# 2008 Citroën DS - Gearbox question **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** transmissions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2020, 8:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592 "2020-09-29T08:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Robz42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Robz42](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robz42)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 8:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/1 "2020-09-29T08:31:44Z")
Replacement of gearbox it selects all gears when the box is out but not selecting 5th and reverse when the box is fitted in the vehicle, what could the problem be. on a Xsara Picasso 2.0 hdi ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/2 "2020-09-29T15:29:47Z")
Sorry, this is a US forum, folks here will not know much about a 2008 Citroen gearbox problem. Have you asked this on a Citroen forum? ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/3 "2020-09-29T15:38:23Z")
> [@Robz42](#): > > what could the problem be Maybe a problem with the shift linkage… my best guess based on very little information. What does “not selecting” mean? You can’t move the shift lever into 5th or reverse? Or the lever moves but the gear is not selected? Either way, the linkage is the place I’d look. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/4 "2020-09-29T16:25:17Z")
> [@texases](#): > > Sorry, this is a US forum, folks here will not know much about a 2008 Citroen gearbox problem. Have you asked this on a Citroen forum? +1 This may seem strange to the OP, but Citroen vehicles have not been sold in The US since 1974. Besides the gearbox, the chance of finding someone in The US who knows **anything** about the mechanical or electronic workings of that marque is… very unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/5 "2020-09-29T19:59:58Z")
I don’t think the Xsara Picasso is street-legal in the US. I can’t find a dealer in the US but I find articles about them planning to return. I think OP means that the gearbox works when not installed (I’m not sure that proves anything) but won’t go into 5th or reverse when installed. It could be badly installed or the gearbox could be bad. I hope that a forum in his/her home country could help. Citroën has no website in the US but this model has been manufactured in South America as well as Europe and the UK. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/6 "2020-09-29T20:48:00Z")
> [@RandomTroll](#): > > I don’t think the Xsara Picasso is street-legal in the US. The process of converting a foreign car that doesn’t comply with US safety/emissions standards so that it is “street legal” can be incredibly expensive, and is usually only done with cars like certain Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and the like. The cost of making a compact car like this little Citroen street legal in The US would likely amount to several times its book value. > [@RandomTroll](#): > > I can’t find a dealer in the US but I find articles about them planning to return. As I stated earlier, Citroen exited from the US marketplace in 1974, so–of course–you wouldn’t be able to find a US dealership for that marque. Later in the '70s, Peugeot bought-out the bankrupt Citroen firm, and their possible re-entry to the US marketplace would likely bring only the Peugeot-branded cars to our shores. However, the potential merger of Fiat-Chrysler with Peugeot’s _Group PSA_ (prostate-specific antigen? 😉) could produce some unexpected results. ---
**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/7 "2020-09-30T03:21:46Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > The process of converting a foreign car that doesn’t comply with US safety/emissions standards so that it is “street legal” can be incredibly expensive, Yes. I hadn’t thought that was in question. I drove a Mehari once, considered buying it. > [@VDCdriver](#): > > Citroen exited from the US marketplace in 1974, so–of course–you wouldn’t be able to find a US dealership for that marque. I could have sworn I read a message in this thread that someone was selling them in the US. I don’t see it now. The ‘big’ SM Maserati used to be the presidential limousine in France, perhaps still is. ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/8 "2020-09-30T04:21:43Z")
Is a manual transmission in a Citroen so unique that those replying to the OP can’t repair one? ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 6:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/9 "2020-09-30T06:04:34Z")
Uninspected results indeed. Chrysler Imported a Simca 4 cylinder model that I think was called the Adrone or something like that in 71 or so. They also tried to sell a larger model whose name escapes me but I thinl it was also called the 1500. The engine was a version of the 1937 Ford V\* 60 flathead and it was being sold at Chrysler dealers. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 11:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/10 "2020-09-30T11:43:35Z")
> [@oldtimer-11](#): > > Chrysler Imported a Simca 4 cylinder model that I think was called the Adrone or something like that in 71 or so. It was the _Aronde_, and that model wasn’t imported into The US. The Simca model that was imported into The US for a few years was the model 1000. I worked with a couple who owned a Simca 1000, and it was a disaster of unreliability and limited parts availability. Unbeknown to hubby, the wife drove the Simca to Manhattan several times and parked it with the key in the ignition, in the hope that it would be stolen. However, none of the city’s car thieves were foolish or desperate enough to steal a Simca. 😏 The Simca model that had a Ford V-8 was the _Vedette_, and to the best of my recollection, it was never sold in The US. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-citroen-ds-gearbox-question/170592/11 "2020-09-30T18:00:06Z")
The Aronde and Verdette were imported to the US. I had the decade wrong, it was 1957. They were competing with VW Beetles and the Renault Dauphin, and Hillman Minx I don’t know if they were in ported by Chrysler then, but I do know that they were on the showroom floor at our local Chrysler Plymouth dealer. I thought the Verdette was a nice looking car, but it was still small by US standards and using a flathead V8 60 engine in a new car was ridiculous. It was not even a good engine in 1937 and the only reason it was built was the Ford wanted a cheaper , more economical engine because of the depression and Henry hated 6 cylinder engines.