Johndouglas

"Wear & tear" would show with the car being reluctant to accelerate although the engine revs would increase. Eventually, the car just wouldn't move. It sounds as though something has snapped, either cable or 'fingers'. IMO you should have a good chance of getting it done under warranty.

Make sure the callipers are free to slide on the guide pins.

There's no book for the C5 in UK. Both Haynes and Peter Russek say they might do one in the future. I use a copy of the French volume, Revue Technique Automobile. They do two versions of the C5 diesel, pre 04 and post 09/04. Photos and diagrams are excellent. It's only the b***** words that are hard to read!!

If you consider two of our cars, the C5 and the Xsara, basically the same engine, same recomended oils. The Xsara every 12500, the C5 every 20000. Doesn't seem to make sense. In fact, I oil and filter change them both every 9000.

On one of my other forums a guy has bought and fitted (so they work) some new xenon bulbs for his C5 off eBay. Cost £30.50 + £15P&P from Taiwan - for the pair!

Try posting your query on:- http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/index.php There's a few Xantia V6 owners on the forum.

This sort of thing??? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-In-Tank-Fuel-Pum...1QQcmdZViewItem

You think so!! When the car's put in front of the test rig, the lights are switched from head to dipped-beam. The dipped-beam image horizonal cut-off needs to be between the 0.5% horizontal line and the 2% line. Also the image break point has to be to the right of the zero vertical line, but to the left of the 2% line. Any beam outside these boundaries brings a fail notice.

I changed my late Xantia's gear oil when it was 40000 miles from new. The oil that came out was quite gritty. Worth doing I thought.

Yes with a long allen key down through the small holes on the black plastic panel above the headlights. The holes nearest the centre adjust the height, the outer ones horizontally. If your Xantia has had a recent MOT and it passed on headlight alignment, I would be wary about playing with the adjustment screws. All you may achieve is a failure next time around. Altering the adjustment won't improve inferior lamps - unless of course adjustment is out. But then you would know that from last MOT.

I ran a 2.1 Xantia for seven years and was never impressed with the headlights. The Mk2's were supposed to be better than the earlier models. I replaced mine with halogen blues

Maybe the gasket in the manifold to pipe is leaking. Easiest way would be to take it to an exhaust centre to be checked. On a long winter journey it could be dangerous.

Nearly every day in newspapers and TV there's always adverts for C1, C2, C3, C4, Picasso and even the C8. Never do I see adverts for the C5 (not until I go to Spain, that is) Anybody know why? IMO Citroen needn't be ashamed of it!!!

Ask about the shape of the old pads. If they are wedged shape, your mechanic needs to go further and remove the corrosion which might be between the calliper and arm. Just to change the pads will be false economy. The squeel will be back in no time.

Once the pump has done its stuff, there's 400mm at the front and 375mm at the rear.

If there wasn't a good reason for fitting the lower engine tray, why did Citroen bother? Maybe the reason has something to do with aerodynamics. Anybody else know?

The lack of engine braking is one of the differences between diesel and petrol engines. In diesel engines there is very little engine braking because even when the fuel is cut off by lifting the pedal, large amounts of air is still taken into the cylinders and the compression is still taking place. Truck diesel engines cope with the lack of engine braking by using a Jake brake.

To return to topic - Annoying cars - my contender is wacking big 4x4's doing the school run. One kid in the back, Mum driving (usually with phone glued to ear)

£30 + £75. I think you are about to be ripped-off. If your headlamp washer covers are like mine on the C5, I've lost both of mine at different times. I got replacements which are in base plastic, and the spray paint and gloss spray all for £15. After you refix them, use a small plastic zip tie to stop them falling off again.

You may have some splits in the pipework.

Is this petrol or diesel?

The front tyres on my new C5 started wearing at an alarming rate. I took it to Just Tyres to get the alignment checked and it was a mile out. Now I've got two new Michelins on after only 13000 miles. My Xantia did 36K before needing new fronts.

I spend four months of the year in France and Spain and have never had any trouble using beam deflectors. My present C5 doesn't need them but my previous Xantia did. I needed to attach and remove them so frequently that I cut out a profile from ali sheet so that I could easily cut masks from black fablon. Beam benders can be bought either in Halfords or in the shops on board the ferry. Full instructions regarding positioning are included.

So has the timing been reset?

If it is the matrix, it's a pity it didn't show up whilst the car was still under warranty. Our Xsara started leaking at 14months old, and the matrix was replaced for free. A matrix normally lasts for many years and my opinion is that they had a poor lot delivered at that time. A new matrix is around £40, but if you are not doing the job yourself, it's expensive because the dashboard has to come out. If the leak is small you could try Barsleak in the cooling system. It may stop the drip.