C5 Taxi Woes

[Guest miked]

cheers Steve

 

update

 

he took it in again this morning,

 

he's left the engine cover off for now.

 

this pipe was split so he cut a bit off and put it back on..

 

http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab227/sabredelamar/IMGP3412.jpg

 

also the plastic rod is broken, for now he's cable tied it in the on position..

 

http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab227/sabredelamar/IMGP3411.jpg

 

he's reset it again on the logisitics, and this time it only came up with the 2 faults, its no longer showing the filter faults so he hasnt bothered doing the mod to the eolys tank.

 

its just showing the glow plug fault and the egr, but the egr may be stored.

 

will see how we go from here :)

 

Mike

[coastline taxis]

The rod to your swirl pot isnt that expensive from the dealer and will increase your mileage and performance when replaced. also the vacum pipe being split would not of helped anything and as it goes onto your egr valve that could be the cause of the egr fault

[Guest miked]

cheers Steve

 

will get one on monday,

 

its also having some other jobs on the suspension done ,rear wishbone bush and anti roll link. which my dad will be doing on monday, also 2 exhaust rubbers in front of the cat.

 

many thanks

 

Mike

[paul.h]

The plastic bit that has broken, Citroen call it a diaphragm and costs a bit under £20. It is a bit of a pig to replace and I did a note on how I did it middle of last year, copied below. It is held on by 3 T20 torx screws and a long (18 inch) screwdriver is needed to reach them, get a few spares at the same time as the part.

 

Edited 26/7/2010 after fitting new screws - 1 was lost and the torx part of 1 was damaged whilst tightening - I would suggest getting a set of new screws before starting, they are only 6p each from Citroen:

You need a long T20 torx screwdriver, at least 40 cm to reach the screws. I ended up making one by welding a T20 bit onto a long 10mm rod since using the bit in a socket set all the fittings were too wide so the bit could not reach sideways on to the screw heads. I removed the air filter box cover including the flowmeter leaving them on the fuse box (to avoid undoing the electrical connector), the bellows section, the air filter, the bolt holding the air pipe behind the filter and disconnected (unbolted) the breather pipe at the end of the cam cover and unclipping it from the front support clip - all to give room for access. Stuff a tissue in the gap at the lower edge of the diaphragm fastening plate so loose screws are not lost. With the diaphragm 3 screws removed (and not lost down the back of the engine on to the suspension system) you can reach down the back of the engine with your left hand to pull off the flex pipe whilst holding the part body with your right hand. Fit the flex pipe first to the new diaphragm to help hold it in place. Refitting the left hand screw nearest the engine is not easy - a magnetised torx bit was not much help but holding the screw in a strand of house wire (2.5mm) to position it and then start tightening with the driver, then pull off the wire, worked although still awkward and you still have to locate the driver into the screw head with a finger on the screw. The diaphragm was about £19 from Citroen.

[Guest miked]

thanks Paul very useful

 

I may even have a go at repairing the broken piece, drilling a hole in each piece with stiff wire through it and connecting the broken pieces. or some other way of repairing it,

most likely just get a replacement, but if its broken before, no doubt itll break again.

 

update

 

so far Ive had 2 nights trouble free taxying with no warning lights or antipolution messages :)

 

cheers

 

Mike

[coastline taxis]

Proper taxi driver you tight as owt ha ha just buy the bit its only 20 quid

[Guest miked]

haha I know :rolleyes:

 

will get one, but will have a little look at it first, as I say, if itll only break again because the design is poor, better to try and improve it

 

had the drop link and both bottom bushes done on it today

 

still no lights, running and driving nice :)

 

cheers

 

Mike

[Guest shenden]

Sorry but i have to disagree with you over the c5. They are the ideal vehicle for a taxi and like any other business you have to put money back into it. And without sounding like im picking fault or trying to have a row your posting shows a serious lack of vehicle maintenance for a taxi driver. If you've had the fault for over 2 years it should of been sorted out before now and not left to get worse. Now believe me when i say i dont like spending money but like myself your in a good position as every penny you spend on the car you get back in tax. And if maintained properly theyl run properly.

The anti pollution fault will be your fap filter needs cleaning/replacing and the fluid topping up which a dealer or Indy can do for you and if you keep the receipt the tax man will refund you.

The tyres well put Michelin energy savers on youl get 10000 out of them and again keep the receipt.

As for the bulbs put a good quality one in and make sure that the black plastic acsess panel is replaced properly.

take it to the dealers and get a full diagnostics done on the car and then get a maintenance program in place and your mileage will go up and the problems will go down. And with your dad being a mechanic im sure your labour bill could be converted to a beer bill.

Your probably in the same boat as the rest of the taxis in the country and struggling but any faults on your car must be sorted straight away as the penaltys are higher for taxi drivers youl lose your badge and plate for not keeping the vehicle up to scratch

best regards

steve

 

 

Oh i do love it when i see some one who has the guts to tell it the way it is. You could not put a price on that advice and it will lead you in good stead.

[Guest miked]

since last update car has been great up until now.

 

dual mass flywheel has just gone on it.

im just wondering on anyone elses experiences, costs etc.

 

many thanks

 

Mike

[coastline taxis]

take the dual mass off altogether. get a 4 in 1 clutch kit we do it to ours and theres no diference to the car

[Guest Unhappy Brian]

hi guys

 

hoping you can help, Ive been reading through the threads on here.

 

I have a 2004 2.2D VTR which I use as a private hire taxi.

 

Ive owned the car for about 2 years, and in this time Ive used it as a taxi, main reason I bought it as it was my uncles who was also a taxi driver and he had it for a year or so before me, he let me have it for a good deal. mileage now is just over 100k.

 

 

since Ive had it, its always had the service and engine lights on, no problem as it still runs fine. my uncle just put a bit of black tape over the lights :)

 

now and then, we get the ESP/ASR failure and limp home mode as has been mentioned here many times.

 

this is a major headache as Im trying to earn a living and its slowing everything down.

 

sometimes just stopping and restarting gets it off, cant always do that when I have a passenger in!

 

Ive found, and dont know if this is true, that if the front tyres are low it can cause the esp/asr to come on, as when it happens I put some air in the fronts and it goes.

I dont know if that is the cause or just coincidence.

seams to come on when accelerating from about 40mph plus, usually when first getting on a motorway.

 

anyway..

 

over the last few days the esp/asr fault has been on constant, no amount of trye fettling or on off ignition has got rid of it.

 

luckily my dad is a mechanic and mot tester at a independent BMW garage, he's just taken it in this morning to put it on the diagnostics and get the codes, so will report back with those later tonight, it has been on it before but I cant find the piece of paper he did last time :)

 

one thing i remember coming up on the diagnostics last time was throttle postion.

 

we had it on the diagnostics a few months back when we serviced it, one thing we did was change the diesel filter, but yet I still get the "change diesel filter" message on the dash.

 

hope you guys can help, Ill certainly help others with any feedback we get from the diagnostics and faults on mine.

 

either to fix the problems or just bypass the many electronic aids on the car.

 

 

 

I quite like the car, and either way Im stuck with it so want to make it more bearable

but now I will have a little rant and moan about the car in general as a private hire car :)

 

turning circle is awful!

MPG is terrible for a taxi,about 35 according to the computer.

6 speed box, car feels very low geared, quite often on the motorway Ive gone for a 7th gear at about 65mph.

old grannies cant fathom the indoor door handles! :)

every time a passenger gets in the antipolution fault message comes on the dash and lots of people ask and quite frankly its boring explaining it all the time!

glovebox is tiny for such a huge car!

bootspace isnt really big for such a big car.

front pillars seem to be in a blindspot, ie too far forward.

windows put themselves up when you dont want them too when its raining!

 

few other things,mostly small things and tongue in cheak, but all taxi drivers moan anyway :)

 

I havent really had to do a lot to it, apart from a starter motor (theyre tiny btw)

and it likes to eat front tyres and headlamp bulbs but overall its a smart car.

 

 

 

thanks in advance for help with the faults

 

Mike

[Guest Unhappy Brian]

I had esp, depollution, traction control and lots more all fail together along with auto box stuck in 5th. Fault due to crack in fuseboard under bonnet causing intermittent supply fail to ecu. This thought car was stopped and shut everything down - despite travelling at 40mph. Switching off and on would reset fault until next time. wonderful cars

[Guest miked]

take the dual mass off altogether. get a 4 in 1 clutch kit we do it to ours and theres no diference to the car

cheers buddy

 

where would be the best to get one?

 

im not 100% sure it is the dual mass,could be a bearing, havent shown my dad it yet, you can feel it in the clutch pedal, whines in first and second gear. the clutch noise when car is still is like a rubbery squeelie noise.

[Guest shortcut]

Hi everyone,ive been having the same problem as everyone else,does anyone know if soaking the particulate filter in paraffin then washing out with warm water will be a easy way to clean it. many thanks

[Guest miked]

just an update on mine

 

its still sidelined as I havent got available cash to have it repaired.

 

if anyone wants to make me an offer for the car as it is I will consider any offers.

 

it still drives but has the flywheel starting to go

 

just before it went it passed its taxi test and had 6months mot put on it

 

its silver and is in excellent condition bodywise etc.