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I wouldnt dispute the cost of the oil as being excessive.......but from your previous posts i can see your obviously a practicle person with a degree of mechanical knowledge and ability. The average person doesnt want to spend time servicing/repairing their vehicle, they have no interest in purchasing tools or manuals to do the job and in a lot of cases where vehicles are under warranty they want to ensure servicing conditions are adhered to. I wont justify why a main dealer has a higher labour rate than 'fred in the shed'. But i would expect exceptional service if i was paying main dealer prices, and so should you. Every day i get calls from non franchised dealers that have had cars entrusted to them for repair....their customers believe they know what they're doing. Should i really have to tell them how to fit an alternator belt.......thats the type of question i expect of this forum.....and here i would be happy to answer it. If you wish to repair your own vehicle, thats fine, good for you, everone has there reasons, but you will always feel a garage, of any kind is charging over the top. I recently had a customer come to me asking for the price on fitting a set of brake pads......i quoted and was told i was too expensive. How much have you been quoted, i enquired, and by who? Armed with the information i set off to beat the price, and did by £5.00. Guess what, i didnt get the sale because i was too cheap.......Quote "well the pads cant be much cop at that price!"

Glad to hear its more comfortable...........I cant see how you thought my one drove better though :o .....every time i get in the car or put something in the boot it 'farts' at me.

She must be new :P

are you sure it was changed at the 50k service?.....did they top up the eolys fluid tank aswell? Try taking the vehicle for a 15 minute run at 50mph down the motorway, with a bit of luck it will carry out a forced regeneration and clear itself....if not its a dealer job i'm afraid.

the reverse parking sensors dont connect directly to the stereo, they connect to the BSI which sends a signal to the radio by the 2wires your upgraded radio doesnt use!....pm me with your email address and last 8 digits of your chassis number i'll see what i can do.

you dont need to remove the black cover.....the washer bottle will overflow when its full, the coolant reservoir will have the coolant visible when you look inside.....and should be aproximately and inch from the top.

There isnt a recall for rear brakes, however some vehicles have a specific noise problem with the rear brakes......demonstrate it to your dealer and see what they say. Map software is available for a charge from your dealer. Auto headlamp fault - book it in and get it looked at under warranty. Regassing isnt covered by warranty unless there is a manufacturing defect that has caused a loss of gas or a component requires replacement that involves regassing.

the red light that illuminates is for oil pressure.......if there is at least 2 litres of oil in the engine you will have enough o give you pressure. With regards the oil level being low......i would suggest that the recovery person checked it first and found it low.....i doubt it was a cause of your failure, just another reason you might have broken down later! More than likely there is an alternative answer to your problem.....faulty coolant temperature sensor maybe? I often get it at work where a customer comes in with the dash lit up like a christmas tree and the engine making a distinctive ticking noise caused by insufficient oil to hold the hydraulic tappets open. You cant beat going out on a sunday morning and doing the tyre and oil levels....sometimes a bit of water in the screen wash works wonders too. Just cos its nice and shiney doesnt mean its being looked after! oh, and a litre every 1000 miles is acceptable.

when you operate the suspension switch in the car do you hear the motor hum?

Six options from what i can see: NORMAL SUSPENSION - VARIABLE POWER STEERING AND AUTOMATIC HEADLAMP ADJUSTMENT NORMAL SUSPENSION - UNVARIABLE POWER STEERING AND AUTOMATIC HEADLAMP ADJUSTMENT NORMAL SUSPENSION - UNVARIABLE POWER STEERING AND WITHOUT HEADLAMP ADJUSTMENT FR/RR HEAVY DUTY SUSPENSION - VARIABLE POWER STEERING AND AUTOMATIC HEADLAMP ADJUSTMENT FR/RR HEAVY DUTY SUSPENSION - UNVARIABLE POWER STEERING AND AUTOMATIC HEADLAMP ADJUSTMENT FR/RR HEAVY DUTY SUSPENSION - UNVARIABLE POWER STEERING AND WITHOUT HEADLAMP ADJUSTMENT

would still carry out the above checks first

You cant adjust the sensetivity, but you can turn the ultra sonic sensors off before you set the alarm...it may be them causing the alarm faults......the hand book should explain that for you.

If the steering vibrates when braking the first thing i would check are the brake discs for distortion. Assuming the brake discs are ok, next check would be track rod ends, lower ball joints and suspension wishbone bushes, followed by wheel balance.

Take it to the dealer theres a bulliten about water running down the windscreen and through the wiper spindle grommet before dripping into the heater airbox intake and then running inside the car.

The washer pump is blocked internally.....you might be able to clear it by blowing down the rear washer pipe and front washer pipe......but then again you might need a new pump.

I try to please :unsure:

I assume the part goes between the fuel filter housing and the coolant housing on the rear of the engine above the drive shaft. It would appear that the hose has an internal diameter of 19.20mm and possibly you could use a suitable piece of hose. However, the recomended part would appear to cost £13.34 inc vat from your main dealer. From the information you have given its probably part number: 1307AQ - item no 3 on the picture. I would recommend that you speak to your citroen dealer and give them your chassis number to enable them to confirm that is whats required. If your Citroen dealer hasnt got one try your local peugeot dealer they use the same engine.

Which pipe? http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/2171/tudpc3.jpg

Signal comes from the Main BSI unit and is sent to the RD4 unit

now you mention you feel it more when stationary with foot on the brake, i would have to confirm its likely to be normal, i have come across this before on a variety of vehicles, including a motorbike i once owned......having said that its difficult to say something is normal when your only able to write about it. Has your dealer got another vehicle same spec it can allow you to demonstrate and confirm to yourself its ok?

ok....try to keep this simple. Xsara has 3 different radios.......they are not straight swops due to wiring and coding differences. So, the radio in your Xsara.....does it have a code that you have to enter if you disconnect the battery? If yes then a saxo radio might well do the job. If you can disconnect the battery on your xsara and the radio works without puting in a code....A Saxo radio WILL NOT FIT electrically it will be diferent.

Engines nowadays run as lean a mixture as possible to help with emissions levels. the idle speed of the engine is controlled by the injection ecu which advances and retards the ignition whilst increasing/decreasing the injection time....this will cause slight fluctuations in the idle speed. Mixture is sensed by the lamda probe that informs the injection ecu to richn/weaken fuel mixture. There isnt a tickover screw and you are unable to adjust the mixture. Could it be that yours is runing normally?

A high performance car running 95 ron will have a tendency to pink and suffer with poor performance. A normal engine designed to run on 95 run will sometimes see benefits from 98 ron fuel particularly if suffering from preignition problems (pinking). This difference in octane quality means that you can expect your engine to work more efficiently to deliver improved performance and better fuel economy while protecting your engine. When the manufacturer states the Ron of the fuel that is the minimum recomended.....anyone remember 2 star 3 star & 4 star? As to whether this is the answer to the original post is another matter. It would be helpful to know what age/engine size were talking about here and where the flat spot occurs, engine rpm, gear,speed etc.

If the discs are still 1mm off there minimum thickness i would ask the question why they need replacing. The discs from new have a wear limit of 2mm there fore the're half worn! As for the noise they were making, have they worn down to the discs (metal to metal) or was it just the raised outer edge of the disc causing the noise?

Just wish to clarify there are no brake recalls on the C4. However some vehicles, and it is only some do suffer with a specific noise issue..... not all vehicles suffer with the problem. There is nothing to stop you doing your brake pads yourself or getting another garage to carry out the repair.