Bosch Front Calipers? / New Member

[Richp]

Hi.

 

I've just joind the forum, but i have been on a lot since i got my C5 last year.  I do a lot of my maintenance myself so a forum like this is essential, so thanks!

 

My question is - how do i know if my front calipers are Bosch? were they fitted as standard?

 

The reason i ask is because i recently changed my front pads, and the n/s slide pin thread is stripped.  It must have stripped on the way out, as i didnt over tighten it.  For now i have bought a longer bolt, which reaches a bit further into the pin than the original, providing just enough grip to hold it together.  I am looking at buying a new pin set off ebay (about £13) but it says it is only suitable for bosch calipers.

 

The car is a C5 2.0HDI 2001 (Y reg). Its a great car, especially for the silly prices of them, but it needs a few issues sorting...

 

Stuck rear calipers (i've seen the pinned thread on this forum, but havent had a chance to get the drill out)

Broken seat slider - needs removing and welding :S

Trafficmaster woman keeps spouting numbers at me

Sometimes it goes into a cycle of going up and down when parked up (i have recently soaked the sensor in wd40, see if that helps)

Parking sensors give constant beep if its been raining (exposed connection somewhere?)

I dont have the key for the roof rack (citroen), so i might have to attack the plastic fixing housing.

 

Thanks! i have searched the forum but cant find an answer to my bosch question, so i apologise if it has already been asked.

[Johndouglas]

 

 how do i know if my front calipers are Bosch? were they fitted as standard?

 

Welcome to the forum.   As far as I know, Citroen only ever fitted Bosch brakes on the front of the C5.   Unlike our one of our other cars, a Xsara.   On that they can be either Bosch or Lucas, and then in two different diameters.   If you are looking for caliper parts, there's either ECP or http://www.biggred.co.uk/index.php

[paul.h]

The Citroen parts diagrams only show one part no for the pin set (set column screw) for all models 443925 and all front calipers are listed as Bosch although they differ depending on the model. It pays to also get parts prices from your Citroen dealer since they are usually competitive and the parts you get will be the correct ones.

 

On the very first C5 models, they may not have had the loctite on the rear caliper holding bolts, but even if they did, on your car they should have been serviced many times by now so the loctite would have been removed (and hopefully not put back on).

[Richp]

Thanks for the replies, i'll get the ebay bolts and post back on how it goes (in case anyone else searches for this in future).  The citroen ones are £50 a set! Euro car parts dont stock them.

 

The rear bolts must presumably have been removed at some point, it has done 95k miles. however nothing i do will remove them.  I have hex sockets, sprayed clutch cleaner in there, even tried a bit of blow torching (a last resort as i'm guessing there is rubber components in there).  ATS could not get the bolts out either. not budging a bit, and the exessive force i'm using began to round the bolt heads, so i stopped.  so i'm getting close to drastic measures.  i'm just not sure what those drastic measures are yet.

 

Thanks again for the replies.

[paul.h]

If you snap one of the rear bolts, they are quite hard making drilling them out difficult (from my experience) so a set of good drill bits will be needed. Also you are likely to damage the threads in the suspension arm so I ended up replacing the snapped bolt with a longer one and putting a nut on the back of it. Getting a replacement longer bolt is not easy since they are very high tensile ones 10.something where as normal high tensile ones readily available are 8.8. The only thing I could do was get an even higher tensile 12.something allen headed bolt (screw since not threaded all the way) and a 8.8 nut to go on it from a bolt supplier.

 

If you do resort to a blow torch, just do it at the back of the suspension arm, if you do it on the caliper there are the rubber bits, it is also alloy but if this expanded it would just make the bolt tighter.

 

Before you do any of this, have a look to see if there are signs the caliper has been pushed out by corrosion by looking at its central joint in relation to the edge of the disc and if the pads are worn more on one side. If not then maybe just remove and clean the pads up, although the stuck bolts may be a sign.