| C4 - DS4 Owners :: Forums :: C4 Picasso and Grand Picasso - PRE 2013 only :: C4 Picasso Problems and issues |
<< Previous thread | Next thread >>
|
C4GP Self levelling suspension not coming up and I am limited to 5 mph |
    Please Register to enjoy additional Member Benefits |
|
Top Thanked Forum Posts: Today | Week | Month | Year | All time | Most Thanks Given: To member | By user
|
| Author | Post | ||||
jls483
 
|
|
||||
  Member No: #11966
Joined: Jan 05 2010Location: Salisbury |
From time to time I will get into the car and the driver side rear will stay low on the wheels rather than coming up to working height. I can hear a hiss, as if air is escaping, and a grunting noise at the same time and I get message saying don't think about driving more than 5 mph. I can normally resolve things by switching on and off but I'm worried that something is about to fail. Can anybody advise me exactly what the problem is so that my local garage can fix it rather than going to a dealer. Also, does anyone know the approximate cost? Should we fix now with only an intermittent problem or wait until it is really broken? Many thanks, John |
||||
|
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Dave_Retired.
|
|
||||
   Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006Location: Northumberland |
It sounds very much like one of the rear pneumatic air bags is failing and is becoming quite common at the 3 year mark. There are several posts on the issue. They start failing intermittently then get progressively worse until they fail altogether It's best to get id done now and change both sides as the other will surely follow and you don't want recovery charges added to the bill I would approach a dealer and see if they can get Citroen to make a contribution to the replacement, if you don't ask you will never know. Search for a post by Neilos on the subject as he was one of he first to have the issue. Premier Members can buy the parts at a discount and get a local garage to replace them. I'll add the Citroen guide on how to replace them if I can tomorrow (can't do it earlier I'm afraid) |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|||||
|
jls483
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #11966
Joined: Jan 05 2010Location: Salisbury |
Thanks very much for the response. I've read a lot of the other threads on the subject. Does sound like a common problem. I also have an exclusive 2 litre diesel, launch model with all the bells and whistles. Warranty ran out on 1st Jan 2010. I will go to the dealer first and see if they will do it at a special rate. Any idea what the a pair of bags will cost for premier members (is that definitely what I need) and the amount of labour involved. I'll then know how much it will cost me through my local garage and give the dealer a maximum I'm prepared to pay. Many thanks, John. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Dave_Retired.
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006Location: Northumberland |
Insurgent wrote ... Hi, I have seen other threads on this same issue, however I thought I would explain mine with a few pictures: Its just under 3 years old, 20000 miles and this happens: Broken down and on the back of a recovery truck:  The dreaded warning:  Very important advisory:  Daylight reveals the damage:  I have gathered from the other posts that this is a known fault, does anyone know how long and easy is it to fix? Your feedback would be much appreciated. Well do you want the good news or the great news? The part number for the suspension bags was 5102R8 and they used to cost £161.19 inc Vat @17.5% Each However, they have just been superseded with part number 5102GN Time to change one at a dealer, around 30 minutes, so get it done at a local dealer and you will get a 12 month warranty and it should cost around £100 for one to be changed including labour Change instructions and parts list diagrams are in downloads: - Click Here - EDIT: added 'Insurgent's' post from another thread for clarification. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|||||
|
jls483
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #11966
Joined: Jan 05 2010Location: Salisbury |
Quick update. Dealer: Won't do anything without an £86 diagnostic test. Don't think it's a common problem can't guarantee we'll get any money back from Citroen for you. Bring it in we'll charge you £80 an hour to fix it and full whack for the parts - £400? You can then hope to get some back. Phoned Citroen. Friendly, helpful but in a nutshell not a common problem as far as we are concerned you have to go through a dealer. Independent garage: Not sure if we can do it for you. We won't know how to reset any fault codes etc. Current plan is go with an independent and hopefully get it for £200 with no chance of getting anything back. The premier page says e-mail or call with your order, but doesn't give an e-mail address or phone number. Can we return the parts if it turns out the diagnosis is wrong? Do you have a part number and a price for a new key (the three button fancy one)? Many thanks, John. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Dave_Retired.
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006Location: Northumberland |
That's the Retail Price for the revised part number 5102GN. Your not going to get a great discount on parts at that level probably 10% and the contact details re on this page: - Click Here - (but you need to be logged in) Does your local dealer not know about the revised part number and reduced price? Personally I would try another dealer. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
jls483
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #11966
Joined: Jan 05 2010Location: Salisbury |
Okay - here's an update. I took C6 Dave's advice and tried another Dealer. There is a dealer about 45 minutes away (marlborough) that has had an excellent review on c4owners and they were very friendly on the phone. However when I offered to fill them in on what I had learnt from c4owners.org all I got was "chuckle chuckle with the greatest respect sir we're not interested in internet website speculation we are only interested in the technical expertise of citroen blah de blah. Consequently I've ended up paying them £43.80 for them to diagnose what they wouldn't let me tell them over the phone. They were also about to charge me for the 5102R8 but by being persistent I was able to persuade them that the part had been subseded and to use the cheaper part instead. That's over a £100 saved - thanks chaps. Sadly the citroen estimate for how long it will take is 1.3 hours not 0.5 hours and they weren't going to budge on that. So £114 of labour will need to be forked out. However Citroen also reckon it will take 1.3 hours to replace both of them so I'm having that done at the same time. Don't want the same thing to happen in a month's time and have to pay £44 to be told what I already know and another 1.3 hours of labour! So all in all a reasonable result - thank you for everybodies help. John. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
kojolaing
|
|
||||
|
|
Ok guys, so the dreaded fault has happened to me yesterday On my way to visit family in Yorkshire when the car started bouncing voilently over every bump. I stopped and realised she was sitting flat on the ground - that was the end of our journey. I have been getting warnings over the last four months, (suspension fault - at first no symptoms but then started lowering overnight). I even took it to Eddie Grimstead with a suspension fault (during warranty) but got the frustrating "no fault found there" reply. Now they are charging £90 for a diagnostic plus any repairs which I will have to pay for since I ran out of warranty in Oct. BTW I did take it to them before warranty ran out, but their reply when I spoke to them yesterday was "it's highly unlikely Citroen will make any contribution since we found no fault when you brought it in last." So now I'm seriously thinking of replacing the bags myself, since there are part numbers and fitting guides on here, and I just don't have that sort of money sitting around just now (just after xmas...) Looking at the guide on here, is there any more detail available please? For ex, it says to 'de-pressurize the pneumatic system' but doesn't say how. I am pretty confident with carrying out repairs but haven't done this sort before... If there is any help available please let me know - need to get back on the road asap... Thanks! |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Dave_Retired.
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006Location: Northumberland |
kojolaing wrote ... ....................Looking at the guide on here, is there any more detail available please? For ex, it says to 'de-pressurize the pneumatic system' but doesn't say how. I am pretty confident with carrying out repairs but haven't done this sort before... If there is any help available please let me know - need to get back on the road asap... Thanks! Unfortunately, the guide is the official Citroen one which points technicians to de pressurize using Lexi/Proxia and that's all I have available for now (I don't have Lexia) How important (or necessary) that is, I don't know. Worst case, you undo the pipes slowlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy (like old British Leyland Hydro Elastic) and deflate the system, replace the parts and once complete, if it doesn't blow back up, take it to a Dealer to complete the process (been there before with old Austin 1800's etc.) It will still cost a lot less than letting them do it all. Having said all that, as you complained during warranty, there should be a record, so approach Citroen UK, explain the history and ASK if they are prepared to assist. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|||||
|
bluehdi
|
|
||||
 Member No: #2617
Joined: Mar 02 2008Location: Essex |
I may be wrong but checking it appears that Citroen have an Inforapid bulletin outlining how to deal with this problem, although I don't know if its exactly the same as owners have been experiencing, given it stores a particular fault code which only Citroen dealers will be able to see. It is certainly listed as a possible symptom against my VIN: It is titled 'Lighting of the service warning lamp, with alert message "pneumatic suspension faulty" - in presence of fault code C1621' Given now the real increase in people posting with this problem, particularly on Exclusive's 3 years or more old, I will definately be taking out the 2 year Citroen extended warranty on my car in April on the basis that it should cover this problem! |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|||||
|
neilos
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #209
Joined: Apr 05 2007Location: West London |
Yes, the warranty definitely covers this fault. The problem being that as its an intermittent fault it wont necessarily show when you take it in to the dealer and it can be hard to pin down exactly what the problem is if everything is working fine at that particular moment! When mine did this, I took a couple of photos of it so the dealer couldn't argue. Neil |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
kojolaing
|
|
||||
|
|
Anyone know where I can get the tools and plugs listed in the guide, namely: [1] 4 mm diameter pneumatic circuit pipes uncoupling tool (-).1001-A [2] Set of plugs for pneumatic suspension circuit (-).1002 . Also, my dealer quotes me £90 for a diagnostic check, is this normal? I've seen earlier on this thread someone quoting about half that amount? Does it differ by dealer? Just trying to decide whether it's worth the hassle trying to do this myself - buying tools and software won't be cheap... on the other hand these will no doubt be useful later on Thoughts / comments appreciated |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Dave_Retired.
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006Location: Northumberland |
kojolaing wrote ... .........Also, my dealer quotes me £90 for a diagnostic check, is this normal? I've seen earlier on this thread someone quoting about half that amount? Does it differ by dealer? Yes it does vary by dealer as they charge different hourly labour rates plus some have a minimum charge of 1/2 an hour where some have a minimum of 1 hour Whether or not the tools are strictly necessary, I can't really say. It may be possible to create or modify any existing bit of kit to do the job. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
jls483
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #11966
Joined: Jan 05 2010Location: Salisbury |
My first dealer wanted an hour so I gave up on him and then found one that did it for half an hour. You could also try saying to the dealer I know what the fault is. You can charge me up to a quarter of an hour to confirm it. And as I've shown make sure they charge for the cheap part not the older expensive one. The other advantage of going through a dealer is the chance that Citroen will admit that all Exclusives have the problem and they will pay for it | ||||
|
|
|
||||
|
neilos
|
|
||||
|
Member No: #209
Joined: Apr 05 2007Location: West London |
jls483 wrote ... The other advantage of going through a dealer is the chance that Citroen will admit that all Exclusives have the problem and they will pay for it It would be great if a recall was issued but I'm not sure what the criteria are for that. Not sure Citroen will pay if its out of warranty.....in warranty, absolutely yes, but most are happening when the car is out of the three year period. Neil |
||||
|
|
|
||||
Go to page >>
|
|
 User Colour Key:Head Administrator, Administrator, Forum Moderator, Forum Moderator, Premier Member, Technical Expert, New C4 and DS4 Forum Moderators, Member |
|
Site Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy |Contact Details | Car Warranty | Sitemap | RSS Feeds | C4 Insurance | Tutorials | Quick Facts | Used Car Guide | Re Call Info | Offers | Service Reviews | Technical Documents | Error Codes
Theme by e107wORks© 
With Graphics from: Dave Forum Icons by Axialis Emotes by Seb
