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Suspension problems

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smihaialex   
Mon Oct 21 2013, 09:46pm
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
...and today I finally understood why...

You see, when the pump stops working, it cannot presurize the suspension circuit any longer, but the existing pressure is not lost instantly. This is why, for the remaining couple of miles between where the pump died and my home, the car felt absolutely fine. However, during the night, the system depresurized completely, causing the car to lower and the suspension to feel hard as hell.

Anyways, ordered the HP pump unit today, directly from Citroen (after what I have invested so far in their business, they were kind enough to give me a 10% discount on parts, and a 15% on labour) It should arrive on Friday, and get installed and set-up on Monday...

Now, the only question that remains is: will there be any other collateral damage?!? Should I expect the spheres or struts to have been damaged by the loss of pressure (and me having to drive the car like that to the service shop)?!?

Thank you,
Sam

PS: @Steve, it's funny that you keep your car's temperature in Celsius... I used to keep my Citroens' language set to French (you know cause it's a French car and everything), but I gave that up, because everything just sounds better in English However, I might just get back to it - maybe that will keep my car happier and it won't break down in the future
smihaialex   
Mon Oct 28 2013, 05:21pm
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
Finally, tomorrow my brand new pump & connecting pipe will arrive and they'll start working on getting my car back on its wheels

Keep you posted on the developments,
Sam
verycleverman   
Mon Oct 28 2013, 11:24pm
Joined: Mar 08 2010
Member No: #65
Location: Northumberland
smihaialex wrote ...

PS: @Steve, it's funny that you keep your car's temperature in Celsius...


What's funny about using Celsius? Only the occasional Weather Presenter, people who are firmly rooted in the past and feel unable to move on and US Citizens use Fahrenheit. Personally, I can only relate to Celsius - and I'm 61 years old!

Pete.
gmerry   
Tue Oct 29 2013, 08:21am
Joined: Dec 11 2009
Member No: #21
Location: Scotland
My C6 is firmly in the Celcius reporting camp: warning for ice kicks in at 4 degrees and we all know water freezes at zero.

Regards
G
magicands   
Tue Oct 29 2013, 12:55pm
Joined: Sep 13 2012
Member No: #1021
Location: Coventry, Warwickshire
Yep, I am in Celsius as well......thought it was the norm??
Website
smihaialex   
Tue Oct 29 2013, 05:37pm
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
Ha, I didn't know that, my bad...

My appologies to you all for presuming that you'd use F instead of C

Cheers,
Sam
smihaialex   
Wed Oct 30 2013, 05:49pm
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
Hey guys,

Got news from the service shop today - they took out the old HP pump and confirmed that it was fried, but...

...and there's a big BUT here...

- How big?
- Oh, about €2,500. That big!

...it seems that when it got fried, it also took the connector on the cable with it, and, that's a cable that runs across the full length of the car connecting various stuff along the way, and it's worth €2,500 as an OE replacement

I honestly don't know how I am going to pull this one off, I never felt like crying through my past car troubles with the C6, before, but now, I just don't know...

Any ideas?!?

Thank you,
Sammy
C6Dave   
Wed Oct 30 2013, 07:04pm

Joined: Oct 01 2009
Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland
Why can't an auto electrician replace the connector/add cable?

Citroen do a cable repair/splicing Tech Doc........ - Click Here -

It's got to be far cheaper than replacing a whole harness Sam
Website
smihaialex   
Wed Oct 30 2013, 08:44pm
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
Thank you Dave,

That's what they're gonna try to do, but it's only possible if they find a replacement connector...

There's gotta be an identical or at least similar connector somewhere on a cheaper part, or something. Fingers crossed

Cheerios,
Sam
speedfix   
Wed Oct 30 2013, 11:25pm
Joined: Sep 28 2012
Member No: #1043
Location: south west
A long shot but it may be worth giving this a try: - Click Here -
Do they know wether the pump siezed first or the motor?
C6Dave   
Thu Oct 31 2013, 09:14am

Joined: Oct 01 2009
Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland
speedfix wrote ...

A long shot but it may be worth giving this a try: - Click Here -
Do they know wether the pump siezed first or the motor?

Or cut one off a 407/C5 Hydraulic harness in a breakers yard.....
Website
gmerry   
Thu Oct 31 2013, 09:59am
Joined: Dec 11 2009
Member No: #21
Location: Scotland
Hi Sam, post a photo of the connector - not all PSA connectors are proprietary , some are industry connectors available from the aftermarket. I have had pretty good dealings with a UK company called Simtek who sometimes have in stock a large range of recycled connectors. Also how many pins does your connector have? any coax or shielding?
smihaialex   
Thu Oct 31 2013, 12:29pm
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
Hey speedfix - I thought of them instantly and I will send them my old pump, maybe it can be reconditioned

Hey Dave - thought of that, but unfortunately there are not many beakers yards in Romania and the few ones that do exist have no hydraulic C5 nor a C6 ATM, but I will keep looking There was a front-banged 2.7 HDi Exclusive for sale at about 2500 EUR with everything still on it a couple of months ago, and had I known then what was going to happen, I would have surely given it a more serious thought

Hey G - I will go there this evening and take some pictures and possibly even take the old pump home and then I'll post back.

Thank you soo much,
Sam


smihaialex   
Sat Nov 02 2013, 12:49pm
Joined: Sep 18 2012
Member No: #1031
Location: Bucharest
Hey guys,

Sorry for updating you later than I've anticipated.

Good news is that I found a C6 2.7 HDi some 180 miles from Bucharest, called them and they sent me the cut off connectors that I need.

I've included a picture below...



In the picture you can see that the grey safety latch on the big connector is broken, but hopefully, I can replace it with the on on my old connector...

I also asked George, an experienced Electrical Engineer and good friend of mine, if he might give me a clue as to why this happened - why did my pump and connector burn out, and why didn't the fuse go out?!

His explanation was simple, logical and made total sense to me - he told me that the pump didn't burn out and take the connector with it, but in fact it was the other way around - a small short circuit happened inside the connector, most likely caused by moisture or some other form of electricly conducting dust or debris. The short circuit itself was local - big enough to kill the pump, but small enough not to register with the upstream 40A fuse.

I asked him if regular maintenance of that connector with an electrical connection spray would be a good idea, in order to prevent this from happening in the future.

He was reluctant to give me a thumbs up on my idea. On the one hand, he said that some form of maintenance should definitely be performed, given the serious implications - 1,000€ pump + 2,500€ harness. Something like a light dusting off, spray with canned air to evict moisture, but he would advise against using connection spray because the pins are too close together and, depending on its quality, the connector fluid itself might act as a base for a new short circuit...

Bottomline - check you connectors regularly, but be mindful of what products you use for electrical conditioning.

Cheers,
Sam

PS: if you need anything from a C6, shoot and I'll call the guy and see if they have it or not. They had just gotten the car so most of the stuff is still on it (FYI, shipping from Romania to the UK is 20-75€, depending on the package size and weight for packages up to 20lbs., so you can factor that in)...
josok   
Sun Nov 03 2013, 02:30am
Joined: Mar 07 2013
Member No: #1222
Location: Ukonjärventie 141 99800 Ivalo
Strange opinion, or not the right connector- or connector cleaner spray.
First i would like to stress that any connector has to be properly cleaned before opening. Natural behaviour for any engine part, but not for electrical stuff.

Then spray it with proper contact oil NOT WD40 or the like. You may use so much that it will squeze out on reassembling.

The reasoning behind this is that the spraying the oil in will blow out the dirt that got in anyhow, it will clean the contacts, it will prevent air from forming oxide on the contacts, it will reduce the amount of air in the contact, and so prevention sucking water in on the temperature and baromatric cycle.

Proper oil has a higher insulation factor then air, while it dissapates heat better then air. High voltage transformers are filled with oil.

Contacts burn because normal currents over a poor contact generate heat on a very small spot. Contact go bad because of dirt, bending, and oxidation. Never try to "clean" connectors by scratching with anything hard.

You will remove the very thin gold layer that protects the contacts surface from oxidation.

Never wriggle connectors. You will forcible destroy the fine tuning of the springs that prevent bad contacts.
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