Page 1 of 3
ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 3:51 pm
by waue1978
Driving back home from the school run this afternoon I came back via the dual carriageway (A303) to avoid traffic. Coming off of the dual carriageway near my house is a wide downhill bend that's usually taken at 50ish mph. As I was straightening up there was a beep & I look down & find the handbrake light & the little picture of a skidding car (which I assume is the ABS light) were on. Didn't want to test if the ABS was working with the kids in the car, so will check on the way to work.
Got home, put the kids inside, went out & started it up again & I still got the beep & both lights on.
So now it's got to pay a visit to the garage - again! That's it now, enough is enough. With all the money, care & attention that I've put into this car over the past 20 months this is what I get in return. I'll get whatever this is fixed & it'll be up for sale again. Checked Auto Trader today & the cheapest 110 HDi estate with under 100k is £1995, so it shouldn't be too hard to sell if I price it under that by a few hundred.
Of course the problem now is, what to replace it with. Really did like the idea of a C5 2.2, but after the Peugeot letting me down, I'm not too sure if I should be putting much faith in one of those either.
Really pi**ed off now.
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:12 pm
by omega
oh dear oh dear
but you know it is a 10 year old car so you have to expect the odd fault or two.
but il tell you what as its got all these faults and its a old car il come down at the weekend give you 100 pounds and take it away for you.this way you wont have any troubles no more and you have some cash to celabrate the end of your troubles
no thanks are needed.
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:53 pm
by lozz
Ah feck what is it with french cars
been driving the picasso about today, its been like driving a snail
only noticed after getting out of the car the Cloud of Black dust burning off the Hubs,
the back brakes are seized on,
so much for Mots, it only passed its mot a few days ago and already im thinking the Mot tester Missed a few things,

Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:01 am
by lozz
Your not alone with the French gremlins waue,
Had a run to the shops before, heard a clunk and then a ping,
had a nosey under the car, theres no droplink on the Nsf

theres just the ball parts left,
so its a case of whats left to go wrong,
so far heres the list of fails,
: driverside window Mech cable decided to snap,
: air bag lights come on,
: spare wheel -under the car gone missing!! asdas carpark,
: the missing droplink.
: tensioner on aux belt as gone noisey,
:Handbrake cable seized, now freed off, thank feck!
ive not had the car aweek!
perhaps the list will be a bit longer by the end of the month.. ihopes not.
oh and the mrs snapped the spare key in the drivers door lock,

Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 9:36 am
by waue1978
omega wrote:oh dear oh dear
but you know it is a 10 year old car so you have to expect the odd fault or two.
but il tell you what as its got all these faults and its a old car il come down at the weekend give you 100 pounds and take it away for you.this way you wont have any troubles no more and you have some cash to celabrate the end of your troubles
no thanks are needed.
Thanks for the kind offer, but I wouldn't have enough for the replacement then Nige.
lozz wrote:Your not alone with the French gremlins waue,
Had a run to the shops before, heard a clunk and then a ping,
had a nosey under the car, theres no droplink on the Nsf

theres just the ball parts left,
so its a case of whats left to go wrong,
so far heres the list of fails,
: driverside window Mech cable decided to snap,
: air bag lights come on,
: spare wheel -under the car gone missing!! asdas carpark,
: the missing droplink.
: tensioner on aux belt as gone noisey,
:Handbrake cable seized, now freed off, thank feck!
ive not had the car aweek!
perhaps the list will be a bit longer by the end of the month.. ihopes not.
oh and the mrs snapped the spare key in the drivers door lock,

I reckon it's where the French spend so much time on strike or complaining. Give it a few years & if they don't buck up, Renault & PSA could go the same way as British Leyland did. It's not as if we could put that much blame on the age of the car as Disco's C5 is giving him grief before it's even made it's 1st birthday.
Mine decided to behave last night. Started it up to go to work & go the ABS FAULT message on the MFD & the warning lights on the dash, but halfway there the lights went out again & haven't come back on (yet). Reckon it must've heard what I was saying to the wife about it when she came in.
It can be dealt with in 1 of 2 ways. I could treat it like a petulant child that's had a fortune spent on it & the greedy little basket still wants more, and spank it's ar*e, or it can be looked on in the same way as an old horse that's broken it's leg & is getting a 1-way ticket to the glue factory...
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:59 pm
by lozz
Glad to hear the car is Behaving waue,
if it does it again, Snap a Branch off a Tree and Give it a Damn good thrashing!
(Just like he did, er whats he called, man with Faulty Hotel,)

Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:00 pm
by Doggy
The name's Cleese, John Cleese.
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:03 pm
by lozz
dogslife wrote:The name's Cleese, John Cleese.
Aye thats the Fella,

Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:39 pm
by waue1978
It hasn't won itself a reprieve yet though.
Still very serious about replacing it with something that can have cruise control & a bit more power along with more parking dent resistant body panels. The C5 2.2 is still favourite (as for some reason they don't seem to pick up the door dents as readily as Peugeots), but the dramas Disco is having with his brand new one are really starting to make me wonder if I should go back to a Zafira or Mondeo.
The main thing that steers me to the Citroen is the possibility of getting 180bhp & deFAPped - not a certainty as Doggy reckons that the 180 file may not be compatible with a Citroen, but even if it isn't, the pros could probably do it easily enough. As long as I don't get one with a worn DMF as the vibration would do my head in. Getting a TDCi Mondeo remapped would probably be asking for trouble from the injectors & DMF, & the Zafira only has 105bhp to start with.
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:44 pm
by lozz
the c5 looks awesome,
iwas looking at this last night.
http://info.citroen.co.uk/assets/pdf/ne ... ochure.pdf
But that hydro spension system sort of puts me off,
is this easy to repair if it goes pete tong

Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:53 pm
by waue1978
Funnily enough, I looked into it a bit the other day & found this:
From
http://irishcar.com/citroenc5suspbb.htm
Citroën has always been known as an innovator, devising technology and cars well ahead of their time. Sometimes this backfired, particularly in terms of its famous hydraulic suspension systems.
“Nothing but trouble,” they would be dismissed by mechanics (the guys who preceded ‘service technicians’), mainly because they themselves couldn’t take the trouble to learn about the systems with the funny balls at each wheel.
That the essential idea was a good one is shown by how the company persevered with it, continued to refine and develop it, and in its Hydractive 3 form underpinning the new flagship C5 have something still unique, elegant, and so reliable that it only needs servicing every five years.
What makes it work so well now is the advent of sophisticated electronics and enhanced hydraulics, which allows the system to react much faster and much more precisely to running conditions. In-car computerised management systems these days can almost anticipate upcoming bumps and irregularities from the minute instant reactions of a driver’s foot on the accelerator, using the so-called ‘fuzzy logic’ by which modern automatic transmissions ‘learn’ an individual driver’s characteristics.
Anyway, they’ve produced what they call a Built-in Hydraulic Interface as the heart of the latest Hydractive suspension. Along with a few other tweaks, this means that the C5 has automatic height adjustment which does its thing while taking cognisance of a number of different conditions, including vehicle speed and road surface.
If the roads are fairly level, the car is maintained at a normal ride height up to around 65mph. Any faster, provided the road is still good, and the ride height is lowered so that the car is aerodynamically more stable and fuel efficient. But if the BHI senses that the roads are bumpy, by the kind of movement the suspension is making, it raises the car’s height, increasing clearance without compromising handling or comfort.
If the driver is engaged in ‘sporty’ driving, the system also senses this and firms up the suspension as required. This setting can also be selected manually with a switch, though comfort is still maintained during more restrained driving periods.
Of course, the latest Hydractive 3 system also keeps the car constantly level, regardless of load.
Citroën put their money where their hydraulic spheres are. They guarantee that the system under normal use will not need any service for 200,000 kilometres. Compare that to a standard suspension system, where many components really should be replaced in about half that distance.
Disgruntled mechanics will be even less gruntled, with that bit less to complain about.
The only thing that worries me a little is that it is computer controlled - imagine how much a new "brain" will cost - but it seems that most cars are now anyway.
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:58 pm
by lozz
The suspension system on them dosent inspire me,
why Did they bring this back out
Yes its Uber comfy but,
when it goes wrong is it like the old ones where you wouid loose, brakes steering and clutch as its all looped?
irember borowing a citreon and it and the suspension failed brakes went etc,
this is whats putting me off,
other than that next summer, id be trading the picasso in on one,
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:06 pm
by waue1978
Not sure if it's still all looped, but if it sets your mind at ease, there are a lot more complaints about electrical gremlins than there are about suspension faults if you search online.
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:13 pm
by lozz
ive been having a look up on them waue,
theres not much mention of fails,
Tbh im just trying to work out wether the new set up is the same as the old,
if it is iwill avoid one,
Re: ABS & Handbrake Light - the last straw!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:19 pm
by DiscoPol
lozz wrote:The suspension system on them dosent inspire me,
why Did they bring this back out
Yes its Uber comfy but,
when it goes wrong is it like the old ones where you wouid loose, brakes steering and clutch as its all looped?
irember borowing a citreon and it and the suspension failed brakes went etc,
this is whats putting me off,
other than that next summer, id be trading the picasso in on one,
I can categorically say that if the suspension fails everything else still works, been there got the t-shirt, I think when it's working the hydractive 3 suspension is world class, even on the autobahn pushing 150mph (240kmh) it was rock solid and stable with no noticeable wander or air buffeting in actual fact it was a lot more stable and comfortable than an 8 year old 7 series BMW with all new suspension components that had only been fitted 2 months earlier.As for speed humps, what speed humps, bumpy roads? jack it up another few inches.
As for being the same set up as the old one, well no it isnt
this one is called
Hydractive 3 , see completely different
As for the BHI (Body Hydraulic Interface) Im terrified of that going pop, you just know its gonna be pricey.