Hi,

I bought a Citroen Picasso a few weeks ago and all this week I've been trying to fit a secondhand Tow Trust TC638 towbar to the car. It bolts on ok, but something is hitting it when the car is on the move as there's a knocking noise coming from the rear, strangely after a few minutes of driving - maybe when the engines warmed up etc

So I called up Tow Trust and they thought the problem could be that my exhaust silencer is not a genuine Citroen part and as such it maybe a different size ie longer and thats touching the towbar bracket/mounting metalwork when the cars is on the move.

So could anyone that owns a Citroen Picasso 1.8 petrol with a towbar fitted please help me .. are you there Rob

I'd like to compare my recently fitted towbar to someones elses .. the gap between the rear exhaust silencer and the closest metalwork is approxiamtely only half an inch ...

Do others have only half an inch clearance gap between their silencers or more?


I hate working on cars

Cheers

I get a knocking noise every now and then Glenn, is it more when you take sharp turns or the likes?
Its probably the exhaust as i only got mine after having a new one fitted.
Been driving it like that for a good year or so and it doesnt affect anything apart from the volume of the radio
Apart from that, how are you liking it?
Im replacing mine this year for a newer one. Dunno if i should stick with the petrol or go for the diesel jobby. We'll see but i love the car, even if it is French

'I get a knocking noise every now and then Glenn, is it more when you take sharp turns or the likes? '

Oh its a case of 'they all do that sir' eh

Well mine get progressively worse, occurs more often the longer its driven, it occurs:
Going over speed bumps even at a snails pace
Going round right hand corners, which makes sense as silencer moves towards brackets on the left side ... turning right happens alot in mk with the round abouts
Sharp braking and accelerating
Sometimes after 'throttling off/foot off accelerator pedal
Sometimes just pulling away normally ..

'Been driving it like that for a good year or so and it doesnt affect anything apart from the volume of the radio '
Uhmmm mine sounds like someone is locked in the boot and wants to get out

Apart from this, its a really good car, spacious, easy to drive and economical - 36mpg on a run down to bude the other week, so cant complain, only minor niggle is the front offside window/bodywork slightly obscures your vision sometimes and you have to move your body so see 'round it'.


Diesels are meant to be even better with 50+mpg but I'm unsure on long term ownership benefits of diesels versus petrol when privately owned, have you seen the good reviews of the picasso at:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=64&

Well I couldnt sortout the knocking noise from the silencer, here's a pic to show how close the large round silencer part is close the the double brackets and nuts and bolts ... Rob maybe if you get a chance you could take a peek under your Picasso to see if this looks normal?





At least it worked as I managed to pickup a new bike today, see other post

I'll have a look tomorrow Glenn but if mines banging a bit it well be hard to see if its normal or not. Well have a nose to compare notes though

Oh, revelation. Dawn picked my car up last time it had a service and apparently it could be a dry joint somewhere in the steering. Wish i'd gone now so it was a bit clearer.

Cheers Rob

Well what do you know ... my towbar doesn't knock anymore, I cured it by getting an angle grinder on the two bolt together flat sections near the silencer and removing quite alot of metal, and bolting it backup again.

I've still got to wire it up, fix my Elefant up (throttle cables, wire up rear lights, sort the gearing) and fix a bathroom or two ... should be finished in time for Xmas

Nice one Glenn, sorry i didnt get round to sorting out what mine was, bit forgetful lately with a lot going on.
Had new wheel bearings all over my car now but thats all in what, 3 and a half years of hammering, towing etc etc. Cant ever see me getting rid of this car until it packs up completely. Brilliant for everything i do.

No worries Rob. Yeh they are a good, I just need to wire up the towbar and it'll be ready for towing xyz? to the Beacons Rally.