C5 Rear Brakes Seizing

[arch50]

:P hi first things first hi my name is archie and i am thinking of buying a c5 hdi but have been told that the back brakes on them are bad for siezing and the repair price is £500 to £600 is this all fact or fiction?

i really fancy one but if this is so i will get a picaso hdi instead hope someone cane help with this !

yours arch

[citroeneddie]

Arch

 

Welcome to the forum. I have both C5 and Picasso and found them reliable and well made. There will be niggles but all cars have those so I would chose the car that fits your lifestyle best.

[Johndouglas]

have been told that the back brakes on them are bad for siezing and the repair price is £500 to £600 is this all fact or fiction?

i really fancy one but if this is so i will get a picaso hdi instead hope someone cane help with this !

yours arch

Funny how these myths get started. C5 brakes are similar to those on previous Xantias and BX's, all three of which I've run over the past sixteen years. I've never found any trouble with calipers seizing, however what you will find is that over time, corrosion will build up between the caliper and the suspension arm. The corrosion will cause the brakes to sqeal and make the pads wedge shaped. It's a fairly easy job/not a too costly job to get the corrosion removed.

[stimulator]

There I was sitting in the local dealership waiting for my C3 to be serviced when I overheard a conversation about a C5 and its rear brakes. The complete caliper and discs had to be replaced on both sides because the pistons had seized in the bores. the owner was quite upbeat at the £700 bill he was paying BUT the receptionist did give him a discount off the parts and explain that he now had the new type calipers with a diffeent piston set up and different shims fitted so he hopefully wouldn't have the same problem again.

[MAAL]

I have a c5 estate, and have recently replaced the rear disk pads. It's an easy job to do yourself and cost about £15 for the pads. It's best to put some copper grease on the calipers at the time and you should not get a problem. The front tyres have done 18,000 mile so far and still have about 3mm on them. So I would make sure if I were you to make sure the trye pressures are correct and to avoid heavy breaking if possible; something that should be done with any car. Most people do not check their tyres and electrics enough!

[citroeneddie]

56k on my C5 original pads and shoes but will need replacing at next 62.5k service.

[iannez]

have been told that the back brakes on them are bad for siezing and the repair price is £500 to £600 is this all fact or fiction?

i really fancy one but if this is so i will get a picaso hdi instead hope someone cane help with this !

yours arch

Funny how these myths get started. C5 brakes are similar to those on previous Xantias and BX's, all three of which I've run over the past sixteen years. I've never found any trouble with calipers seizing, however what you will find is that over time, corrosion will build up between the caliper and the suspension arm. The corrosion will cause the brakes to sqeal and make the pads wedge shaped. It's a fairly easy job/not a too costly job to get the corrosion removed.

your post is spot on m8 apart from the easy bit. every one i've done the bolts have been seized solid and some have even snapped resulting in a new caliper. where the 2 components meet the steel causes the aluminum to oxidize and push the calliper out this puts a slight bend in the long bolts that go through a hole that is already tight and full of locktite making it extremely difficult to draw the bolts back far enough to remove the caliper. it will take a good hour a side with a power bar and the only impact guns that will remove them are the titanium ingersol rand ones (thats how tight they are) and if your going to do it your self remember to replace the 8mm bolt after removing the pads or the calliper will split when you are removing it.

[Johndouglas]

[

 

your post is spot on m8 apart from the easy bit. every one I've done the bolts have been seized solid and some have even snapped resulting in a new caliper.

You can only write from your own experience. I did my Xantia when it was six years old and the bolts came out fairly easily - tight - yes, but no trouble. Just out of curiosity, I tried one of my C5's bolts, and that turned OK too.

[iannez]

have you owned your c5 from new. just wondering if someone has already had them off and copperslipped them. your right about personel experience but i do at least 2 of these a week and have never had one that i've never had probs with.

[exclusive]

I have had my 51 reg C5 estate from new and was surprised when the Citroen dealer replaced the rear pads at one of the early services. Mentioning this later to an independent garage, he said that the rear brakes were prone to seizing and he always lubricated them at every opportunity. I've now had 5 years fairly trouble-free service from my C5 estate, with no problems from the rear brakes since.