Citroen C5 Estate 3Rd Brakelight

[bluejimmy55]

hi anyone help i have a c5 estate 2002 model how do you remove the 3rd or upper breaklight i have been told its a complete unit thanks

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

There is a Haynes manual for the C5 which you will find useful if you do your own maintenance. For the MOT I believe the high level brake light is only an advisory if it does not work. To remove this light it says to open the glass door in the tailgate, undo the 4 torx bolts holding the rear spoiler to the tailgate, disconnect the wiring plug and washer tube, there are a couple of plastic (hinge ?) covers that need removing to access plastic clips to free the spoiler, then remove the spoiler (put a sheet or something soft on the roof to avoid paint scratches), undo the 2 bolts and remove the high level brake light. If you are fitting a new one then a bit of black sealant around the red lens should stop water getting in.

[Rookie2]

Unfortunately, the high level brake light is now an MOT failure if it is not working. It is also a failure to completely remove it and present it for MOT if original equipment included the High Level Brake light.

 

Another one which catches people out is the rubber seal around the fuel filler cap which is also an mot failure if not present, as is the battery clamp.

[paul.h]

The MOT manual can be seen/saved from here, the latest version is January 2017. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mot-inspection-manual-for-class-3-4-5-and-7-vehicles

[Rookie2]

My apologies, it looks like if you can hide the power supply cables to a non operational high level brake light, then it would pass the MOT. Pass and advise.

[paul.h]

With the MOT tester not being allowed to take the car apart to check the power supply to the light, then I guess this is why the tester is to give the benefit of doubt to the car owner, hence the advisory since the rules only require the 2 side brake lights. Common sense though says if there is a light it should work, otherwise it can lead to confusion/later braking for following vehicles. Plus having the high level brake light, it is safer for following vehicles and the one with the light. Also helps when cars use their rear fog lights so it is hard to see the side brake lights.

 

I was reading the test of the towbar 13 pin socket. If there is one, this should be tested unless the towball has been removed and the towball mounting modified so the towball can not be put back. Plus if the socket is behind a cover, this has to be removed to get to the socket. This covers the type of towball that is removable but also covers bolted ones. Why not just say if there is a socket it has to be tested. There are reported problems though of some approved socket testers that do not work but I have not had a problem at Citroen dealers.

[Rookie2]

The  MOT laws are a strange beast, I do about 4 MOT's a month, well not me, my friend who has his own testing station. He tells me that sometimes he could scream when doing MOT's. They are not allowed to strip or take anuthing off the car, even, grease which has been larruped all over rusty brake pipes.

He states that wheel trims are not to be removed, he may suspect that a wheel bolt is not fitted but, if he cannot see it then he cannot fail it.

 

He also states that when you see these MOT testers banging away at the chassis with  a hammer, they are in fact braking the law. The only tapping and poking which they are allowed to do is with the official MOT tester hammer which is very similar to a toffee hammer with a pointed handle for poking into rust.

[Rookie2]

Off subject a little bit Paul, just wondered if you had seen this quick animation. It may be worth posting somewhere as a sticky for those interesting in the construction and makeup of a DMF

 

https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A9mSs3CW4p1YUUEA3CVLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTEyZzNxZmFwBGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjMzMDNfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Video+of+a+Citroen+Vibrating+Crankshaft+Pulley&fr=yfp-t-UK037#id=57&vid=db7a47440d227f842264ef79f9ee5099&action=view

[paul.h]

Topic pinned. Also there are some others in the same link of interest, one being a quick comparison of a dmf and single flywheel replacement. It mentions the single may give a bit of vibration compared to the dmf which can damp more - I hope this is not the problem that Arak is having but in his case the vibration goes as the engine warms..

[Rookie2]

Ok Paul, sounds good.

I still think Arak should be looking at his crank pulley. The problem they have, as you probably know, is the rubber insert, when cold, allows little or no movement of the pulley.  When the rubber insert warms up then it starts to flex and allows itself to compensate for the "run out" of the pulley.

I'm thinking the DMF failure and the crank pulley could be related to each other.

 

It would probably be worth him videoing the crank pulley when it starts up and then again after it has warmed up to see the difference

 

The only other thing I could think of would be an engine mounting, but then you would assume temperature would make little difference to a worn engine mounting, but it could I suppose.