Failed Mot On Leaking Rear Sphere Suspension

[joemac666]

Hi Guys

 

I have just bought a 2002 c5 estate for very little money which drives great!  I've never had a citroen before and cant believe I've never considered one in the past.  I picked this car up cheap from a mate and it went through the mot yesterday and failed on 2 things.  A back box, no problem and what they called the air bag assembly which is leaking.  Its actually the part that is in this clip on youtube and its leaking around the rubber bit. 

 

 

 

I was hoping if any of you guys know can this be repaired or replaced and what its actually called to be able to get a price from a breakers if possible?

 

Looks like a great forum and thanks in advance if anyone can help.  The clip is not showing and it wont let me upload a pic for some reason.  I'll find the forum rules and try again.

 

Joe

Edited May 4, 2014 by joemac666

[joemac666]

Hi Guys

 

Apologies, I cant find any info on how to upload a pic or youtube clip.  Its like a rubber gator down from the sphere thats leaking.  I keep getting an error occurred during upload.........

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2014 by joemac666

[Johndouglas]

The upload facility on the forum is on the blink at the moment.   It's possible to upload your pictures to somewhere like Photobucket  then post the link from there.   Regarding your leak from the rear suspension it sounds as though the seals have gone.   It's possible to replace just the seals but if you need a new unit they are around £150 from a Cit dealer.

[joemac666]

Thanks John.  Do you know if its a big job to replace the seals or is it handier to just replace the whole part?  Btw if anyone types in the sentence in bold into youtube that shows the part thats faulty.

      SUSPENSION HIDRACTIVA 3 DEL CITROËN C5 

[coastline taxis]

Your better of buying another rear shocker you can reuse your sphere. new around the £100 to £150 scrappy £30 to £40.  But whatever you do dont ever ever  go underneath and do any work without putting the car on axle stands

[paul.h]

I could not find the you tube clip but I have copied this from the Common Problems post since this may be relevant. New seals are available for the strut cylinder but the cost for a dealer to do would not be much different to a new strut.

7. Rear suspension strut gaiter leaks oil.

It may just need a new gaiter - £7, fastening clip £10, LDS fluid £16, or a new strut. Gaiter replacement is a DIY job but a dealer would need to fit a new strut to guarantee the repair, probably about £230. The rear may also sink a little bit overnight indicating a new strut is needed.

[coastline taxis]

 

heres the link here for it

[stevetheroad]

hi am also haveing the same problem, leaking fluid from the gaiter on both the rear struts , car also settles right down when left for a few hours,  how easy is it to replace the seals ? if i took it to a citroen garage what sort of cost are we talking about?

[paul.h]

I have given the costs in above post - costs when I replaced a gaiter and cost when the dealer replaced a rear strut.

[coastline taxis]

Its not the seals as such that leak it the aliminium lip around the seal that fails and the fluid gets past it.

 

Jack and prop up the rear of the car.

Remove wheel ( Just to let a bit more light in)

Depressurise the hydraulic suspension a diagnostic tool is required for this. If you dont have a Diagnostic tool then there is a bleed nipple next to the ride height adjuster. Put a pipe over the nipple and crack the nipple open till the fluid starts to come out. remember its under pressure so just a little bit or youl end up covered in fluid.Wait until all fluid is out.

So starting from the rear of the shocker (sphere end)

Remove sphere (spere removal tool or oil filter strap required)

Undo the suspension pipe its the one that goes to the rear shocker !3mm

Now  remove the 2 black plastic pipes that go into the rubber gaitor they just pull out.

Noe remove the 2 torx bolts ( t20 or 25) that hold the shocker onto the axle pay atention to which way the metal colar comes out as it needs to go back the same way

Now go to the end of the rubber gaitor and youl see a r clip this is supposed to just pulls out can sometimes be a bit of a pig so get plenty wd into it. Once the clip is out the piece of metal that it secures need to be removed. Again this is sometimes a right pain but twisting with mole grips and tapping with a hammer will bring it out.

Tap the shocker lightly with a hammer and it should break away if not then tap it harder.

 

Fitting is the reversal of the above.

 

To repessurize the suspension system.

Make sure the bleed nipple is tightened up

take car of stand and let it sit on the ground you probally wont be able to get the jack out at this stage

fill resevoir with lds fluid and start the engine  and let it idle and youl hear the pump working and the car will lift itself up.

give the suspension a good work out with the hieght adjuster button.

check fluid.

 

Tools required

Axle stands

Jack

pliers/molegrips

Sphere removal tool or device

T20 or t25 male torx bit

Diagnostic tool or tubing and a 10mm socket or spanner

2 litres of lds fluid

[stevetheroad]

thank you for the info, will have another look at the weekend and see if am up to doing it myself or sourceing a local mechanic who can do it for me, dont suppose anyone knows of a good mechanic in the north wales / wirral area that specialises in citroens ? 

[paul.h]

The cost of a dealer to do it may not be that great, only 1 to 2 hours labour to do both sides and they will have all the right tools. Some dealers have a lower labour rate for older cars as well, so it is still worth getting a price from them. The £230 for one side was for a strut £143, a seal £3.10, R-pin £1.44 and lds fluid £13.20 plus labour £84 - to do 2 sides the lds and the labour would not be much more - total probably about £400.

 

Only way to get it much cheaper would be to use parts from a scrap yard and do the work yourself - I had the dealer do mine since it was late in the year and bad weather (car will not fit in the garage) and was needed for the MOT and for 1 hours labour was not too expensive.

[stevetheroad]

many thanks for the info, going to get a quote for the work, dont really have the tools or time to do it myself, if i had'nt just bought 4 new tyres for the car i probally wouldnt bother and just scrap it, but saying that its been a good car and does everything i want with good mpg so if i can find someone local to do the work at a reasonable price ,will do it and keep for another year or two, would only find and buy another one anyway, great cars

[paul.h]

It is always the same when replacing a car, there will be something that needs doing on the replacement so it is often better to keep the car you have. What happened with the water problem in the air filter you had last year, did it sort itself out or did any parts need replacing ?

[joemac666]

Been working away from home and not got a chance to look at this since last week.  My car does not settle down at all but I think I might have sourced one from a scrappy which i will get on monday.  Thanks guys for all the helpful info!

[paul.h]

If getting one from a scrap yard make sure you get the right one since there are about 6 different part numbers.