C5 Mk1 2.2Hdi Suspension

[henshaw]

My car's engine has failed and the battery has now gone into economy mode and stays in that mode despite giving it a thorough recharge. I have been working under the car to sort out the problem and the suspension up until now has adjusted itself in the normal running mode as usual by opening a door or the hatch. After a few jackings with a trolley jack to get more room under the car, the suspension has now gone into its lowest setting and won't respond to door or hatch opening. I can't get the battery out of economy mode nor raise the suspension as you need to run the engine to do this. My question is, is there any way I can get the suspension pump to work again to raise the car by making electrical connections somewhere in the car's electrical system?

[paul.h]

The car will not go out of economy mode until the engine is running, so no matter how much you charge the battery this will not change.

 

If the battery voltage is low it may not work the suspension so it is worth checking its voltage and if needed give it a charge. If the voltage is ok then possibly just disconnecting/reconnecting it may let the suspension pump run. Do not do this too quickly though since this could result in odd electrical problems - there is a procedure in the C5 Technical section Common Problems pinned post that I have used without problems and is copied below.

 

Jacking up the car without first raising the suspension to max height can result in suspension system problems so is not recommended and somewhere in the handbook it says to raise the suspension first - since you can not do this without the battery then possibly keeping the battery disconnected may help avoid problems whilst you finish the engine repairs.

 

16. Odd electrical problems caused by wrong battery disconnection procedure.

If you need to disconnect the battery and not do a BSI reset procedure, I have found the following has not given me any problems on a 2004 and 2007 C5 and a 2003 C3:

- remove the ignition key from the car

- open the bonnet

- wait a few minutes for the BSI to shut down

- disconnect the battery negative terminal

 

When reconnecting

- ignition key out of the car

- reconnect the battery

- wait a few minutes

- insert the key in the ignition and wait a minute

- turn the key to the first position and wait a minute

- turn the key so the dash lights come on and wait a minute

- start the engine

- take the windows down and up to reset the anti pinch

- reset the clock (and radio on the C3).

[henshaw]

OK. I have had my C5 for 10 years so I know a lot about the peculiarities of the suspension. What I want to know is how do I connect the battery to the suspension pump to force it to raise the car.

[Parkesie]

Cant think of anyway to make that work you could connect the pump and make it run but the valves are controlled by the ecu which will need info from other ecus before it even thinks of working. Then the risk of upsetting frying said ecu on top.

[henshaw]

Have disconnected battery for 30secs and reconnected. Opening door didn't do anything but turning on ignition got the suspension to rise to normal running height. This I can live with.