C5 2.0 Hdi Exclusive Suspension Issues

[willyb]

Hi

 

I'm a new member looking for some advice so hope you will bear with me. Had the car for nearly 5 years and would have joined years ago but its been so good : apart from an aircon condenser, its been problem free.

 

Anyway I'm sure I now have a problem with the suspension( Hydractive 3+). I'm pretty sure that the car used to drop down on the suspension when switching off after a run and rise again when restarted but it no longer does this and when parked up it definately looks higher, maybe more so at the front. Also it doesnt drive anything like the same: hard to describe but its like the suspension is hard and not rolling but pitching front to rear if that makes sense. Really nothing like my car and very unpleasant.

 

My local garage( non Citroen) checked it over and its not reading any faults. They suggested its a dealer visit.

 

Firstly is it OK to drive it -my garage didnt say not to?

 

Any ideas ? I'd be very grateful.

 

Many thanks

 

Bill

 

 

 

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

What year is the car ?

 

You could try taking the suspension up and down a few times using the switch in case the height sensors are a bit sticky. If this helps then  maybe using something like wd40 on them may also help but do this with the car on axle stands - if the height sensors are knocked the car could quickly drop to a very low level. Also check the lds fluid level is ok and check all the struts for any oil leaks.

 

On our 2007 C5 the height adjusts slightly down when you get out and close the door and then again when it is unlocked and then up slightly when you get in and close the door. Similarly if removing things from the boot the back will rise a bit and then when the tailgate is closed the back will drop back down to normal level. But it does not drop down when switching off or rise up  when starting again - it sounds as if there may have been a problem causing this. Edit - see post 6 by Parkesie, this is normal for the mark 3 C5.

 

A hard suspension could be one of the 6 spheres needs replacing.

 

For suspension faults that you can not fix yourself, you are probably best using a Citroen garage that will understand the system and have any necessary diagnostic equipment and tools.

[coastline taxis]

with the engine running go to the front of the car and push down then go to the back of the car and push down. the car should go down then you should hear the pump kick in and lift the car back up. if when you push down it just wont move then youle no if its front or rear sphere,s.  next do side to side and if one side wont go down then thats the side thats gone. if both sides wont go down then it will be the stiffness sphere

[willyb]

Thanks for your replies, will try what you suggest. Can't believe I didnt put in the car data: its a 2009 exclusive 136 hp diesel with 36k. Btw it was a friend who noticed the car squatting when switched off, this was a couple of years ago I just assumed it was normal.

 

Cheers

[Alexh]

Like willyb I am a new member too and have the same problem. When my 2011 C5 was new and up until about 6 months ago it would lower itself when parked. When starting up again it would raise itself. Now it just stays the same height all the time. No error messages and the garage replaced sensors and says everything is ok. I can manually raise or lower it using the buttons but it doesn't do it automatically any more on parking up etc.

[Parkesie]

Could be something todo with the two ride heights that the car automatically switches between depending on road conditions and speed? Smooth roads the newer c5 will lower itself, rough roads it will raise again. Not sure if it reverts to one or the other when turning off. I know mine will drop again if i stop on a rough road.

[willyb]

Hi,

Car going in to Citroen this week for them to have alook :will report back. Problem for me is that the car just does not feel the same, the ride quality has gone from the sublime to the unpleasant. Indeed I could not live with the fore and aft pitching that it now displays. Hopefully it can be fixed, its been best car I've had,and I've had a few.

[willyb]

Hi,

 

The report from Citroen is that there are no fault codes logged from the diagnostic check and the ride height checks out as normal. Have given them the ok to check the spheres as they suggest this could be the problem ( i'm still sure there is one!). Waiting to hear what they say. Well seems that Citroen have identified a faulty rear pressure regulator ( apparently my car has the most sophisticated version of the suspension ) and it costs over £800 pounds and approx £600 to fit !!!!! Very very dissappointing. The car has been very reliable so far with only a condenser needed, but if these are the sort of costs I might be looking at sadly it will have to go.

I'm sad but its not sensible to spend £1500 plus on a car worth about £5k

[paul.h]

These costs do not seem right and depending on the following, I would take your car somewhere else.

 

If the rear pressure regulator (firmness/stiffness regulator) is Citroenpart no 5277N7 then it is £309 from citroencarparts.net and the labour time to replace it is just over 1 hour - I can not imagine any suspension job on a C5 taking about 10 hours. So with a bit of lds fluid £400 should be enough. I could not find any other rear pressure regulators on the parts diagrams so if the part no. is different have a look on that site for a cost.

 

You can check the parts yourself on the service.citroen site if you register as another professional non emergency services and as a member of the Citroen Owners Club, then use your VIN (VIS) top left to find your car. The regulator can be found under Mechanical/Suspension/Rigidity regulator sphere - 2 regulators are shown, 1 for the front (AV = avant) part no.5277J7 and 1 for the rear 5277N7. Then use the citroencarparts.net site to get a price using the part no. top left in the search box. This is a Peugeot dealer in Barrow so the parts are the correct ones from Citroen.

http://service.citroen.com/do/changerParametres

http://www.citroencarparts.net/?s=5277N7

 

edit: the Citroen car parts site no longe seems to work

[willyb]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, really appreciated. Picked the car up today but the service guy I've been dealing with was off so will speak to him Monday for further info.

 

My invoice ( which was quite reasonable btw)  says " pressure in system found incorrect at rear sphere, recommend replacement of pressure regulator before further diagnosis can take place" which means on what they v'e told me so far I need to spend circa £1400 before they can MAYBE tell me what the problem is!

 

Presumably they think there is some issue with the PR which is why they are saying it needs to be replaced but the caveat  that further diagnosis will be needed suggest they don't know if the PR is the root problem.

 

I would like to think that the car could be rectified for the cost you are suggesting and I thank you for your work with that. I would not hesitate if I thought for sure that was the problem  but I'm beginning to wonder if C know what they are doing here and I'm not prepared to bankroll their experimentation.

 

Incidently queried the labour charge and was told it was because they had to depressurise the FULL system to install the part. At that point the gratutitous use of the word full had me shaking my head.

 

Thanks for all your help so far: been really impressed by the knowledge here.

 

PS How does the ride of the conventionally sprung versions of the C5 compare with my model? Would I miss it too mutch?

 

 

 

[paul.h]

The labour time I quoted includes the depressurisation. On the C5 the front and back can be done seperately by undoing a bleed screw on the relevant front or rear pressure regulator which lets out a bit of lds fluid which you can catch in a can - a bit like bleeding the brakes. It can also be done using diagnostics which may save a bit of lds fluid but nobody is likely to bother doing this since it takes time/effort. So to depressurise it takes a minute or so. I have used my dealer to replace front and rear struts on our 2007 C5 since the labour charge was only an hour (if that) and has not made the saving enough to do the jobs myself.

 

It is worthwhile getting the Citroen service box manuals which come on 3 dvds to install on your pc - these include the workshop manuals for all Citroen models, the parts diagrams, wiring diagrams and invoicing times. They can usually be obtained on ebay and do not cost much.

[willyb]

Hi there,

 

Just thought I would give an update on where I am with this problem, see if it rings any bells.

 

Eventually  spoke to the Citroen Tech who did the work and he says the symtoms I describe have only once emerged in the "Citroen database " which he had searched, and the problem was rectified by replacing the pressure regulator but there was no guarantee that this would resolve things for me. Given the cost it I will not be doing this.

 

Since the symtoms are so subtle: friends have said the car feels ok to them, I have decided to book it in at a local Citroen specialist for a second opinion, but prior to that , to give them something to go on, I have been driving the car to define what I feel the problem is and have concluded that:

 

1/ the car feels fine in Comfort mode with no issues but as I have driven the car in Sport for most of my ownership this might not be right.

 

2/in Sport the car feels different as one would expect, but although it corners flat with minimal roll it pitches fore and aft on an undulating road and this is the most unpleasant aspect.

 

I believe this model Hydractive 111 plus has 7 spheres : 4 normal, 2 stiffness and 1 to control diving under breaking. Could there  be something wrong with either the stiffness or  anti dive spheres? Would this be worth investigating, and anyone know what replacement might entail?

 

I will live with the car the way it is if I have to but ideally would like it fixed, any suggestions would be most welcome