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

Adblue - sounds like something campers add to chemical toilets to me............... Just got used to Eolys and all its little ways and they go and change! Does anyone know if this approach is a Peugeot/Citroen special or do other manufacturers use it? David

Thanks for the comments. I have managed to clear my car's faults (touch wood) and so hopefully the question of a replacement is not urgent. Randombloke's idea of one of the last C5s is a good one. Looking at the VW route, a friend of mine in the north east has a 57 reg Skoda Octavia 4wd diesel estate which has been reliable so that's another option. Most of my model planes are electric-powered these days so we might all be driving milk floats in ten years time. The Mitsubishi Outlander would suit me most of the time - until I hitched up my caravan I suspect. I bet the replacement batteries will be expensive. David

Hello paul.h - thanks for the comments. The engine was warming up, hence the lower than normal coolant temperature. The total fuel additive quantity is interesting. I'm not sure what the number actually means. Having added 3 litres of Eolys recently the only way I could get rid of the low diesel additive warning was to set counters 1 and 2 to zero (at first I expected counter 1 to be the total Eolys in the fluid tank). As the full to full fuel consumption on my last tankful was 51.1mpg (mainly motorway driving at around 65mph) I am quite happy. Also pleased to drive about 600 miles last week without any warning lights or error messages. Thanks for the keyboard tip. David

Paul Thanks very much for the information. Having read what's invovled I think I'll put the new glow plugs to one side for the time being! Best fittted at the same time as the EGR needs removing me thinks. David

I am sure you will all tell me not to bother...................but the only error code I am left with having played with Lexia over recent weeks is: Injection permanent fault P0380 - pre/post heating relay circuit short circuit to positive And I am dead keen to cure this - just so I can say I have no faults (although this state probably won't last long). So it's a 2003 2.2HDi estate. I replaced the relay which sits under the main ECU (because it was an easy and cheap job!). I then planned to replace the glow plugs (as they were cheap as chips at Euro Car Parts) and check the wiring. However, the RTA manual makes only passing reference to glow plugs. I now believe they are down the back of the engine underneath the EGR gubbins. Is this correct? If so, is there an easy way to get the old ones out and put the new ones in (because it doesn't look as if there is to me!). Thanks for any help. David

Hello Mr Coastline, thank you very much for your reply and the reassurance. Best wishes. David

Antipollution faults, DPF blockages and other issues seem to feature quite often in tales of elderly diesel C5s. Having recently bought Lexia, added 3 litres of Eolys fluid and done battle with the ECU to get it to realise that there is now more fluid and life can go on as normal, I thought it might be helpful to list the information available from Lexia and invite comments on my car's vital DPF statisitics. The car has done 94,000 miles and there is no record of any Eolys fluid having been added previously (I have owned the car for the last 5 years since approximately 50,000 miles and I always refuel from an almost empty tank). So here is the data: Engine speed (RPM) 739 (tickover) Vehicle speed (KPH) 0 Particulate filter status Intermediate zone Regeneration assistance required Inactive Catalytic converter upstream temperature © 148 Catalytic converter downstream temperature © 148 Particle filter pressure in/out differential (mb) 11.8 Air temperature © 19 Engine coolant temperature © 72 Air volume flow (cu metres/hour) 50 Inlet air heater throttle open cycle ratio (%) 5 Post injection flow (cu mm/stroke) 0.00 Post injection phasing (degrees) 0.0 Total fuel additive quantity (grammes) 173 Distance since last regeneration (km) 348 Average last 5 regenerations (km) 796 My conclusion is that the value of 11.8mb for the DPF in/out pressure differential indicates the filter is not blocked. I also reckon that the regeneration distances show that regeneration is taking place (no limp mode yet!). All comments/observations welcome. David

A quick update - one injection fault cured by methodical checking of the EGR vacuum pipes. Soon found that the length of braided rubber vacuum tube between the EGR valve and the plastic tube had split at both ends. For once an easy fix. David

You say the warning said "...........see handbook". Was the handbook any help? As Qman3428 says a regeneration should have taken place. However, if the warning persists a steady run on a dual carriageway or motorway should trigger a regeneration and solve the problem. If your mark 3 is like the mark1, the magnet is in the diesel tank filler cap and every time you refuel it triggers a squirt of Eolys fluid into the diesel fuel tank. David

I've just re-read this thread to refresh my memory. Some weeks ago I added 3 litres of Eolys fluid to my 2003 2.2HDi as I had got the "Diesel additive minimum level" warning. As was said above, the refilling of the additive tank is quite straightforward. However, I am struggling to tell the ECUs via Lexia that there is now 3 litres of fluid in the tank. At present I am getting the message "Diesel additive minimum level" warning accompanied by the service light flashing a few miles after setting off. After several seconds these messages diappear. However, this scenario repeats itself everytime I drive off. The engine management light has not come on (thankfully). I have gone throught the Lexia routine for resetting the counters several times but this does not solve the problem. When the DPF was replaced and the Eolys fluid was replenished on my 2001 2.2HDi the Citroen dealer had to replace the additive ECU because the original one would not reset (apparently this was quite common on early models). Please, does anyone have any ideas before I change the ECU? On a positive note, from the Lexia diagnostics, I can hear the additive pump running and the injector ticking so they appear to be working. Also I can see the following data about the DPF and I assume it is in good health, but if anyone can review the following data and comment that would be helpful. I went through the DPF manual regeneration routine just out of curiosity and the data for that is in the right-hand column. The average distance for the last 5 regenerations seems to have gone adrift though (at 24km) after the manual regeneration. Particle filter information Pre man Post man regen regen Engine speed (RPM) 739 739 Vehicle speed (KPH) 0 0 Particulate filter status Intermediate PF regen zone inactive Regeneration assistance required Inactive Inactive Catalytic converter upstream temperature © 148 288 Catalytic converter downstream temperature © 148 288 Particle filter in/out pressure differential (millibars) 11.8 11.8 Air temperature © 19 50 Engine coolant temperature © 72 97 Air volume flow (cubic metres per hour) 50 60 Inlet air heater throttle open cycle ratio (%) 5 5 Post injection flow (cubic millimetres/stroke) 0.00 0.00 (What is this?) Post injection phasing (degrees) 0.0 0.0 (What is this?) Total fuel additive quantity (grammes) 173 173 (This is what is proving difficult to change to 3,000 grammes) Distance since last regeneration (km) 348 0 Average last 5 regenerations (km) 796 24 David