The following maintenance works carried out on Maudette:

• Software update and suspensions
• new battery
• new front tires and wheel alignment
• oil change

Software update and suspensions

This was a long standing problem, we bought the car with this issue. While driving, the Suspension Faulty error message popped randomly on the screen, and we had 2 errors diagnosed with the tool:

C1184 – Reference heights not programmed
C1195 – Front axle average movement

On bumpy roads, the car once in a while switched to “uncomfortable ride mode”, you know to like “normal suspension” 😀

We decided to carry out this repair at a Citroen garage.

These are the bits that were replaced in the car. The set is for the 2 front wheels.

Note: I found a picture and a part number for one of the brackets that I will keep here as a reference, because surely we will need it in the future for Xavier,  it has the exact same error message popping up.

New Battery

We changed the battery  on Maudette, the old one was a little bit weak.

A Varta Silver Dynamic H3 , 6004020833162, 12V 100Ah 830A

New front tires and wheel alignment

Xavier’s front tires are in bad shape, so we figured to get 2 new wheels for Maudette end donate the ones we take off  to Xavier. After all, Xavier is driven very little, mostly to be tested or stored. When close inspection, the insides of the tires were fairly chewed off.

Later we found out, that due to the weight, this cars have a tendency to be misaligned quite fast. So regular visits and do small re alignments will be carried out. I don’t understand yot about this, so probably the next thing I need to read about after I finished with the oils :)))

Oil Change

I formed a passion for oils lately 😀 meh… nah, I wouldn’t call it that… but spent some time figuring out what oil to put in this car.  I will write a very lengthy philosophical essay from the informaticians point of view about the oils for the C6, so be sure to check back if you are bored with your life… and look to see more ways to be bored about.

Anyhow… after very (very) long debate (mostly with myself ) where I managed to drive insane my husband and anybody who was willing to listen my rants about the oils, I decided to go with 5W40/ Acea C3 / API CF / oils and based on our usage of this car, with oil interval changes around 10.000km, because of our driving mode/pattern. Our manual clearly lists 5W40 as an option and suggests an A3/B4 (but the C3 is lower SAPS and better for the FAP) and figured a higher temperature rated oil will be better choice because of where we live.

This decision was not made lightly, and it comes with all the disclaimers to: I write down here what I use for my car and what happens with it, after all it’s my personal journal for the car,  but I am not in any position to call myself an expert on the matters. I don’t pretend to know what everything means in the very voluminous documentation I gathered about oils, in fact, I am in the middle of “what the hell, I don’t understand nothing ” phase now.

Anyway I think this is enough about oils for now…  While it seems utter boring, it’s actually a very interesting field, and it changed so much in the last 15 years, that it’s actually incredible!  The whole reason I started digging  was to understand what the numbers on the labels mean, and to be able to choose wisely the oil without falling for some shady marketing term that means nothing.  And from there, I was down in the rabbit hole…