be 2.5mm If you decide to do the job yourself, remember the pistons need winding back like so: offside, anticlockwise; nearside, clockwise. The handbrake lever will be no problem. Just unclip it and move it to one side. No adjustment on the cable is required.

Not only may the covers change design over the run of a particular engine, but also the method of holding them in place. ie: bolts may have replaced spring clips. So although you might get a new set of covers, your engine may not have the fixings to hold them.

If you've had a new gaiter check that it hasn't been fitted using a plastic tie. If it has, it may be that the end of the tie has been left too long and is catching on the base of the strut.

Lift the bonnet, look at the engine over on the left side and there should be a black sausage shape with pipes at both ends. That's the priming bulb. It should be fairly solid, but if it's softish it will have air in it. Another thing that will make your engine reluctant to start is a couple of malfunctioning glowplugs.

Squeeze the primer bulb in the fuel line until it becomes solid then immediately try to start. If it does fire you'll need to look for an airleak in the fuel system,

Haven't a clue about the 1.6 but on the 2ltr model the 110 has an intercooler and the 90 doesn't.

Do you know whether your petrol C5 has a similar clutch assembly to the diesels. They have a dual mass flywheel which makes for an expensive replacement job. If you do have a DM flywheel, it's possible to get a conversion kit which uses a conventional flywheel.

Use the hand primer to fill the bowl. The bulb will feel solid when the bowl is full. Start the engine and let it tick over. I would also put some cleaner in the fuel tank as well.

Although we have a Xsara in our fleet, it doesn't have cruise. But my C5 does. If yours is the same, the wheel turns one way for cruise, the other way for speed limit.

Halfords will fit it for you.

If I was going to disturb the fuel filter I would combine it with popping in a new cartridge. So remove the top, clean out the bowl fill the bowl half full with cleaner, put in the cartridge, refit the top, then use the hand primer.

For help and general interest, have you tried these sites:- http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/ http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/index.php

Maybe you do things differently downunder, but for most DIY drivers here, the last place we go to for service parts is the main dealer. I guess most forum members go to GSF or Eurocarparts where they get exactly the same item as supplied by Cit or Pug, but at half the price. Unfortunately, each supplier uses their own system of part numbers. So a Gates cambelt could have three different part numbers, depending upon who supplied it.

B5 fuel will be OK - in fact all diesel fuel sold in France has had 5% bio mixed with it for more than two years. I read an article recently that stated PSA HDI's would be OK up to 30% - but I'm not gauranteeing that!

It should be easy enough to see if the undertray is missing. There'll be three captive nuts along the front chasis rail. Also the lower edges of the inner wing liners will have captive nuts set into the bottom edge. I found without the tray in place, the wing liners tended to flap about at speed.

Many Pugs and Citroens have the same engines so the service items are the same. For instance, Xantia and C5 have the same engine as Pug 406. Xsara and Pug 306 also share many parts.

My previous 2.1 Xantia had an undertray.

As I said, mine's with Green Flag and I've been with them on Citroen Assist since 1991. My present C5 came with RAC cover but at the end of the first year, I switched back to G.F. I pay them £64 per year for full cover including European recovery.

Who is your Citroen Assist with? Mine is with Green Flag - but I believe some are with the RAC.

Press and hold down the button on the panel. Turn on the ignition switch and continue to hold the button in while the digits count down. Release the button, turn off the ignition.

Spain have the ITV test centres - they also do not do repairs. Excellent idea!

Here's a piece from the IAM mag:- "18% more failures occur at garages which repair cars as well as carrying out the MOT. It also found that a car was 12% more likely to fail when a woman took it for MOT. In total 32% of vehicles failed their MOT last year, with faulty brakes, exhausts and emissions the main culprits."

If the C5 follows the same pattern as the Xantia and the Xsara, the 90BHP won't have an intercooler and the 110BHP will. Look for what looks like a second radiator.

Use brute force on the C5 calipers and you're looking at spending big money. They wind back - BUT IN DIFFERENT directions. The offside need to be wound back anticlockwise. The nearside, clockwise. You don't need any special tool, just a piece of square bar.

On the first question, check the fluid level of the LHM. You check it with the suspension raised high and the sight marker between the two lines on the sight glass - or with a finger poked into the reservior - you should just about touch the LHM. Then move several times from low to high; that should expel any air. On the second question, check the level of the coolant tank a few times to make sure the heater matrix isn't leaking. Also if it was, the carpets could be damp. If all's well, leave the engine running with the heater on hot. Sometimes the air conditioning leaves the hoses full of dampness which breeds bacteria.