aspire_helen

Paul, my swirl actuator was come off twice (now its wired on). Being very aware of my daily mpg I can say it made no discernible difference to power or mpg.

The 2.2hdi head is not safe. Most of the rockers will have fractured , no question. Pointless thinking you can just fit a new belt. You will need a head rebuild or replacement, or it may be easier to fit a second hand engine.

Hi, i agree with paul. My rear hatch was dented by drunks some years ago so i researched the options thoroughly. If you can find a scrapped hatch of the same colour that would be the easiest option, except that you would have to collect it, scrappies will not post it! There are lots of scrapped mk1s about (in the uk and europe at least). If you choose to remove the glass it is unlikey you will be able to reuse the seals. The glass is bonded to the frame. You will probably need the window fitting kit citroen sell. Even if you cant get a hatch the same colour, a cheap respray (before fitting) would probably turn out cheaper.

Sounds like classic clutch slip, but that is very low mileage for any clutch unless its been in city traffic all its life and towed a caravan around the Alps! I wonder if the plates have been contaminated by an oil leak. Ive driven 158,000 in 15 years on the original clutch.

I think it should be emphasised that there is no filter between the pump and the injectors. The smallest piece of debris/dirt can block an injector and even cause an injector to stick open causing engine destruction. The Utmost cleanliness is critical. Hence the use of any sealant, grease, abrasive, filing, grinding etc should be avoided. Components should be thoroughly rinsed in clean fuel and not wiped dry. Use only lint free cloths and cotton buds where unavoidable.

Poor economy from the 2.2HDi? Far from it! My 2001, 158,000miler routinely returns 60+mpg on cruise control at @60-65 mph on motorway journeys. Even my 26mile commute down the A1 rarely drops below 60mpg even on winter mornings. I have been recording my fuel usage since 2008 - every topup! Every refill i compare displayed mpg against fuel usec and the two are nearly always within 2%. Heres some boring stats......Since Aug08 (70,718 miles on clock), 120 topups, 6551 ltrs, 80,010miles driven, average fuel consumption 49.9mpg, average mileage per tank 647miles. Ok, so i drive with a light foot and i am in no huury to get anywhere, but throw in some town driving and the mpg quickly drops to 45-50mpg. Ps, the reason i have monitored fuel since 2008 is bacause i had to rebuild the cylinder head and afterwards the engine seemed less powerful. Also, i have not had to clean the pdf since then.

It is highly unlikely that the crankshaft is bent due to the valve and piston clash. My cambelt snapped on my 2001 2.2hdi at 75k miles before it was due a change, but outside warranty. I rebuilt the cylinder head myself for about £300 parts and materials on my driveway. I needed only replace the valve rockers. I crack tested the valves themselves satis and reused them. It appears to me that the engine is designed such that the rockers take all the damage , note on my diesel the valves are in line with the flat-topped piston crowns. If your engine has inclined valves, they will be bent. My engine has now run for a further 80k miles and 7 years with no problems. I wish i had pursued citroen. In your case, if the car has only been serviced by citroen, and a citroen dealer advised against replacement, and the belt failed before it was due change, then pursue citroen vigorously. Do not be fobbed off. You may at least get a contribution from them. Only downside is that you hsve to suffer the cost of a citroen repair without knowing whether citroen will contribute, or can you do without the car for a few weeks?

Owners of older cars may wish to check the mastic along the roof gutters (under the plastic cover strips) and hatch door side gutters for hairline cracks resulting in water leaks, possibly evident by a damp patch on the headliner. I had such an intermittent damp patch to the rear corner which i put down to the hatch's annoying habit of pouring water into the boot when opened. However, the absorption of the headliner was disguising a leak eminating from between the spot welded panel joins below the hatch. This had resulted in a black mouldy patch inside the headliner but not evident from the car interior. On close examination, on removal of the plastic strips covering the roof gutters, there were hairline cracks in the external mastic. On the damp side the crack also ran 2 inches into the gutter down the side of the hatch door. I fixed the leak by running a bead of "windscreen and glass sealer" along both gutter seams and the cracked mastic. The "free flowing silicone" is less viscous than normal silicone sealant and flows into minute cracks before setting. VersaChem Part no 75009, 42g tube from Ebay.

Mike Trying to start an engine after so many years is a "project", not a mere fix. It is possible that many starting factors are now defective - fuel, air, pumps, injectors, valves, sensors, electrics, compression etc. See below ref fuel. Other than that, if you are in hope of a quick fix i echo all coastlines advice. Get a new battery first. The suspension will not operate manually without the engine running. I assume if it has been stationary for some years, the suspension has sank to its very bottom, possibly too low for the jack? Ref "economy mode".....this is a mode which the car goes into when you leave some electrics running with the engine off. It inhibits virtually all electrics including windows, radio, door locks etc. The idea is to prevent a flat battery. Normally, economy mode can only be cancelled by starting the engine. If the engine will not start....tough. so, if the electrics work with the engine not running, the car is not in economy mode.Personally i hate economy mode. Some years ago my engine broke down. While waiting for the AA on a hot summer evening with windows and sunroof open, and listening to the radio,the car went into economy mode. Because the engine would not start i could not operate any electrics. The windows and sunroof would not close and the doors would not lock ie insecure and open to the elements. Welcome to the C5; expect more faults to come. Turning to fuel. After so many years without running, any fuel left in the system will be useless and potentially damaging. The diesels more volatile components will have evaporated leaving,at best, a much lower octane and more viscous fuel with high water content, at worst, a varnish residue which will jam pumps, filters and, especially the high pressure electromagntic injectors. Personally, i would not try to start the engine until you have flushed out all old fuel and checked that the components are still working ok starting with the low pressure system (fuel tank to fuel filter) , then the high pressure system (hp pump and injectors). Good luck.

Paul, au contraire. The Mk1's optional front fog lights are located in the front bumper very similar to the Mk2 but a completely different size and fit.

Coastline Dont think the mk1 has canbus. Ive fitted diy led drls direct to the battery no problem. Also replaced numerous bulbs with leds no problem (eg courtesy lights, sidelighrs, licence plate bulbs etc). It would appear the original foglights, which could be converted to led drls, are very rare.

Paul Yes but the sealant would need to be forced between the base cover and the plastic cup gasket it sits in, not between the gasket and roof. The gasket is a softer plastic than the cover so i think a fine nozzle could be forced between the two to inject the sealant. I think the corrosion problem arises from the cup gasket chanelling water to the metal baseplate, so the method above should prevent that. I suspect another problem with age is that the gasket hardens and compromises the seal between the gasket and roof. That could let water into the roof lining through the cable hole. This can be corrected by tightening the antenna base attachment nut inside the rear edge of the roof lining. Sticking the lining back up is proving difficult!

Has anyone come across DRLs specific for a Mk1 to fit the fog lamp apertures? There appear to be lots for the Mk2, some wrongly sold as fitting a Mk1.

Final update. I acquired a replacemant gps patch antenna (thats the pink and silver 25mm x 25mm square component on the right) made by 2J Antennae - part no 2j850gps. In order to reuse the existing GT5 connector (not a common type) I had to cut off my existing gps coax, thread it through the antenna baseplate and resolder to the new patch - very fiddly. Radio and gps now back to normal. Nice successful repair project! Recommendation. For those so minded and able - remove your antenna base, unscrew the cover and reseal with silicon sealant before corrosion gets a hold.

Update - gps reception fixed. J2 Antennas were very helpful. The GPS antenna (in the antenna base on the roof) is "active" having an integrated Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) powered with +5V from the satnav receiver (a Trimble receiver in the satnav unit under the dashboard) via its coax connector . NB modern satnavs tend to be 3V but antenna often accommodate 3 to 5V. As I measured +5v on the centre pin of the coax, chances were that the antenna was at fault not the gps receiver nor the cabling between them. So, I bought an external antenna advertised on Ebay as an old but unused Mercedes part for £2 (lucky -- it was a old stock and came with the correct connector and 3m of cable). When I received it, the packaging was in fact labelled as a J2 product in addition to its Mercedes part no, so I was able to double-check its compatibility against J2's data sheet. Plugging it directly into the back of the satnav unit instantly brought up enough satellites to get a fix. It has a magnetic base for attachment to the roof but my next task is to permanently fit the new antenna, hopefully by tapping into the existing antenna base. It would appear that many OE satnav antennas are broadly compatible with all others of similar age - just make sure they come with the right connector - there are at least 4 or 5 types in common use. Indeed, there are 3 completely different types on my C5 alone!! So, both radio and gps fixed for less than £5 - happy me! The Citroen remedy would have been to replace the faulty antenna base for £108 plus labour, and probably damaged the roof lining in the process. I wonder what next months fault will be - you've gotta luv C5s!!!!

See my similar ongoing topic for c5. The problem may lie in the antenna base, not the aerial "wire". You should be able to get a second hand base - they were fitted to a wide range of citroens and peugeots. My local scrappy had 7 on various cars. If you only have radio (no phone, trafficmaster nor integrated satnav) you only need one with 2 leads - the most common. One with 3 or 4 leads will do also, just dont use the extra coax cables. Simples.

Thanks Paul, but radio reception is no longer the issue - its perfect now. The circuitry of the scrapped aerial base is nowhere near as corroded as my original. I still have inadequate GPS reception. The GPS antenna is completely independent of the screw-in bee-sting aerial (wire) - but is housed on the same base (earthing) plate under the black plastic cover . I attach a photo comparing the 2 aerial bases with GPS (my original) and without GPS (from scrappy). The 2 green micro circuit boards receive and amplify the FM/AM radio and moble phone signals. This accounts for the power cable in and 2 of the coax cables out, one radio the other mobile phone/Trafficmaster. Re Trafficmaster, I understand Citroen was the first car manufactur to fit Trafficmaster as standard. That may explain why many (all?) are equipped for radio-telephone (RT) (ie aerial and cabling with green coax connector) whether they actually have a phone or not. Note the corrosion at the bottom of the circuit boards - clear sign of water ingress. The build up of corrosion deposits over time would cause a gradual degredation of radio/mobile/Trafficmaster degredation until failure, especially when the damp. Considering the vulnerability of the micro circuit boards the waterproofing of the unit is pitiful. I will be cleaning mine in an ultrasonic bath and then smothering with laquer, followed by sealing the unit with silicon sealant. However, the GPS antenna looks in good shape so the poor GPS reception fault may lie elsewhere. The GPS (1575.42 MHz) antenna, forward of the circuit boards, is an "embedded patch mounted" type. It has only a coax, no separate power supply, hence may be passive. Most modern antennas (remembering MK1s are 1990s technology) are active requiring a power supply. So, I am enquiring of J2 Antennae whether a modern replacement may be more effective. I will let you know how I get on.

Update - lucky to get a c5 aerial base from the local scrappy for £5 but only 3 leads, not 4. Opened it up, brushed away corrosion deposits and fitted. Success - perfect radio reception. Missing 3rd coax (grey connector) is clearly for gps. The 3-lead base has no gps antenna. It is also apparent that the gps antenna in my aerial base is not connected to any power or circuitry, nor the aerial wire, just to the coax. Hence, any compatible after market antenna for a few £s should do the job. Does anyone have an idea of compatible characteristics?

Thanks coastline. I understand the "aerial base" contains a pre-amp and signal splitter - probably accounts for its £108 pricetag from Citroen. Another forum says that water ingress can corrode the circuitry in time, so I have removed the base (see below) but have yet to remove the cover plate as it is retained by 5 very small torx screws (< T10). It may be that the circuitry can be cleaned . There are no external contacts. In the meantime, I connected the aerial direct to the radio coax (circular) feed, ie bypassing the pre-amp, and the signal improved significantly but still nowhere near as good as it should be. With this jury rig I can now receive most medium strength VHF stations, though certainly not all those I uesd to, and not always with RDS, but still no AM stations. There is no improvement in the GPS accuracy which continues to find only one satellite. There are 4 leads from the aerial base: 3 coax and one single wire. The single wire I assume to be power for the pre-amp with return via the body earth (the special nut appears to be designed to provide an earth to the car roof structure). The 3 coax connectors are colour coded and different styles: one black circular (radio?), green square and grey square. I assume they feed different high frequency signals for radio, GPS, telephone, Trafficmaster - though it would be nice to know which is which. My C5 is pre-wired for phone and Trafficmaster but I dont use them and can do without them. The part no for my specific RPO is 6561P1, but 6561H1 is also listed against other RPOs. I have seen 2-lead versions on ebay - I wonder if these are for radio only (ie exc GPS, phone, Trafficmaster). Regarding access to the aerial base. The retaining nut is under the headlining just infront of the rear interior lights. The nut can be accessed by removal of the light assembly but I found that there was insufficient play in the 4 cables to disconnect them. Hence, I had to pull down the rear edge of the headlining. Actually, I would recommed starting with that. Once the lining is free from the rear window trim it is easy to work from the boot and remove the light assembly from the inside of the headlining. It is also much easier to get an open spanner on the base retaining nut (which is not tight) and undo the 4 connectors. Just a note on the Citroen parts diagram. It is innacurate. It shows the 4 leads connected to a the nut ("radio aerial fixing nut" 6561G3). However, the 4 leads are permanently connected to the radio base - the nut is a separate item. As I write, tomorrow I think I will try connecting the aerial direct to each of the other 2 coax connectors and see if the GPS signal improves - hears hoping! If anyone has any further technical knowledge please let me know. Specifically, would the 2 cable aerial base variant be OK for radio and GPS only? There seems to be more of them around, or any cross referencing to other Citroen, Peugeot, PSA fitments. The base has the number PSA 9638989980 - theres a 2nd hand one on ebay but still a bit pricey at £50

I am suffering very poor radio reception and poor gps positioning. The gps is only picking up one satellite. The radio is only picking up the very strongest fm local stations. The symptoms would point to a defective antenna feed, that is assuming the radio and gps share the same feed. Ive unscrewed the roof aerial which made no difference either way. Before i start pulling the car appart to trace the coax cables, can anyone point me to anything specific?

Hi You can buy drl wiring on ebay which connects them direct to the car battery. It has a small circuit box which detects when the engine is running and turns on the drl automatically as they should. It also delays turning off the drls for approx 17secs after ignition is turned off ("see you home"). An additional lead spliced into any side/rear light circuit dims the drls by 50% when those lights are turned on. Only cost a few pounds. Helen

Update October and the intermittent yellowing has returned!!

Johndouglas Grateful if you would expand on your 2 comments. "Program lexia to recognise towbar" and "switch off sensors on dashboard". How can the system be programmed to ignore a parking signal caused by the permanent presence of a towbar, but presumably respond normally to other obstacles? Do you mean the two central sensors can be disabled? I am unaware of anyway of disabling my parking sensors from the dashboard of my 2001 2.2hdi exc se(156k miles). Helen

Another update. Screen still ok, no yellowing despite recent heatwave.

Hi Now my 2.2HDI is approaching 15 years old, the actuator cup will no longer stay on the ball end (but not broken per se), so i've simply used some wire to hold it in place making sure it is still free to move as designed. I did use a tiewrap at first but it broke after a few weeks. I have found some cheap (non-nylon) tiewraps enbrittle very quickly in the heat of the engine compartment and fail. I recommend anyone using a tiewrap under the bonnet should ensure it is a quality, nylon product. Helen