Thinking Of Buying A C5

[Richiejh]

Hi all,

 

I'm thinking of buying a C5 estate as I need a large car for transporting my family but want it to be relatively fuel efficient. I have 3 kids, 2 in high back boosters and one in a booster which I would like to fit across the rear seat if possible.

 

I'm currently looking at a 2009 1.6hdi, it's got a fair few miles on it and I have heard stories about the 1.6 engine being problematic.

 

Have these engines improved on newer models and if so which ones?

 

What should I look for?

 

Thanks

Rich.

[paul.h]

In the C5 Technical section there is a pinned post of Common Problems to look at. Expensive ones on the 2008 on C5 (X7) are the steering racks can leak oil needing a replacement and the front wipers can seize. You may be best to avoid a 1.6 hdi, whether they have improved on the models 1 or 2 years old I do not know but the turbos do not all fail - but frequent oil/filter changes using the correct oil will help as well as not revving until the oil has circulated when starting and letting the engine tick over for half a minute before turning it off. Unless you do a lot of town driving, you may find a larger engine is more economic on fuel and will need less frequent servicing.

 

If internal size is important, the 2004 to 2008 C5 estate is larger than the later model C5 (X7) and will have the hydractive suspension, whereas for the later model you will need an exclusive or 2.2 hdi for this. On the later model the 2.0 hdi 160 bhp engine is more fuel efficient than the earlier 138/140 bhp engine.

 

For all diesels you need to watch out for the exhaust dpf since it will need servicing around 80k miles (depending on engine size) but if it has been removed or drilled through it should not pass the MOT and would need to be notified to the insurer as a modification who may then not wish to insure the car. A check of the tail pipe may help to show if it has been removed - with the dpf all our diesel cars were clean metal internally, whereas ones without were covered in soot.

[Richiejh]

Thanks for the info, the most important internal dimension is the width of the back seat, the wider the better. The car I have seen looks great, very tidy and has the later style Dash which I like but the 1.6hdi is my main concern. I've run a couple of 2.0hdi's in the past which are great engines and I currently run a 2.2hdi C8 which is surprisingly lively. Interestingly my C8 has a dpf and the tail pipe is sooty and black inside and I know it's all original.

Most of the later C5s are out of my budget, the high miler is the only one which popped up in my search criteria. Maybe I need to forget it and go for maybe a 2006 2.0 which I guess should be a more reliable beast all round.

I'll read through the post you mention again which should arm me for my search.

 

Thanks again,

Rich.

[MikeLane]

Don't know whether it's anything to go by but I've had a facelift 1.6 HDi C5 hatchback from new since 2005 which has done 110K miles.

The DMF failed at about 106K but apart from that I've had no problems. It has passed all MOTs but I do change oil and filters at c. 12K service intervals (always use recommended oil) and, as Paul says, allow the engine to idle for 20 - 30 secs before driving off (slowly as I live in a dvelopment with speed restriction!). Also, let the engine idle for a few seconds before switchin off.

I occasionally get a "Risk of particle filter blocking" message but, so far, haven't refilled the Eolys tank (not sure why!) as it usually goes away with a bit of wellie.

However, the 1.6 might be a bit underpowered for the Tourer so get the 2l. HDi.

[Richiejh]

Thanks Mikelane, the problem with forums is that you only hear about the problems. If you go by what you read then every 1.6hdi engine will at some point self destruct, it's nice to hear some good stuff about them. I'm still mulling over the 1.6 but a 2009 2.0 vtr+ has just appeared on my radar for the same money. I just have to convince the other half and find a way of getting 3 booster seats across the back seat.

[paul.h]

You may want to have a look at the car handbook before seeing a car. These can be read/saved/printed in sections http://service.citroen.com/ddb/ You may need to select your language first. There are iso fixings in the back for child seats and on page 105 it gives for the tourer

 

Tourer

- two lower rings

 

C , located between

the vehicle seat back and

cushion, indicated by a label,

- an upper ring

 

E , fi xed to the

roof on the boot side, concealed

under a fl ap with the logo TOP

TETHER.

[MikeLane]

According to the 2008+ C5 sales brochure, ISO fix points are available for the two outer rear seats only (as well as the front passenger seat on VTR+ and Exclusive). I don't think the earlier C5s have ISOfix points.

[Richiejh]

Thanks again for the expertise, I've been belting the seats in as they are high back boosters. At the moment I have a BMW E46 touring which has a stupidly narrow back seat because the seat is fitted between the wheel arches. Even 2 seats and an adult is too uncomfortable to be practical.

I've never thought of looking for handbooks online, I'm registered with service citroen so I'll have a look.

[Richiejh]

I may be much closer to buying a C5 tourer, all I need to do now is get to it to have a look.

The car I'm interested in is a 2009 VTR+ 2.0hdi, it's done about 110k. I've had a look at the common problems thread and the biggest concern is the power steering leak. Is there an easy way to see the rack to look for fluid? Obviously I can check the cross member for signs of oil but I would like get eyes on the actual potential problem to see if there's an issue.

Any other tips to look for?

Thanks, Rich.

[paul.h]

You might be able to see the rack by putting the steering on full lock and looking through the driver's side front wheel arch, otherwise it may be a case of taking a bit of cardboard and laying on it on the floor as best you can with a torch and maybe a mirror. You should do this anyway to look under the car for any problems.

[Richiejh]

Thanks for the advice Paul. I'll let you know how I get on.

[Richiejh]

I've only gone and bought one!

I've bought the 2009 2.0 vtr+, it's got a leaking steering rack but the price was heavily reduced because of it.

The next step is to go right through it and see what needs doing and run diagbox on it to see what that comes up with.

Wish me luck!

[paul.h]

Well done, once any problems are sorted it will be a good car to enjoy/use. Did the seller point out the leaking rack or did you find it ?

[Richiejh]

I found it with the help and advice from the forum. Faults so far.

Steering rack

Headlight bulb gone

Left hand temperature display is missing bits of the numbers

Windscreen crack (fixed on way home)

The paint on the rear number has a few small cracks

The cruise control occasionally pauses itself

After 2 hours driving home and ABS fault came up, something to do with the brake switch and pressure sensor not agreeing with each other.

Also I thought all VTRs came with parking sensors, apparently not to my wife's disgust. I may look into retrofitting the factory kit or an aftermarket kit if that's too hard.

[paul.h]

The cruise control and abs could be related since the abs sensors give the car's speed and this is needed for the cruise. A low cost code reader will not give abs fault codes. You could have a look on the C5 forum for the pinned diagnostic help topic to see if somebody is near you who might be able to read the code.

[Richiejh]

I've read the code with diagbox and it came up with P1536 brake contact signal - non coherence between the 2 brake pedal signals.

I drove it today with no issues at all, I thought it may be a faulty brake pedal switch as on the journey before the abs fault the cruise control kept pausing.

Edited December 4, 2016 by Richiejh

[Richiejh]

Also in the ABS section there is fault code C1301 incoherence between the stop lamp switch and the pressure sensor.

[paul.h]

There might be 2 brake pedal switches when you have a look with one being for the cruise control. Have you checked if the brake lights are working normally from the pedal switch which might show if it is faulty, also it may just need adjusting.

[Richiejh]

Not sure about the brake lights working, however I did walk around the back of the car when it had just been started and the high level brake light was on then went off. The problem is that it's so intermittent I'll never know when it will happen.

[paul.h]

Do the other 2 brake lights work - you can check this by having an assistant or when dark have the back of the car near a wall or opposite a window and seeing if the wall lights up when the brake pedal is used.

[Richiejh]

They're all working at the moment, whatever the issue was it's cleared itself for now. I've no idea if or when it will happen again so I'll just have to wait for now.

[MikeLane]

There might be 2 brake pedal switches when you have a look with one being for the cruise control. Have you checked if the brake lights are working normally from the pedal switch which might show if it is faulty, also it may just need adjusting.

Does the cruise control apply the brakes if, say, going down hill?

(It certainly doesn't on my Facelift.)

[Richiejh]

This problem seems to have been sorted by replacing the brake light switch. Getting there with the list now.

[Rookie2]

I did write a topic on here somewhere about the importance of adjusting the Brake and Clutch pedal switches which are generally fitted to the range. Though most people naturally assume that these switches do no more than just put the brake lights on, the opposite is true, these switches communicate with the cars ECU for a number of reasons, not least of which is to reduce fuel flow when the brake is pressed as the car is slowing down. The clutch switch (if fitted) does much the same so as you can see, if a badly adjusted switch is telling the ECU that the vehicle is under braking (when in fact you may be accelerating) it can cause all sorts of confusion for the ECU and possibly poor performance/ economy.

[Marc1]

 

There might be 2 brake pedal switches when you have a look with one being for the cruise control. Have you checked if the brake lights are working normally from the pedal switch which might show if it is faulty, also it may just need adjusting.

Does the cruise control apply the brakes if, say, going down hill?

(It certainly doesn't on my Facelift.)

 

The C5 doesn't have the 'active cruise control' with distance monitoring, so will not apply brakes to maintain distance - it only uses the acceleration / deceleration as in previous C5s.