PICASSOCONVERT

Finally my C5 is about to go to heaven. Having started this topic I thought I should let you know what I decided. I have gone for a Honda CR-V 2.2 diesel manual EX - almost 3 years old with 29,000 miles on the "clock". Why? I have ridden in a couple belonging to friends and they are pleased with them. It's comfortable (ride not as good as Hydractive on uneven roads, of course), will tow our caravan and the one I bought had a factory/dealer fitted detachable tow bar. No full size spare wheel. A master's degree or the brain of a 12 year old needed to work all the gizmos, but I'm getting there. I don't think it will "go" if I floor it to overtake like the Citroen 2.2HDi, but I may be wrong. Idiosyncracies slowly coming to light - eg leave the pump nozzle in the hole for 10 seconds after completion of refuelling. Not sure why, but I hadn't read that when I refuelled. I've got the 3 year service and MOT due in November gratis from the Honda dealer and 12 month's warranty (extendable), so plenty time to browse the Honda forum I've joined to find out what I've let myself in for. So, it's farewell from me (until I get withdrawal symptoms - 2.2HDi, 200BHP C5 estate..........................) David

Hello Paul Thanks for your comments. I hope the CR-V is reliable. Only driven it 12 miles so far and compared with the C5 the ride isn't as good over uneven roads, it doesn't feel as if it will accelerate as fast (eg for overtaking) and the load space is shorter (but I can still get my model plane wings in, so that's OK) and I can't go up and down at the traffic lights. At least I'll be happy to let my wife drive me round in it. I will keep my bits and pieces (listed in post above), so if any forum member wants them in the near future they can PM me. I'm also happy to help anyone nearby (mid-Befordshire) with Lexia if required. Just waiting for the tow truck to arrive to take it to the scrap yard. That will be the end of 16 years of Citroens (1 Xantia, 2 Saxos, 1 Xsara Picasso, and 2 C5s). My wife just swapped her trusty old Clio for an Astra so we're now totally non-French. So, good luck to you all and your C5's. I'll look in from time to time to see what you are all up to. And thanks for all your help. David

Hello Mike and John - thanks for the replies and the information. I have decided to call it a day and have agreed in principle to buy a 62 reg Honda CR-V. I've decided I'm getting too old to crawl under cars! I have travelled quite a bit in CR-Vs belonging to friends and they seem OK (not as good a ride as the C5, of course) and not a bad tow car. I am not trading in my C5 so if anyone wants it a small amount of silver across my palm will do the trick. The details are: Location - just off the A6 in the middle of Bedforshire (near Clophill) 2003 2.2HDi estate, manual with fixed towbar & 13 pin electrics. MOT to 30 April 2016 Just under 100,000 miles 2 owners - me since May 2009 Service due in November - some early Citroen service history, lots of paperwork including all MOTs Known faults: Glass part of tailgate does not open, climate control does not work, hydraulic leak (as referred to above). I also have: Haynes manual French manual Transverse roof bars (Citroen part) Headlamp protectors & fitting clips (Citroen part with beam obscured for continental driving) Temperature sensor (which fits in nearside door mirror) Set of front discs (Citroen parts) Set of front disc pads (Citroen parts) Set of 4 glow plugs (Bosch) - in the unlikely event someone has 12" long quadruple jointed fingers and eyeballs on stalks to fit them Dell laptop with Lexia installed If interested send me a message via this forum. Sorry if this has turned into an advert in the wrong place. If no takers the car will go for scrap. I'l just dry my tears and say adieu. David

2003 2.2HDi estate, 100,000 miles. Sprung a leak. Abandon ship! I got back home yesterday from my habitual 3.2 mile round trip to see fluid dripping from the underneath of the car. Tasted like hydraulic fluid (only joking - it looked orange, so probably LDS). No sign of any fluid in header tank (coolant and brake fluid levels OK) and drips collected in jam jar are orange. This morning put car on ramps and had a look. The leak is dripping from the cross member towards the driver's side where it appears (to my untrained eye) the pipes leading to the rear suspension are situated. Naturally, impossible to see from below and above what might be leaking. No sign of any leaks in the engine bay itself and the suspension still goes up and down as it should. So does any kind soul know if there are any joints down the back of the engine which might have sprung a leak? If so, how do you get to them? Maybe now is the time to scrap the car (called quitting while I am ahead)! David

Just returned to my C5 after just over 3 months (before I went away I decided to put the solar panel on my wife's Clio and it kept her battery charged). So, I lowered the suspension on the C5 to its lowest setting, opened the bonnet, locked the car, disconnected the battery shut the bonnet and left it. On my return 97 days later I reconnected the battery without charging it, waited half an hour for everything to settle down, turned the key and it started first time. Everything works fine (except air-con, which has been U/S for some time). No brake pads stuck to discs (I left the handbrake on). Electric windows OK, including using key remote to part open them. Result happiness!

Just happened to see this post just now. I was looking at the Peugeot website at the 508SW (as a potential replacement for my C5 in due course) and it appears that the service interval is now 12 months/20,000 miles whereas earlier models (pre 2012 I think) were 2 years/20,000 miles. I also had a look at the Renault Clio website which is also now on a 12 month/so many miles (forgot what the mileage was) interval. My wife's 2003 diesel is 2 years/18,000 miles. Why are the French manufacturers reducing the time limit from 2 years to 12 months? Seems like a money generating exercise to me. I understood that synthetic oil was good for a 2 year interval so what's changed?

A friend of a friend broke down in his VW group car. Not for the first time. So, he asked the breakdown recovery man which were the cars they had to attend to least and his reply was. Honda, Toyota and CITROENS are the ones we see least. Well, we Citroen drivers all knew that didn't we. Be a bit better if the person puts the list in alphabetical order next time he's asked the question. The friend of a friend bought a Honda Civic - oh well..................

Hello paul.h - thanks for your reply. I do try to keep on top of any problems with my car as they occur and look at preventative maintenance where possible (as my posts on this forum show), as I would like to drive my C5 for as long as possible because it's a great car and I wouldn't know what to replace it with. In this case the problem was simple - the "new" piece of vacuum hose I fitted about a year ago between the EGR diaphragm and the black plastic tube had split (which was the cause of the problem the first time round). Replaced with the same hose temporarily and faults cleared with Lexia. The "new" hose came from eBay and on close inspection appears to be vintage stuff fit only for the bin. My friendly MOT/service garage should cut me a bit of good stuff to fit next week. David

I ran Lexia this morning to identify the cause of an "antipollution fault" warning which was "Exhaust gas recycling circuit. Amount of air measured lower than the setting". In Main Parameters 2 there was the following information: EGR Open Cycle Ratio 95% EGR Throttle Open Cycle Ratio 95% Does anyone know if these values are correct or in error? I will be starting my search for split hoses etc in the morning! David PS Why do these things always occur a few days before my MOT expires?

Parkesie, good point - I'll check to see if mine stays live. If it doesn't I'm surprised my battery lost so little voltage in three weeks, based on previous experience. I could use the boot socket - just park the other way so the sun shines on the tailgate. paul.h - batteries probably don't like being discharged to a low voltage but a few years ago I charged up the battery on my neighbour's Jaguar after it had been on his drive for over 6 months. That was down to about 6 volts and charging it slowly (0.5amps) recovered it. Hopefully there will be more sun for the next lay-up which will be for three months. David

I've just used my car again and the solar panel seems to have helped to maintain the battery voltage - after unlocking the car with the remote and the pump running briefly to restore the suspension height the battery voltage was 12.05 volts, a drop of half a volt from when I left it 3 weeks ago. The car started first time with no low voltage "bongs" or other warnings. A three month lay-up coming up soon so we'll see how things go then. David

Just a note picking up on paul.h's rear tyre wear comment. I have found that the rear tyres on both my early C5's (2001 and current 2003) wear slightly unevenly and understood this was a feature of these early models? David

A quick trawl on the net and off to Maplins - 2.4W solar panel £11.99 with several good reviews. It's now sitting on the top of the dash connected to the 12v outlet near the handbrake which appears to be permanently live - and it's sunny! The battery voltage at the 12v outlet before I connected the panel was 12.55 volts so we shall see what it's like towards the end of March when I will use the car again. When not in use in the car it will be useful in the caravan. David

Just read this thread. I have not had any problems with brakes, fuel or anything else after my lay-ups of up to 6 weeks, apart from needing to charge the battery. However, my air-con hasn't worked for a few years, so I can't comment on that. Thanks for the pointer about solar powered trickle chargers - I hadn't thought about that. I will look into them, although there will be less sun here than in the Pyrenees! David

If it helps, I leave my C5 on the drive unused for up to six weeks from time to time - just parked as normal. I haven't had any tyre problems but the first thing I have to do after about more than 4 weeks without use is charge the battery (I can't leave a trickle charger running). I agree with paul.h about caravan tyres - it does seem to be good advice to change them after 5 years even if they are not fully worn or showing signs of deterioration. I also check the torque on my caravan wheel nuts before every journey. David