Gear box problems

[renagade]

Hi guy's
Well Monday morning came along and I went to reverse the car off the drive, would not select reverse gear and came up with the warning I had a gear box fault. I took the near side wheel arch lining out and sure enough the oil tank for the gear box actuator's was empty. 2011 1.6 egs6 e-hdi by the way. First mistake was to order of e-bay the actuator oil @ 10.77 agains Citroen 30 quid all for a litre. Wed .came and so does my actuator oil so outside filled the little tank and started the engine and then as the oil dropped filled the tank to the top level mark.I put the car back together ( by the way THE pipe was wet with oil ) and went my merry way down the road to my Citroen garage with the car not missing a beat and the auto gear change so smooooooth. Well about a mile into my journey I had to stop at the traffic lights and then that was when the fun began. The engine cut out (stop start system) and the gear indicator was tell me I was still in gear no 5.
To cut a long story short Citroen came and transported me back to the garage. I booked the car in for a computer check and was told that Citroen had done a recall for that car ( timing belt and pulley ) so that was to be done. Computer check came back telling them that the car had been run in a dry position and that more that likely the actuator's were up the spout.
I was sick at thinking of a bill of 1800 quid but the guy who is doing the job said he was going to fit a new pipe fill the system up with Citroen oil and was quite convinced that would cure the problem.
The moral of this story is, make sure IF you have the same problem to fill with the Citroen oil and no the e-bay oil.I am hoping to get my car back this weekend.

[ekjdm14]

Hang on, from what you say it's the fact the actuators ran dry of oil & not the fact you used ebay oil that is your issue? And there is a pipe that caused the leak in the first place.

Surely one would think in this situation the ebay oil is not at fault, unless there's something I missed in the post?

[GiveMeABreak]

There have been a lot of posts about Auto box oils and sticking rigidly to the known approved types - but not much has been mentioned on the hydraulic oil for the actuators on the EGS system. Fingers crossed they solve it for you and fair play to the dealer for trying to help you out, where many would probably want to replace the whole thing! Not all main dealers are stealers thankfully.

[RichardW]

This listing: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-Peuge ... 2038680376 implies that the Petronas stuff is the 'genine' article without the excessive Citroen mark up. How true that is I don't know! Seems more likely low oil level was the problem....

[ekjdm14]

Good point on the Citroen dealer, may be worth naming them if they're a good one. I'm sure they'd appreciate a mention on this site & possible extra trade that may bring.

[demag]

Does it have to be bled? I would also think dry actuators and not the new oil.

Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Tapatalk

[renagade]

Hi Guy's
I was taking my wife to work and started the engine to find reverse gear would not hold in and would slip back to nuteral after trying a number of times switched off the engine.
It went like this. I pulled the wheel arch protector and found the tank ( for the oil ) was below the bottom line so I rang Citroen and was given a price for the one litre of oil at 30 quid so me being tight look up the oil on eBay and reading the notes at the bottom of the advert thought I will get some of this at £10.77 plus £7 for dell. The said oil arrived a day early so I was out on the drive like a shot and filled the tank to the top and started the engine and the oil level dropped 1/2 inch and then two great big bubbles of air came up and then I topped it off. Replaced the wheel arch liner and reversed of the drive and went for a ride. I must say I did think that the pipe was leaking so I had decided while I was out to go to Evanshalshaw Doncaster to order the pipe. About 3/4 of a mile into my drive I had to stop at the traffic lights near Tesco on Thorne road ( stop start system on my car ) so I noticed that the gear indicator on the dash was showing the car had stoped in 5th gear. I pressed the brake peddle ( you need to do this to start the car engine ) and turned the key and all I got was sweet f a ,only a bing bong from the dash and a message to say Gear Box damaged needs Citroen Attention. The rest of the story you will know about. Citroen did call to day and told me the cam belt and water pump ( paid for by Citroen as a recall ) was nearly done and they were just waiting on the pipe and then they would start and drain the oil and refill with Citroen oil. Having read the post by the guy at the top of this page I hope it is not a problem with the actuators as that will be big money. £1800.00 plus fitting.

[van ordinaire]

No, I'm not sure I'm following this at all. The lack of drive (if only in reverse) was due to loss of oil. Refilling it with a budget product solved the immediate problem - but caused another.
I hope I'm proved wrong 'cos I can't see how changing the brand will make any difference. Fact is, Citroen don't make oil, so that could be anybody's (although I'd hazard a guess at Total) so no magic there, save it should ensure it's the right spec. - & THAT is what's important!

[renagade]

I don't know the procedure ,I thought just filling the tank with the correct level of oil would do the trick but I am informed on another thread (c4 piccaso egs6 ) that after you fill the tank you need lexia to bleed the system ,what does the team think. Citroen have just phoned me to say the lexia that they have is now tell them it is the actuators that are at fault and it would cost me all in £1650.00. I carn't tell you how sick my wife is.

[ekjdm14]

Hmm, I don't know. I'm still hopeful that there may just be air entrained in the system due to running empty (and possibly also entering through damaged pipe, or maybe pressure loss through the same?) and if there is some bleed through procedure possible for the actuators then I would have to at least replace the pipe, fill with fresh genuine oil and attempt a thorough bleeding before condemning the actuators.

Assuming they were in good condition prior to the fault/s, I can't see how less than a mile of driving can have killed them off even if the oil were of the wrong spec. Not being familiar with how the system works, could they have been damaged previously by the low oil level maybe though?

For the price of new actuators, I have to believe it's worth someone looking into how they fail and what (if anything) can be done to repair/refurbish them. I'm sure if they're fixable there'd be some kind of demand for them if they could undercut new prices by a few hundred quid!

If anyone has some dead EGS actuators lying about the place, I'd quite like to take a look myself TBH.

[van ordinaire]

Absolutement! With you on all points. It would be crazy not to see what affect bleeding has AND not to explore alternatives to replacing the actuators - at Citroen prices.

[renagade]

Well Guy's . latest update from Citroen is that the actuators are (-expletive removed-). Bill so far is £2209.55p not bad for as they say putting the wrong oil into the gear actuator pump. A load of bollocks but they have my car in pieces on the ramp, what can I do now.They said they had filled with correct fluid and lowered car and it went into gear forwards and backwards ten times so they put it on the ramp to fit the underbody panel and when they lowered it to the ground it would not go forwards or backwards. The actuators will take over a week to get to them.

[GiveMeABreak]

Really sorry to hear that - you're stuck in a situation now, with little option at this point apart from walking away from it. I will never buy a vehicle with this type of system - not much comfort I know. I had to have my Auto box rebuilt on the XM after it failed - clutch packs I think, but the whole rebuild cost me a £1000. £2.2k just for the actuators so far is criminal... Are they saying it is down to the oil you bought on the bay?

[renagade]

I have sent this message to the e-Bay seller.
I thought I would tell you that I used the actuator Oil I bought from you and according to Citroen Doncaster it is the wrong oil for the actuator use and I now have a £2209.55 bill for a damaged gear box all through putting the oil you sold me. This is Citroens findings not mine.
Thank You.
Yes Citroen have looked at the container and tested the oil and say that the oil is the cause of the damaged actuators. Now have to wait a week for Citroen to get the parts delivered from France.
By the way did I tell every body I still like my C5 X7.
If only I could afford a Lexia I might have been able to call their . ( Citroen) bluff.

[GiveMeABreak]

I think there is a valuable lesson here for others regarding types of oils. I've put a link to the recommended oils here: There are 2 types depending on the Actuator types MCP / MTA or DCT (near the bottom of the guide):
https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/wiki/C ... arbox_Oils