C5 V6 Problems And Fixes - Exhaust, Heater Flap Motor, Air Bag Ecu

[Mick Mack]

Hi there

I've owned a 2001 C5 v6 exclusive since 2003 and I absolutely love her. I've had a few things go wrong with her, as you do, but I've always managed to sort them out without resorting to booking her into a garage. Being a qualified though retired mechanic has helped a bit, and still having contacts in the motor trade to bounce ideas off of regarding faults and remedies comes in very handy too.

 

I thought that I would share a few of the more tricky and potentially expensive problems that I've had with you to hopefully save you money and get you back on the road quickly.

 

The back box corroded through and snapped a few years ago, I rang round a few exhaust centres and motor factors but with no luck. This started alarm bells ringing. I contacted Citroen who wanted an eye watering £1,050 for a new box and sleeving kit. I've bought cars for less than that. Long story short, I eventually ended up talking to the big boss at Citroen Slough who explained that because they sell so few of the boxes they have to justify the tooling costs. Very sympathetic but the price remained the same. My solution was to get one fabricated in stainless steel with a lifetime guarantee for the princely sum of £270. I had it replaced right up to the rear of the middle box with a choice of silencer, saloon, midrange or sporty and a choice of twin pipes to finish it off, whole job took around three hours.. The company I used was in Watford but these places are dotted round here and there, all it takes is a quick internet search.

 

The servo that controls the hot/cold setting on the near side climate control. This rounds off the plastic hole that the servo fits into. Citroens solution, a new servo with a longer actuating spindle to fit deeper into the damaged hole, over £100. My solution, I mixed up some two part chemical metal and some two part epoxy resin. I then mixed the two together to get the right consistency before I packed the mixture into the hole. I then refitted the motor and let the glue cure thoroughly before attempting to try it. Perfect. It's a bit fiddly getting the glove box out and I had to use a dremel to remove part of the dash to give me visual access to the damaged hole, but once it's all back together nothing can be seen and no one's the wiser.

 

I had the air bag faulty light come on, I had to get the car plugged into a computer but luckily a mate of mine did it for a drink. The fault showed up as a fault with the air bag ecu, it thought that the air bags had been deployed. Went to Citroen, they were talking about £500 to plug in, replace and reprogramme a new ecu. My solution, I know of a very good Citroen breakers, the guy who runs it said that this is a relatively common fault and all that's needed to rectify the problem is a second hand ecu making sure that the part numbers are the same. I brought one off him for £25, swapped it and the lights went out. It's a bit fiddly to get to being situated just in front of the gear lever  but it only took about an hour from start to finish.

 

So there you go, all relatively cheap fixes. There's always a cheap solution if you look hard enough and I absolutely refuse to pay garage prices. I hope that this has been of some help to you.

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

I have edited the title slightly to help when searching. On the C5 Technical section there is a pinned post with commom problems that is worth looking at and the heater flap servo motor is there.

 

Where is the Citroen breakers ?

[Mick Mack]

THE BREAKERS IS RUN AND OWNED BY A REALLY NICE HELPFUL GUY BY THE NAME OF MARK.

 

THE ADDRESS IS

 

OAK LODGE

BUCKWYNS CHASE

BILLERICAY

ESSEX

CM12 0TN

 

01277 651486

 

HE'S QUITE HAPPY TO POST ORDERS OUT TO YOU.

 

I WAS LOOKING FOR A BOOT SPOILER FOR ME C5, HE HAD A BRAND NEW ONE IN PRIMER WHICH COST ME £40