chrisbrooks

Cheers John.

Hi again John, Well the replacement starter motor arrived and it stopped raining yesterday afternoon long enough to fit it,and SUCCESS, everything is working again. Fortunately my youngest son is very handy and fitted it while I was enjoying a short unexpected stay in hospital, so now everything is up and running again. Thanks for your help and patience...till the next time, all the best. Chris.

HI John, Tried the reboot with two of us ..no joy , but we did discover that the starter motor was koofered, braided earth was badly burnt and on testing off the car found it was shorting inside also the brushes are worn away to nothing, with all the electronic wizardry on these cars i'm surprised a warning light didn't show up! I suppose it follows that with the starter shorting internally it would result in a flat battery. Regards, Chris.

As I can't lower the windows would it work with two of us going through the reboot procedure ie one inside and one on the outside or is lowering the window part of the sequence? regards, Chris

Hi again, yes I have checked and cleaned up the leads but not any change,oddly when I tried using the spare key and fob, holding the button down for ten seconds did turn all the dash lights off as if trying to reset but nothing happened. Back to the drawing board!

Hi John, Thanks for replying so fast, unfortunately I can't get the window to operate to comply with the boot up procedure. Bamboozled! Chris Brooks.

Hi all, went to start my 04 C5 the other day to find that it was flat (standing still for a couple of weeks) so charged/tested battery and found that it couldn't hold any charge, fitted new battery (£68.00) ouch,and after making sure that it was fully charged switched on and nothing, just put the dash lights out but absolutely no response from the starter. It did sound a bit lazy the last time it did start so am thinking possibly a duff starter motor, any ideas before I start down the replacement road???? Best regards and a happy new year to all, Chris Brooks

Hi Steve and Paul, Success Success Success, I really can't thank you all enough for the help and advice so freely given. Friday, installed replacement pump and found that the nipple on the rear sensor was seized rock solid, so used my self bleed brake kit to give a gentle squib in the reservoir tank, absolutely no response, so gave up for the day as run out of lds anyway. Saturday, turned up with fresh supply of fluid to find that the Citroen fairies had worked their magic and the car had risen to near normal ride height, filled the tank up and plugged the pump in, started the engine and away she went to full height, did a bit of steering wheel left and right lowered it to the bottom, topped the tank up and raised to full height again then to ride height and it's perfect. The ride is noticeably softer than it was since I bought the car 12 months ago, it is superb. Thank you Thank you Thank you. As a matter of interest we pulled the old pump to bits and the plastic frame that holds the brushes is quite badly melted, but the brushes are hardly worn!!! If we get up Newcastle way the drinks are on me. My very best regards to all who commented, you gave an old man hope, thank you. Chris.

thanks for that Steve, the car was at at full height , but was lowered before he changed the pump, I'ii let you know how it all turns out cheers for now. Chris,

Hi Steve , been out all day and while I was away my son fitted a replacement pump, the new pump is very much quieter than the old, also it isn't live on the casing . He fitted it to the original ecu and it responds to the in car switch insofar as the pump runs on command, there is no movement up or down but we think that's probably due to the amount of fluid lost in the change over, is there a specific routine to bleeding the system? Would it be a good thing to discard all the old fluid and start with all new?whats your thoughts on it as it stands?? all the best. Chris.

Live in Northamptonshire a little place called Rothwell, Yes engine running but no response from moving the adjusters, Power steering is fine, suspension is at the high level achieved by setting the in car switch to high and earthing the pump,what diagnostic equip is needed? can probably get the use of a basic one.....

Hi Steve, followed the instructions to the letter but no joy i'm afraid, no response from the pump other than earthing it as formerly said. Where to go from here...?

Thanks very much for that, it makes a lot of sense, any idea why the pump and all its gubbins is mounted on rubber? Chris.

Update: Just been offered a pump off of a 2003 reg C5 estate..... will it be compatible and should I have the electronic box as well?

Hi Steve, many thanks for getting in touch, on reflection the suspension has been getting a bit sluggish of late, but as the car is used primarily for volunteer driving taking elderly folk for hospital appointments it didn't click that there might be a problem. The day it failed it was very slow to adjust to its driving height, and when I collected my patient it soon started to drop, to the point it felt wrong, at no time did I get a stop warning, then after a few miles it was down on the stops. Have followed the advice kindly offered by Paul H. regarding fuses and battery removal and re connection to the letter and got the boot up clicks and all, but no joy . The pump shows live feed to the three wire plug but no movement, yet if the pump has a wire touched to the pump body across to the car body it comes to life, and with the engine running will lift the car as normal. If this seems to be replacement pump time any ideas where to source one from and cost? bearing in mind it's a 2004 reg. Best regards, Chris. (Was a cabbie in a former life.)

Hi again Paul, Further developments have happened, while testing for power to the pump we inadvertently earthed the pump body to the headlight frame and hey presto the pump started to run, on starting the engine and operating the level switch it raises and lowers properly from the switch but doesn't switch off (pump) even when the ignition key is removed. this also makes the pump body continually live. Could this be a sticky relay? and if so where the devil is it? Haynes says it should be in the glove box but none there. I feel that the answer is staring me in the face and is electrical but i'm stumped. Best regards, Chris.

Update : No maxi fuse failure, power is present at the pump, some evidence of corrosion on the pump, but still dead as a dodo, does any one know of a reliable breaker to source a replacement please? Are there any hazards to removal/refitting of a pump? Regards to all, Chris.

Hi Paul, Thank you for your speedy response, it didn't occur to me to look under the fuse box, it is now a tomorrow job. I will post any results, lets hope for a good one. Regards, Chris.

Hi everyone. I am very new here and am hoping for some clarity on an issue with the failure of the suspension on my 2004 VTR C5 2 ltr. diesel estate. After reading up on some posts regarding suspension problems I have checked fuses both under the bonnet and in the glove box, (none blown), the maxi fuse mentioned is a complete mystery to me as I can't find it,could someone post a picture as i can't find one in Haynes, also mentioned was a multi-plug vibrating loose, again, where is it? The problem surfaced when I was transporting a 90 year old lady to a hospital appointment and was quite upsetting, also getting my self and the car home on a suitable recovery vehicle was not very easy. I would love to have my baby running again without needing to sell a kidney or my wife, what are the chances? Thank you all in advance. Chris Brooks http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/eusa_pray.gif