C5 Woes - Brake Pad Warning

[stelen]

Hi All,

          Just joined the Forum basically to tap into the knowledge base of other owners. A couple of years ago I bought a 2009 C5 Tourer Exclusive.  It had all the bells and whistles and was beautiful to drive in. However, it has turned out to be the most unreliable car I have ever owned ( and I have had some!). The tally so far is new suspension pump (back end collapsed), new air con condenser, new steering rack, new EGR valve and a  new front wheel bearing.   Currently it is giving a worn brake pad warning when the electronic hand brake is applied - this despite the pads having been replaced about a month ago.  It remains a lovely car to travel in but as for reliability - well that is something else.

                                           Best regards to all,

                                                         Stelen 

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Most cars with pad wear indicators have them on the front and not on the back so I would have a look at these if not already done. I do not know but if it is the rear and the pads do not have wear indicators there may be something in the handbrake electrics that gives the warning. Were the rear pads replaced by a Citroen dealer and the handbrake calibrated again using diagnostic equipment once the pads were replaced ?

 

Seal failure on the steering rack is a common problem on the 2008 on C5. Have a look at the C5 Technical section pinned topic on common problems for other things.

[stelen]

Hi,

     Thanks for the comment.  So far as the back pads are concerned I did them myself ( all the other work has been done under a warranty that the dealer gave when I bought the car). It turned out that the nearside caliper had jammed so than one pad had worn down completely while the other still had plenty of meat.  I wasn't aware that the handbrake needed recalibrating, I'll look into it.  To confirm what you say, I had a look under the car again yesterday and there doesn't seem to be anything other than an ABS connection to the back hubs.

        There is the benefit of joining the forum.

         Many thanks

[paul.h]

This topic has some info on replacing the rear brake pads with the electronic handbrake. http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/22636-c5-tourer-rear-pad-change-with-electric-handbrake/

[stelen]

Thanks for that, most useful.   Looks like it is going to have to go back  to the dealer to have the handbrake calibrated. I will query them on what triggers the warning.

[paul.h]

Please let us know what you find out, it will be of use to others who are likely to be needing new rear pads.

[stelen]

C5 is just back from the dealers. It turns out that the brake pad warning was caused by just that - the front pads needed changed. It was nothing to do with the handbrake. 

About 6 weeks ago the car had been in for service and the brake report indicated sufficient pad thickness to get to the next service. However, about three weeks later the rear nearside began grinding. Turned out that the caliper had jammed and worn the outside pad down  to the metal.  I had changed that back pads and when the warning came up immediately after I assumed that I had done something wrong.  I didn't check the front because of the prior service and the fact that all the rear pads bar the one worn out still had plenty of meat.

Just shows - always check the obvious before you jump to conclusions. 

[paul.h]

Must have just been a coincidence that the warning started after replacing the rear pads plus it must make you think how well the fronts were checked at the service to suggest you could do another 2 years/20k miles to the next service (or less depending on the year/engine). I have altered the topic title slightly to help when searching.