C5 power issue yet again or still

S

shanadoo

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Fellow Frogger
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brisbane Au
In the C5 this morning headed for north coast. Warmed up the engine as per usual before starting off. Seemed ok but got about 20 min down the highway and turned around, couldn't put up with that damn power loss. It would never climb the range if I'd kept going. It struggled with pedal to the metal just to climb the slightest incline. It's an embarrassment on the road.

Open to offers on this vehicle, got good set of mags reasonable body and other stuff.
 
shanadoo said:
In the C5 this morning headed for north coast. Warmed up the engine as per usual before starting off. Seemed ok but got about 20 min down the highway and turned around, couldn't put up with that damn power loss. It would never climb the range if I'd kept going. It struggled with pedal to the metal just to climb the slightest incline. It's an embarrassment on the road.

Open to offers on this vehicle, got good set of mags reasonable body and other stuff.
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Ours is on the hit list too Tony, as of yesterday I have a coolant leak which appears to be a hose low at the rear of the block - damned If I can see how to get access.

Yours Carless. . . :cry:

Cheers
Chris
 
shanadoo said:
In the C5 this morning headed for north coast. Warmed up the engine as per usual before starting off. Seemed ok but got about 20 min down the highway and turned around, couldn't put up with that damn power loss. It would never climb the range if I'd kept going. It struggled with pedal to the metal just to climb the slightest incline. It's an embarrassment on the road.

Open to offers on this vehicle, got good set of mags reasonable body and other stuff.
Click to expand...

Sorry Tony, I know nothing about diesels. I've heard the turbo vanes can wear out and need replacement, and I think you said yours was a series 1.. so could be at that stage... see what the Lexia sugggests as a possible fault.. Good luck..
 
GreenBlood said:
Ours is on the hit list too Tony, as of yesterday I have a coolant leak which appears to be a hose low at the rear of the block - damned If I can see how to get access.

Yours Carless. . . :cry:

Cheers
Chris
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Hi Chris, if you put it up on ramps and get under it you might get a better idea, and better /possible access... good luck..
 
George 1/8th said:
Hi Chris, if you put it up on ramps and get under it you might get a better idea, and better /possible access... good luck..
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Thanks George,
Sort of done that, I can't even get my hand to the suspect hose, looks like you would have to drop the subframe - I think I'm over it. . .

Cheers
Chris
 
Insure and burn....

If they are consistently reliable, you can forgive the odd glitch. Otherwise, if not almost 100% dependable, for my money it has to be a seriously good classic, like a CX, and best if it is a second or third car to park for as long as needed to be in the mood to fix it......

Gee, bad luck in the Xmas break. Hope both are solved or burned quickly. :)
 
GreenBlood said:
Ours is on the hit list too Tony, as of yesterday I have a coolant leak which appears to be a hose low at the rear of the block - damned If I can see how to get access.

Yours Carless. . . :cry:

Cheers
Chris
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One way is to undo the engine mount center bolts, disconnect the 2 stabilizer links, the top rad and lower turbo hose, then roll the motor to gain access. Bitch of of a thing, but if you need another pair of paws, or any gear for safety just give us a ring.

Chris, if you need wheels the Xsara is spare at the present time, quite welcome. I've got the son's commodore here long term if I need it. Cheers Tony

PS you won't get much of a roll because the exhaust will stop it, just arm clearance, but it may help. Rolled mine over to remove the intake manifold a few years ago, that was a bitch.
 
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George 1/8th said:
Sorry Tony, I know nothing about diesels. I've heard the turbo vanes can wear out and need replacement, and I think you said yours was a series 1.. so could be at that stage... see what the Lexia sugggests as a possible fault.. Good luck..
Click to expand...

Thanks George 1/8th, the turbo was working just fine according to last parameter readout. But good thought. Luck I need. Cheers.
 
shanadoo said:
One way is to undo the engine mount center bolts, disconnect the 2 stabilizer links, the top rad and lower turbo hose, then roll the motor to gain access. Bitch of of a thing, but if you need another pair of paws, or any gear for safety just give us a ring.

Chris, if you need wheels the Xsara is spare at the present time, quite welcome. I've got the son's commodore here long term if I need it. Cheers Tony

PS you won't get much of a roll because the exhaust will stop it, just arm clearance, but it may help. Rolled mine over to remove the intake manifold a few years ago, that was a bitch.
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Might take you up on the Xsara offer at some stage Tony, I don't have a phone number for you so will send a PM :wink2:

Cheers
Chris
 
Not sure it's the same issue but my previous c5 (2003 2l hid) had the same symptoms after I sold it to a mate and the fault was in the MAF sensor. Replaced it with one from a wreck and all was OK. It was on the forum some time ago.
 
GreenBlood said:
Might take you up on the Xsara offer at some stage Tony, I don't have a phone number for you so will send a PM :wink2:

Cheers
Chris
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Thank you Tony and your lovely daughter for keeping us mobile :headbang:

Have to say it, the Xsara is a very nice little car to drive and much improved since I saw it last :cool:

Cheers
Chris
 
Thanks tasie C5 for input,
I had replaced MAF, got new from China, didn't trust it, very cheaply made, so also got one from a wreck. Still the same problem. However as of last week the thing's decided to sometimes run on after it's turned off, even after quickly removing the key. Idling like a petrol engine but around 300rpm.
Rule out running on breather fumes, its PCV valve breathes to atmosphere not back to inlet where it could reduce the life of the turbo and foul up the intercooler. Cheers.
 
How old is the pump in the tank? Similar symptoms in a family member's early HDi was a failing pump. Idled OK, but lacked power and could not proceed. The manual gives minimum delivery specs for testing and I expect you could replace just the pump (generic?) rather than the entire tank unit.

The running on issue seems odd. Leaky injector or excess residue in the intake???
 
Thanks Davis S, about pump, it's original and the pressure as tested is fine, but thinking about that, sufficient pressure doesn't necessarily mean sufficient volume, seeing as how a high percentage of any drawn fuel is returned back to the tank. So I'll look into that issue.
Run on is new, infrequent, don't want to know about it at this time, but now I miss having a clutch so I can stall the engine. We Humans are never satisfied. Cheers.
 
shanadoo said:
In the C5 this morning headed for north coast. Warmed up the engine as per usual before starting off. Seemed ok but got about 20 min down the highway and turned around, couldn't put up with that damn power loss. It would never climb the range if I'd kept going. It struggled with pedal to the metal just to climb the slightest incline. It's an embarrassment on the road.
Click to expand...

What model is this? When you start the car first off, is it normal, and then goes into limp mode later?
If you stop the engine for a few minutes, does it go back to normal for a while?

My c5 2.0 hdi sometimes does these things, and when it does there is a message on the screen saying dpf system faulty.
I find that if you keep the car in a low gear, and floor it for a while, the fault clears itself. In Cars like mine with 6 speed gearboxes, the exhaust gases never get hot enough to burn all the soot, so it builds up, and blocks the filter, and the computer shuts back the fueling.
The high revs in low gear for a few miles will raise the gas temperature and burn off the soot.
The fault I have is caused by soot build up in the depolution filter before the cat converter. You can remove the filter and clean it out with compressed air, or stem cleaning.
 
To smiffy1071
Its a '04 model Al4 box 2ltr sohc and no tree hugger exhaust. Originally there was no power for the first few minutes after a cold start, after that it would come in with a rush if I kept the foot down. But it would stay fine once it was warm. Now-a-days it looses power at odd moments hot or cold and it might stay that way or it might not, there's no pattern to it. Key off and restart has no effect. Sometimes it even drops power suddenly after stopping at traffic lights. Pretty bloody dangerous. Gearbox works as well as expected considering there's no torque so the changes are speed related rather than power induced. But once power is restored it goes very well, no fault warning and no gearbox default mode.
However as soon as I get re-motivated I am going to look at the muffler, loose baffle maybe. Perplexing it is so I'm off for a nana nap. Cheers.
 
Hi Tony, that must be really annoying at best and extremely dangerous at it's worst. I think these C5s would be great cars if we removed the engines and gearboxes completely and went all Electric. Plenty of room for batteries and small powerful electric motors such as the Tesla electric motors.
There should be a conversion kit out there which puts one electric motor on each wheel. We have solar panels so I won't even entertain that old and stupid argument that recharging your car produces just as much greenhouse gas as the petrol would.

You might have a blocked off exhaust pipe. A local guy around here ( Aspendale I think) had a C5 which needed the cat replaced because it was TOTALLY blocked off. I'm sure if that is possible in any car, it could also be possible in a diesel, and would hold things back somewhat. Good luck..
 
Well I'm back [do I hear groans?] Tank pump checks out fine, pressure good, flow rate into bucket excellent, that's best test I could do.
Made injector leak back test kit, rough as bags but it's only used for a minute or so. Scrap wood, a few nails, rubber bands, travel bottles an some plastic tube. Total cost $4, including bloody mark ups and of course that damn GST, where will it all end.

Shot of test shows leak back fuel after 90sec, all even, but had to run it that long to get enough for a pic. Very good result. Rule out injectors.

Other pics are from my controlled environment dust free work space. Cheers
 
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I know lightning doesn't strike the same place twice - no reason why you should have the same fault as someone else - but on my Xantia (Turbo CT) I had the internals of a catalytic converter break up and travel down the exhaust pipe! Largest chunk was found between the resonator & rear muffler - ie a long way from the cat!

Effect was (naturally) a serious loss of power when the wretched thing was lodged somewhere, then OK when it shifted again. There was no external leak, and I can't say I remember much change in the sound of the exhaust. Needless to say it ran a lot better with it's rebuilt, free-flowing, exhaust system :D.

Cheers

Alec

PS - same vehicle (at a different time) had a blocked strainer under the in-tank fuel pump, but this didn't affect performance much while the engine was running - problem was that the ECU didn't like the lean mixture & would cut fuel/spark :confused: - anyway engine would cut out, requiring me to switch off ignition. However it was always fine after restart - until I tried to climb a hill, or pass someone, at which point it would cut out again :mad:.

OK I know - only similarity is the chevron badge, but vehicle age would have been similar, and both are the kind of problems that could happen to any vehicle with an infernal combustion engine!
 
Armidillo I wish it were the exhaust, I've seen that happen many times before. Exhaust on the C5 is different though and of one piece, also it's a 2003/4 diesel without a converter and no fertilizer in the tank.
Once power is on call it runs well. I am not discounting the exhaust, I just keep teling myself it's ok. But I know I'll have to check it, I just need a push to get under and remove it. Cheers
 
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