C5 Reverse Gear Problem

[Weebachle]

Hi,

I joined the forum a couple of days ago to see if I could find some help with the problem I have with the Manual gearbox on my 2003 C5 2.0TDi Exclusive (110HP) estate, I've only had it a couple of months. I am hoping that the C5 experts among you out there might give me the benefit of your knowledge of the C5. One afternoon about four of five days ago I found that I could not reverse the car off my drive, it just would NOT go into the reverse gate, there had been no indication of any problems up until this point. I had a quick look at it in the driveway, thinking it was a linkage problem. I thought that the little collar on the gearstick that you pull up was somehow not lifting enough to "open the gate", or maybe a plastic bracket had snapped or something like that. I lifted the leather boot and surrounding trim but I still could not see the linkage without slitting the rubber boot which I did not want to do. I tried almost completely undoing the four nylock nuts surrounding the boot but that didn't seem to help release it. So I took the car to the Citroen agency the next morning. Later that day they called me and said it is not the linkage, that there is something wrong inside the gearbox. They gave me two alternatives (a) A replacement gearbox costing approximately two thousand two hundred pounds Plus labour charges. OR - (b) fix my gearbox - Labour charges to remove the gearbox, strip it down to find and fix the fault then refit it = approximately nine hundred pounds Plus the cost of whatever parts are required. Since I am not working and cannot afford that at this time, I had to collect the car back from them They gave it back to me with the little spring loaded wire cable that attaches to the collar on the gearstick disconnected (presumably to stop me damaging anything else?). My questions are :- (1) Has anyone come across this problem and knows how to fix it? (2) If I have to tackle this job myself with a friend, are any specials tools needed to remove the gearbox? (3) I don't have access to a lift or a pit, Could gearbox removal be done with the car up on axle stands? (4) If the gearbox does have to come out, then it would make sense to fit a complete new clutch but the Citroen dealers are quoting 250+ quid for parts, is there an alternative cheaper source? Also there seem to be lots of part numbers for C5 clutches, Can you give me any advice on ensuring that I get the correct clutch parts if I don't get them from the Citroen agents at Citroen prices?

Thanks

Graeme

[Guest gs fan]

Hi,

I joined the forum a couple of days ago to see if I could find some help with the problem I have with the Manual gearbox on my 2003 C5 2.0TDi Exclusive (110HP) estate, I've only had it a couple of months. I am hoping that the C5 experts among you out there might give me the benefit of your knowledge of the C5. One afternoon about four of five days ago I found that I could not reverse the car off my drive, it just would NOT go into the reverse gate, there had been no indication of any problems up until this point. I had a quick look at it in the driveway, thinking it was a linkage problem. I thought that the little collar on the gearstick that you pull up was somehow not lifting enough to "open the gate", or maybe a plastic bracket had snapped or something like that. I lifted the leather boot and surrounding trim but I still could not see the linkage without slitting the rubber boot which I did not want to do. I tried almost completely undoing the four nylock nuts surrounding the boot but that didn't seem to help release it. So I took the car to the Citroen agency the next morning. Later that day they called me and said it is not the linkage, that there is something wrong inside the gearbox. They gave me two alternatives (a) A replacement gearbox costing approximately two thousand two hundred pounds Plus labour charges. OR - (;) fix my gearbox - Labour charges to remove the gearbox, strip it down to find and fix the fault then refit it = approximately nine hundred pounds Plus the cost of whatever parts are required. Since I am not working and cannot afford that at this time, I had to collect the car back from them They gave it back to me with the little spring loaded wire cable that attaches to the collar on the gearstick disconnected (presumably to stop me damaging anything else?). My questions are :- (1) Has anyone come across this problem and knows how to fix it? (2) If I have to tackle this job myself with a friend, are any specials tools needed to remove the gearbox? (3) I don't have access to a lift or a pit, Could gearbox removal be done with the car up on axle stands? (4) If the gearbox does have to come out, then it would make sense to fit a complete new clutch but the Citroen dealers are quoting 250+ quid for parts, is there an alternative cheaper source? Also there seem to be lots of part numbers for C5 clutches, Can you give me any advice on ensuring that I get the correct clutch parts if I don't get them from the Citroen agents at Citroen prices?

Thanks

Graeme

Sounds like you need advice from the more experienced lads on this forum ( coastline kfk techbod or the like) to advise on the removal of the G/box and the issues associated . Are you having any problems with the forward gears ?? I had some trouble with my C5 box about a year ago . It would refuse to engage reverse but went in fine if I held the leaver and lifted the clutch slightly , at the same time it started giving trouble with the forward gears , it would just refuse to select mainly when changing down . I had the gearbox oil changed and the clutch fluid replaced and bled . All was fine after that and has been since . Might not help in your case but as it is a low cost start point it might be worth a try ...

[Weebachle]

Sounds like you need advice from the more experienced lads on this forum ( coastline kfk techbod or the like) to advise on the removal of the G/box and the issues associated . Are you having any problems with the forward gears ?? I had some trouble with my C5 box about a year ago . It would refuse to engage reverse but went in fine if I held the leaver and lifted the clutch slightly , at the same time it started giving trouble with the forward gears , it would just refuse to select mainly when changing down . I had the gearbox oil changed and the clutch fluid replaced and bled . All was fine after that and has been since . Might not help in your case but as it is a low cost start point it might be worth a try ...

 

Thanks for responding. No, there have been no problems whatever with the other gears, nor until now with reverse, no stickiness or reluctance to engage, nothing. I'll have a go at trying the lifting the clutch trick tomorrow, the car is not at my home right now. The car prior to my buying it at end November 2008 was a friends company car and has full service history with the Citroen dealers. Anything that needed doing got done promptly, though he assures me there were no big problems, the car has been completely reliable up until now. Mileage is about 120,000.

Thanks

[techbod]

the plastic part on the gear shift gate could be the problem and gear stick not going high enough to engage, seen this problem with older cars and just changed the gate or reset it because they come loose some times and get out of line making gear shift harder

[coastline taxis]

the plastic part on the gear shift gate could be the problem and gear stick not going high enough to engage, seen this problem with older cars and just changed the gate or reset it because they come loose some times and get out of line making gear shift harder

Disconect the cables from the gearbox first then see if the gear lever will go into the reverse position (remove air filter housing then look down and youl see the 2 cables coming from the car to the box push the center of the clip where it fixes to the box and pull ) then let us no the results

[Weebachle]

Disconect the cables from the gearbox first then see if the gear lever will go into the reverse position (remove air filter housing then look down and youl see the 2 cables coming from the car to the box push the center of the clip where it fixes to the box and pull ) then let us no the results

 

Thanks guys for all your help, I just thought I had better let you know about an entirely unexpected and mysterious solution. I gave the car to a mechanic friend of a friend to look at, I explained the problem and left it with him. He called me yesterday and said that reverse was working, I asked how? and he said that he hadn't really done anything, just reconnected the cable to the collar and used a little bit of extra effort to put it into reverse. The end result is that the gearbox is working perfectly again, exactly as it was before this problem started. I am at loss to explain this, all I can do is to give my sincere thanks to you all for trying to help me with this puzzle.

Thanks

Graeme