Just Bought C5 And Have Hydraulic Fault Pls Help

[scooby2a]

hello all, i just purchased a c5 2003 hdi model and i have a problem with the suspension.

hence why i joined the forum and this is first post

i looked for same scenarios online but nothing

all i see is car stuck in up or down position

 

 

on the little display i get the car stop sign with a cross on it.

the car lowers if i do not move it.

if im driving the car and this happens sometimes it shows the arrow pointing down and when it realises the car is moving it shows that its not possible and cancels itself out. if i have it on the higher level ( 1 button press on the up arrow)  it keeps flashing plus 24mph. as in if you just selected it for first time, but it keeps repeating it.

sometimes when the car is on lowest level and i press the up button the pump works for a sec and theres slight movement for a sec and then it stops.

kinda like no i dont want to move up

after a few attempts it goes up and works fine

i checked all fluid and its fine.

 

before this started these are events that took place

 

battery terminal loose and car struggled to start

changed clamp now battery fine and shows excellent charge

 

spilt hot tea in car and it went on the centre console suspension buttons (up and down buttons)

 

went over a massive watter logged road that i did not see as no street lighting and terrible drainage on road

 

took it to a garage they plugged in diagnostics but no faults found

 

they found 1 pipe disconected that carries lds fluid by o/s/f tyre and reconnected it

 

so i bought some lds fluid and topped it up last night

 

this morning i started it and it showed me the down sign with a cross. i moved it forward slowly and stopped the car. after 1 min i pressed up and it showed that it was on normal setting and car raised as it should

i drove it  for 30 miles on motorway and was fine.

i raised it up and down like 10 times and it adjusted itself as it should.

 when i unscrewed the hydraulic  cap air escaped and it blew out some fluid.

i checked fluid after i cleaned up and it shows that its full still

 

 

any ideas please?

 

 

[scooby2a]

Would it be air in system?

[ESL57]

  So much going on here  :D   You need to check fluid with the car settled on low. It should be just under the strainer at that setting.

    Do that first. Proper LDS  fluid I take it?

[scooby2a]

Yes I did that and have orange LDS bought from main dealer

When you park it and leave off it goes down like normal and when I open door and start car up and sit inside it adjusts to normal height. But after a min or less it drops down.

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Which engine does it have (size and bhp) and what model is it, does it have a sport suspension button ?

 

I am not sure what the problem is but a few things to do that will not cost anything. Pressure inside the lds tank is normal so nothing to worry about, just undo the cap slowly with a rag around the cap

 

1. Check the suspension pump electrical connector is on since these can come loose.

 

2. You have tried raising lowering but possibly the height sensors are a bit seized and spraying with wd40 might help. Do not go under the car though without supporting it on axle stands since if you catch a height sensor the suspension can drop to a very low level quicker than you can get out of the way.

 

3. Look for any leaking fluid.

 

4. Does the car drop much overnight since this could mean a strut internal seal leak. I had a rear one that dripped a bit of fluid from the gaiter but once the strut was replaced the car did not drop down as much overnight.

 

5. As already noted, the correct lds level is at the bottom of the tank filling strainer with the suspension in the low position and the engine off. Do not overfill the tank since it could then split.

 

6. I think there are anti sink valves but I do not know anything about them.

 

I have moved the topic in to a sub forum since ones outside of one will not show after a few days.

[scooby2a]

Hi thank you for reply

Its a diesel 1997cc don't know the bhp but no sport suspension button

1 connector is intact

2 I will try wd40

3 no leaks at all

4 at night it hardly drops. Only yesterday when this fiasco started it dropped down completely while idling. And when I turned it off it remained down still. I found that disconnecting battery kinda helped for it to go on a normal position but it only worked once. The other times pressing the up button and swearing every possible word under the sun helped me as well

I started it again after 7 hours and everything is normal. I don't understand. I played with suspension up and down and it never dropped down like yesterday. In fact when I started it the car wasnt lowered.

[coastline taxis]

whoa STOP everything.

 

1st you cant adjust the hieght when driving so you got no faults there.

2 go to any scrappy or dealer and get a new switch for the hieght adjuster in the consul.

3 fit new switch then magic happens and and your suspension is fine.

 

this happens to ours at least once a month with drivers spilling coke cans and coffee. sounds like u take sugar in your coffee for it to happen that quck aswell. none sugered coffee drinkers get 2 to 3 days before it happens

 

what colour is the suspension resevoir if its whit plastic then you only fill half way if its black then fill to top  both with the suspension on its lowest setting

[scooby2a]

Hi there thank you for replying.

While in driving the cars suspension wants to lower itself without any button presses. But as I'm driving it doesn't do it. Only when in stationary. It was green tea no sugar and it took 2 days.

Yesterday I drove it and was fine only in the morning it lowered itself. Sinne then its been normal and have driven it over 50 miles now.I will look on flea bay for switch. Its dark coloured tank so its all the way to top. Thank you for help..