Suspension CITROËN C3 Picasso

Had exactly this on my wife’s C3 Picasso 2010 1.6 HDi VTR+ at about 92k miles when I did springs and bearings. The top mount is not symmetrical, so it will sit “wrong” if you spin it 180 degrees. On ours the mount had a little locating peg and an offset in the rubber, and that offset has to match the way the strut sits in the knuckle. Easiest tell, with the strut out on the floor, line up the spring seat and the drop link bracket on the strut, then offer the mount on top and you’ll see only one position where the stud pattern looks natural and the rubber offset doesn’t look twisted. If you fit it wrong you usually get weird steering return or a groan/knock on turns.
Also check for a small notch or protrusion on the mount that’s meant to line up with a hole or recess in the turret. I marked mine with tippex before removal and it saved loads of swearing on refit 😅

@GaRy_A when you say “locating peg”, is that the little nipple on the rubber ring, and does it point to the wing side or towards the engine?

@GaRy_A I’m doing the same job on a 2011 one soon, did you have to rotate the bearing/top plate once it’s in the turret to find the locating hole, or is it obvious straight away?

i messed this up once on a peugeot with similar setup and it sat in but steering felt notchy. on the picasso is there an arrow marking on the mount itself or is it all just peg and hole guessing?

@tom_smith on mine the “nipple” ended up towards the inner wing side, not towards the engine, and the three studs then sat square in the turret holes without forcing it. if i flipped it, one stud looked like it wanted to pull sideways when tightening, so i stopped and turned it back.

@tom_smith yeah that’s the bit i mean, the little protrusion in the rubber and the mount is offset. On ours it ended up on the wing side, and the whole mount sat slightly off-centre in the turret hole by design. If it’s centred perfectly you’re probably 180 out.

Another trick if you still have the old one, put the new mount next to it on the bench in the same orientation as removed. The studs pattern is the giveaway, one stud is slightly “not where you expect” so you can mirror it. I took a quick photo before stripping, saved me later.

@ian.edwards yep you often have to rotate it a few degrees when the strut is hanging to get the peg to drop into its recess. I used a jack under the hub to raise the strut a touch, then it “clicked” into place and the studs stopped fighting me.

i’d say don’t tighten the top 3 nuts fully until the bottom clamp is seated and the mount is located. if you tighten first you can trap it wrong and it’ll squeak like mad when turning.

Had a knock after doing both fronts on my C3 Picasso, turned out one top mount bearing was rotated wrong and the spring end wasn’t sitting against the stop in the spring seat. Sounded like a top mount but was actually spring twisting. Worth checking the spring tail is sat in the pocket before blaming mount orientation.

@grace.rob.12 good shout, mine was same. if the spring end isn’t in the stop it loads the bearing weird and you think the mount is wrong way round.

@michael_brown7 are you doing driver side or passenger side, and is it the whole top mount with bearing or just rubber? some kits look identical but the offset is still there.

@jack.t +1, leave it loose then bounce the hub a bit and turn steering lock to lock, it settles. only then torque up. did that on my old c3 and it stopped the creak 👍

i know it sounds daft but if you look from above, the mount studs should sit relaxed in the turret holes. if you have to lever the strut to make studs appear, it’s wrong orientation. when it’s right it basically falls into place.

@ian.edwards when i did mine i used a paint pen and marked mount to body before undoing anything. if you already took it apart, compare the other side if it’s untouched, just mirror the position.

@GaRy_A nice one cheers, mine was trying to sit dead centre which felt wrong, i’ll flip it so the offset is towards the wing and see if the studs stop pulling sideways.

@Emily.B.Online that makes sense, i’ll try the jack under hub trick, last time i fought it with a pry bar and it was horrible.

@michael_brown7 if you get a pic of the mount and turret from above, post it, usually you can spot the locating hole and the “odd” stud position straight away.