Anyone got a Citroen? Turns out what we thought was a loud firework going off at 2 am was actually the nearside front suspension spring spontaneosly self-destructing! This is a common fault with these cars apparently and there was a recall on some of the older cars. We have had the car for a year, it is an '06 and having contacted Citroen it wasn't part of the recall. From what I can gather the recall was to fit new cups to prevent the spring slicing through the tyre rather than solving the dodgy spring problem. People in France have died with spring failures on Berlingos.

Long and the short. Car is out of warranty. Do I pay £78 for local Citroen garage to look at it and report to Citroen hoping to get a good will gesture repair - some owners have had this. Or do I accept this is unlikely and just get the repair done somewhere nearer to me and hopefully cheaper.

 

It's common on all makes of vehicle these days. Suspension components are no longer over engineered which saves the manufacturer a lot of cash in the long run. So add one or two british winters and all the salt the springs rust and then a small crack appears which will finally snap at some point.

Unless the car is still under warranty you'll have to pay to get the spring replaced.

 

Time to get some coilovers

 

Bloody Hell. I have already heard form Citroen! I e-mailed them via their UK website about an hour and a half ago asking if they would consider contributing to a repair as this is a well known fault. They have telephoned me and are going to cover the full cost of replacing springs on both sides at the front. Blimey, they must just want to deal with these dodgy springs with the minimum of fuss and publicity. French Government got involved over the channel as accidents and deaths were caused.

 

Result

 

This happened on my ex's 52 reg C3 too whilst being driven. Luckily it only happened at low speed as just pulled off. The coil spring had snapped and you could see the rusty end where it had been broken for sometime as a piece fell onto the road. ****roen also arranged to cover all the costs due to a recall which I think you'll find listed on VOSA. It went with such force the car could not be moved, it smashed the plastic arch liner and they replaced that too after a fight. They also replaced the lip spoiler as the car dropped so much it got damaged winching it on the recovery truck they sent out. They fitted 2 new complete front legs. They didn't want to know a few months later when the balljoint needed replacing on same side that collapsed though. IMHO it was down to the amount of force it suffered in the spring failure. Had to buy that and get it fitted by my Scooby mechanic as the main dealer wanted silly money.
It seems they would rather cover the claim when they fail than recall all the cars that may suffer the dangerous issues.
The car spent many trips to the dealer with many problems. Another one to be careful of which might be OK on your later car is the fuel injectors. Water from the underside of the washerjets drip directly on to the injector knackering it up. ****roen fixed it once in warranty then it failed again outside warranty, same number injector. They didn't want to cover it although main stealer told me it was a known fault and they had even now issued a Technical Bulletin to supply modified injectors and washerjets. After a long massive fight I think they did cover it. P/x'd the car not longer after for a Honda, much more reliable. Pity I couldn't do the same with the ex !!

Think I've still got photos of the damage if intersted.

 

That is scary. That was my thinking, what if it happened whilst driving! Our car practically has its chin on the floor. As far as I can understand it they did a small redesign fitting retention cups to prevent the broken spring smashing through the arch and tyre when it goes rather than solve the problem of the springs. Apart from this the car has been fine....so far.

 

This happened on my old 406, fortunately as Jenny was pulling into a parking space! It took out the tyre when it went. Common fault on 406's apparently.

 

If it had happened whilst doing 70 on the motorway in the outside lane I dread to think of what might have been the outcome. Car couldn't be steered nor driven, tyre didn't blow perhaps just due to low speed. It would have either been hit up the rear hard or blow the tyre and spun, doesn't bear thinking about.

 

My wife has had her C3 since it was 6 months old. It's a 2003 on a 52 plate. It's on front spring No.7 now. The first 3 were done under warranty and the retaining cups were fitted when the third spring was fitted. It's quite scary, but the car doesn't do many miles at the moment and the cups seem to do their job quite well. Before the cups went in, it was a recovery truck home.
I'm paranoid about them now and they get checked by myself on a regular basis.
The local garage round the corner fitted spring no.5, unfortunately they fitted it upside down! I've no idea how, as the strut assembly looked like a banana and the ride on one side was high!
I fixed that, after the garage in question went bust.
On the plus side,I can fit a front spring in 1.5 hours now on the drive! Practice makes perfect.

 

I wouldnt dick about with dealers, mine went on my Saab, not catastrophic but a chunk fell off and it would have failed an MOT, ordered some Eibach springs and fitted those instead. Honestly its easy just to crack out the spanners if you have half a clue and Haynes manual, the Eibachs are miles better and not heard of any cracking. Suspension is dead simple and there are guides on the forums, you will need a socket set, trolley jack, spring compressors and some spanners, doddle.

 

Apparently damage quite bad and has also knacked the ABS! Citroen covering it. It seems our car despite being a 2006 didn't have the suspension upgrades.

 

MGCVK thank you so much for posting this. The OSF spring went on my partners C3 on Sunday and were it not for you post I would never have contemplated contacting Citroen. As it is everything is being pursued through warranty and we should have the car back by Friday. Times are tough at the moment (I have been housebound since July following a nasty bike accident) and you have made them a little easier. I hope you find a tenner on the street, I really do. Thanks again, James

 

The French should be giving these away to the Mali terrorists by the sound of it! A couple of weeks of that and our boys can just go in and mop up..

 

I have had no problems with my C3 but it's the new version and doesn't suffer this issue

Ps broke a spring on my astra h, mercs are supposed to be really bad for this

 

One went on my lad's Corsa C. My neighbour, who is a bit of a mechanic, and his son, who IS a mechanic said it was common. He changed both for me at his workplace for under £60.