Johndouglas

Maybe your first purchase ought to be a Haynes manual for your car. It will tell you how difficult jobs are and also how to set about doing them. Your Picasso takes 4.5 litres of oil to correctly fill the engine and also the new filter. You'll need 10W/40 semi-synth grade and look for CF/B3 on the can. Before attempting any other jobs, check that you have the correct tools.

If it is in fact as long as 3 or four years, there's a lot to do. Start with oil and filter, then Air filter, fuel filter and pollen filter. Then a coolant change followed by a change of brake fluid. Then check brake pads and discs.

I don't know. Looking at the parts list, it seems that even the Mk1 seats changed after a certain RP number. You could give Dave (Coastline) 07800604498 whose on this forum. He was breaking one a few weeks ago.

If you go to ebay and type in "Citroen C5 parts", there are loads of C5's been broken. Maybe some of them have decent seats.

I lost the section that goes between the front bumper and the undertray - didn't loose it but it got smashed into several bits. I laid it out in bits and copies it using a sheet of aluminium. It's working fine. Shouldn't be too difficult to make an undertray the same way.

Because the light is lit doesn't mean that all the plugs are working. If two or even only one sometimes are duff, the engine can be reluctant to start. They can be tested in situ but I find it best to remove them and test each one across a battery.

They are attached to the front and rear antiroll bars. Don't go under the car without having axle stands for support.

Easier if you open the tailgate. Early Saxo covers are held by one small screw. Later ones are just held by two small ridges. Use a small screwdriver under a corner and prise it off. To replace just press it back until it clicks into p[lace.

Have the engine at fast tickover, take first gear and gently raise the clutch pedal. There should be a tendancy to stall. If there isn't, the clutch is on its way. For a LUK clutch kit you're looking at £160 or so. For the DMF add another £300. Then there's about 7hours labour on top.

:) But Mr Haynes says that more and more these days. In 1990 when he wrote his beautifully presented manual for the BX, with its excellent photographs printed on good quality paper, he gave a blow by blow description of how to remove the arm and then how to replace the rear arm bearings. Ten years later, his Xantia manual is printed on newsprint. He tells us how to remove the arm.... only... then goes on to say it is best if left to a dealer. Fings ain't what they used to be. B)

Check that the battery has volts in it. Then check battery connections - also heavy lead down to starter motor. Check earth connection straps.

Look here:- http://www.2cvcity.co.uk/2cv-parts/2cv-chassis

I would get the best part-ex price possible on the Seat, then try an advert on the forums at part-ex price plus a bit more. If that fails try ebay (with a reserve) if necessary. Sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised with ebay. Recently I advertised an item on a couple of forums for £120ono. I had no offers so put it on ebay. It sold for £137.

Which engine would that be? Petrols I believe are at 80000 miles, but HDIs are 150000 miles or ten years. Personally, I wouldn't like to leave it as long as that mileage.

If there isn't a screw, then the cover just prises off. It's held on by two small ridges moulded into the plastic.

Firstly, your trip computer may not be too accurate. Check the figure by doing a brim to brim test. If you do a lot of intermediate gear driving 34.5 isn't bad. My C5 does about the same around town but put it on the motorway and the mpg easily goes up to 46mpg. If I'm content to keep just below 2000revs it'll go into the 50's. Maybe others won't agree - but I'm convinced I get a poorer figure if I use Tesco fuel.

See if this can help you:- http://motorica.net/utilities/ecu-unlock.htm

I wouldn't have thought that you'll need new shoes in only three years. I've recently had the drums off my daughter's 306 to replace the cables but even after 12 years the shoes don't need replacing. If the C3 follows the ZX/306 you'll need a 32mm socket to undo the nut which will be peened into a slot. To undo, it takes a huge amount of leverage since it's torqued to 200Mn. I also found that the nut and the cap was ok to reuse if removed carefully. A 2 legged puller is useful for removing the drums since the bearing is a tight fit on the stub. I find it best to remove the cap and shift the nut before jacking up. It could be useful to have some new shoe retaining cups handy. I find they ocassionally get damaged when removing the drum. They don't always provide them with new shoe kits. PS. Some ZX's and 306s are fitted with Girling systems, others use Bendix. If the C3 is similar, you need to know before purchasing parts. They are not interchabgable.

If you lift the bonnet and look towards the back of the engine bay, towards the right of centre you'll see a flat square tank about 12" square with a number of pipes attached to the top - You're looking at the LHM reservoir. There's a little float dome there as well but if you remove the rubber cap and push a finger in, you should just be able to touch the surface for the level to be correct. Over-filling won't hurt - it's just messy. The colour of the fluid should be bright green. If it's yellowy-brown, the system has been neglected and requires cleaning. When you push down on a corner of the car, it should push down easily and recover without bounce. Sounds as though you need some new spheres. It's most important that the new ones match the car. Many others will fit - but they won't ride correctly. Get them from GSF and they should cost around £25 each. They're easy to change - but can be difficult to remove the old ones. You need to be underneath the car to remove them but don't attempt to go under without adequate support. Once the fluid pressure is released the car could drop suddenly.

That doesn't surprise me. A couple of years ago I was troubled with difficult cold starting on my C5. I went to a Bosch Centre and their diagnostics could find no reason for the hard starting. Eventually I bit the bullet and went to a Cit dealer. Within minutes their Lexia discovered that the cranking RPM of the starter motor was just too low to fire.

OK - enjoy your trip.

The dealer does it through his Lexia.

That's both in miles.

Did you say which engine you have? If it's the 1.4HDI then Citroen recommend the belt is changed at 150K or ten years - but it would be sensible to change it long before then. If it were mine I would want to do it around 75K. Any semi-synth oil of 5/30 or 5/40 would be fine in your engine.