New C5 Owner - Help And Advice Appreciated

[Lee.C]

Hi all

 

I have recently bought a 2009 C5 2.0hdi VTR + Saloon with 103,000 on the clock, previously had a Xantia and the wife drives a C3 so I am happy enough with the Citroen brand, I have had the car for about four weeks now and it seems a cracking big motor exactly what I need with a growing family, the car has been serviced every 12500 miles and I have just had a full service done at an independent garage  as the last one was done at 90,000. Can anyone help me with the items below.

 

• The clutch on the car seems very stiff, no grinding, slipping or shuddering it is just hard work especially in built up traffic, is this normal on these or is there something I can do to lighten it up, compared to the C3 and my old Passat it is very heavy.
• How can I tell what paint colour the is? I have a few chips etc. that I would like touched up?
• How can I check the level of this eloys  fluid that is mentioned all the time?

As I said any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks Lee

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

If you bleed the clutch (which should be done when replacing the brake fluid) the clutch pedal may be a bit lighter. If this does not help then a new clutch should sort it - but you may prefer to wait until the old one is worn out.

 

On one of the door pillars will be a sticker with the tyre type and pressures. The paint code is also on this sticker and the RPO number. As an example on our C3 the paint code is EXLD. The RPO number will also be in your Maintenance and Warranty book. If you go to a Citroen dealer and use your VIN they can sell you a touch up paint pen with the colour and lacquer for about £10 to £20 - these have a small brush in the cap.

 

The official way to check the eolys level is to drain it out of the tank and measure the quantity. You may be able to see the level in the tank which will be underneath near the fuel tank. The car calculates the level by the number of fuel tank fills and does not actually measure it. When it calculates the level to be low a warning message should be given.

 

You should have a look at the steering rack input shaft to see if it is rusty - if so it is worthwhile cleaning this and greasing it since a common problem is the shaft seal leaking which to fix needs a recon/new rack. In the C5 technical section there is a Common Problems pinned topic that is worth looking at.

[Lee.C]

Hi Paul

 

Many thanks for the reply and the welcome to the forum. 

 

My code is EYPC** - Do the stars mean anything or is it just EYPC ?

 

I will check the eolys level this evening for peace of mind.

 

The clutch is a funny one, as I do quite a lot of town driving it is letting the car down being so stiff,, any idea how much I would be looking to get a new one fitted.

 

Thanks for the info on the steering rack, could you explain how I can access the input shaft, or if it is in the pinned topic I will look there.

 

Finally I was wondering what anyone thought od the 160,000 mile interval on the timing belt change, is it okay to go to this or would getting it done at 104,000 be overkill?

 

Thanks again.

 

Lee

[paul.h]

I do not know if the stars mean anything. It looks as if EYPC is storm grey metallic. Check the bonnet with a magnet to see if it is steel, but it is likely to be aluminium and stone chips on it are not likely to rust or get worse.

 

I would change the brake fluid in the clutch and see what happens, it is likely to get a bit lighter once the old dirty fluid is removed. I find the easiest way is to use a Mityvac to suck the fluid out of the slave cylinder bleed screw (needs opening quite a lot) whilst ensuring the fluid level in the reservoir does not go too low so air is sucked in. The clutch in our C5 2007 is a bit heavier than our C3 and C4 but this is not due to its mileage/use since the C5 is on lower miles. I had a high mileage (150k) Saab that had a heavy clutch and this may have been hardening of the clutch cover fingers and this did get lighter on clutch replacement. From the eurocarparts website you can get an idea of the cost of the clutch parts and a dual mass flywheel since this is likely to also need changing but you are likely to be looking at about £400 + fitting - so maybe about £700 total.

 

You may be able to see the rack input shaft from under the car at the driver's side or from inside the car by pulling up the rubber cover at the bottom of the steering wheel column. In this topic there is a picture from Parkesie which shows how bad the corrosion can get http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/20872-power-steering-leaking-fluid/?do=findComment&comment=75684

 

If you can remove a cover to see the timing belt and check its condition and look for any oil leaks or coolant leaks or pulley wear which could be affecting it, it may give you confidence to let it last. I used to do this each year on our 2003 C3 since it only needed 2 bolts removing to undo the top cover. If you are not sure about its condition and intend keeping the car a few years, then at some point you will need to replace the belt/any pulleys/tensioner/water pump - so you may prefer to do it sooner rather than later and then not worry about it as long as you have the car. Some time ago we had a member who did let their C5 go over the mileage by quite a bit but then it snapped and needed a lot of repairs to the engine. Note that the time/mileage in the Citroen Maintenance and Warranty Guide is for Citroen parts so if you replaced them with other parts they may have a different maintenance frequency.

[seefive]

I had a brand new Mk3 and the clutch was very heavy. I put it down to the pedal spring.

[Parkesie]

You can see the shaft but not particularly well through the drivers side wheek arch. Best way to check it is to remove the cover and runber boot in the foot well. If i rember rightly its just a couple of 10mm bolts and maybe a couple of plstic clips slide it up the shaft and its easy to see.

[paul.h]

Picking up on seefive's post, you could go to a dealer and try the clutch pedal in a new car in the showroom and see if it is any different.

[Lee.C]

Hi all. Thank you for the advice, think I will try a clutch in another car first before I spend the money on a replacement.

 

Cheers Lee