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Suspension Hydraulic Pump Failure and Removal. Just not my week ! |
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onthecut
 
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  Member No: #2793
Location: West Mids |
Having had to strip and rebuild the NS hub carrier and associated bits, got it all back together and set the height to normal. Nothing. Checked the maxi fuse -- blown. Fitted a replacement which blew instantly. I assumed that perhaps as the car had been canted over for a few days, any fluid that had found its way into the motor had pooled and was causing a dead short. Intermittently, the fuse has blown and intermittently there has been the odd curl of smoke from the motor, although several months may pass inbetween these things. No option but to remove the pump assy. and see what's what. First word of advice -- don't be in a hurry. First up -- reservoir removal. There are two fairly obvious nuts just by the bonnet weatherstrip -- and that concludes the hassle free bit. The forward section of the RH arch liner is undone. There's a push clip into the inner wing and another at the twelve o clock position of the wing arch. Then, a couple of screw fastening into the bumper edge. With a bit of persuasion, the liner can be teased out from the wing lip and allowed to lean down onto the disc. This gives access to the underside parts. There is a big (relative) bore return pipe to the underside of the reservoir; the clip is visible on the underside of the inner wing. Undo and remove the hose. This is the main draining of the reservoir, so have a container handy.While you are grovelling under the wing, there are two 10mm nuts to remove. The regulator sphere mounting has two brackets that run upward to the underside of the wing. You will see the nut securing the Lh one quite easily and access is no problem. The other one, however, is a complete !!*~~~^%%!! The RH one is almost completely shielded by the profile of the bracketry. Hopefully, you will have more nimble fingers than me, but if not, I found I had to -- remove the sphere; undo the nut securing a couple of the pipes to a bracket just to the right of the sphere and gently bend them out of the way, a little. Cut a 10mm spanner down to about 3 inches length and then do an inordinate amount of fiddling to get a fraction of a turn each time. Tried a proprietary 'S' shaped apanner, but just too big for the available space. Once you get this second nut off, that concludes the under wing work. (The nuts are on the bottom of the pump rubber spool mounts) Up top, you will now be able to move the reservoir sufficiently for the remaining pipes to be self evident. With the reservoir removed, there is a pipe clamp on the Lh frame to undo, near the chassis rail and another on the face of the frame, parallel to the chassis rail. You will need to carefully twist and manoeuvre the clip along the flexible feed pipe, positioned between the motor and valve block and then withdraw the pipe. Then, there is a high pressure output pipe low down, either side of the valve block. Luckily mine came out cleanly, with the seal in place on the end of each. (Green O ring) The ECU connector is like those found in the main fuse box -- the shape of the slide makes it self evident which way to move it and it then ejects itself. The smaller motor connector came out readily. The large motor connector has a locking piece. I am not sure how you are supposed to remove it, but I applied a little downward pressure to the visible edge of the locking part (White, on mine) and it simply slid out (downwards), allowing the plug to be removed. Lift the back of the pump, to clear the spool studs from the inner wing and then shimmy the pump toward the engine. The engine end mounts are a slide fit. It should now be free. I had hoped to simply find a build up of crud inside the motor when I removed the back cover. No such luck. While three of the brushes still look new, the fourth had pretty much disappeared and its carrier had separated from the backplate. Unsurprisingly, the comm is toast, as well. So again, the moral is to investigate sooner rather than later. I may well have saved it had I looked when it first started misbehaving. If anyone has a usable motor they would like to part with, I am, unsurprisingly, in the market. As far as I can see, the motor section is common across the relevant C5 as well. Merry Christmas ! Mike. |
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Tjensen
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   Member No: #954
Location: Bergen |
You have done admirable work! The pump motor is a weak spot. You should consider getting a new unit or at least the motor. They are expensive and with waiting time.... I was lucky, got a reconditioned one from Poland. and a Merry Christmas !! |
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onthecut
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Member No: #2793
Location: West Mids |
Thanks for your reply. The motor is an interesting issue -- there is plainly a PSA part number on the main sticker on the motor, which I guess relates to the motor itself -- yet the piece is not listed as a separate item. I did some digging regarding the 'Gate' manufacturer, who in fact are called Johnson Pumps, only to find their listed office for the UK is in Israel, so I'm guessing no aftermarket service ! Their main offering in the automotive market seems to be (or have been) radiator fan motors. Given that I have no issue with the performance of the suspension otherwise (at the moment  ) I don't feel inclined to pay what I imagine is a four figure sum to Mr. Citroen for a complete new assembly. Will hopefully find something serviceable on Ebay or at a local breaker and give the motor a good refurb before fitting.It occurs to me that if the motor is of the same family as a radiator fan, it must be designed for much longer duty cycles than it faces on our suspension pumps and really should have a very long life. As I noticed in my failed motor, three of the brushes still look almost new. I think when I get a replacement, I will look at drilling a drain hole in the casing, so that if any fluid does find its way in, it can then escape. Mike. |
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Tjensen
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Member No: #954
Location: Bergen |
I think you are right in your assumptions: The motor is the problem but may have another life coming if it is cleaned and checked. They do not "fail", but are starting to draw too much current as they get dirty and it is a small margin up to 40A. Many have done the motor job with good results. The expert at my garage believed that any C5/C6 pump motor would be OK. I got a whole new reconditioned unit for C6, but they had some problems getting it to work. Now OK for 1,5 years | ||
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speedfix
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 Member No: #1043
Location: south west |
Have not had probs on my cars so far however have had some for repairs carried out in the past. IMO once the pump stops working check the main 40a maxi fuse, if blown end of story as far the pump motor is concerned. Time to get a c5 replacement unit, plenty found at breakers for less than £100.00. Remove the C5 pump and control box from motor and fit the C6 pump etc to the C5 motor. Imo the motors are very good. Two main causes of motor failure are over filling the LDS tank that allows the LDS fluid to damage the motor. Another is the rear suspension dropping when parked caused in most cases by the firmness regulator failed allowing the over use of the pump motor that heats up with long pump running times up times.     |
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onthecut
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Member No: #2793
Location: West Mids |
Thanks for the input and photos guys. Hopefully get a decent used one to clean up before the week is out. Nice first photo --- I guess if you have a semi-Citroen it makes sense to take a proper one with you as well in case you get the urge to go for the full works ! Mike. |
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speedfix
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Member No: #1043
Location: south west |
Could of used this one but would be over the towing capacity!!!!!! BTW the cleaned up the old C6 motor is showing the failed armature segment etc. 
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