Guys,
Have a look at this. Haven't seen the car (belongs to a distant contact) but need to offer help. Have some ideas but don't want to lead you in a particular direction.
........In January 2001 I bought a new Xantia 2.0 HDI 110hp. The car when running OK is brilliant but there is a cloud on the horizon . We went to collect the car, and whilst we were being shown the ins and outs the car stopped and the engine management light came on , the car was taken back into the workshop . A little while later it re-appeared and we were told everything is OK now, but keep your eye on the dials ,
Over the next 8 months and 7500 miles the car has lost power on more than 20 occasions and has cut out completely on at least 8 occasions .
The car has been returned to the dealer twice on the back of a transporter and still no faults found .
The original dealer is no longer trading and the matter is now being dealt with by XXXXXX , who have not so far been able to cure the problem , despite fitting two new fuel pumps.
When connected to the diagnostic plug the machine reads no faults found.
There does not appear to be any pattern to the fault i.e.. it happens at different speeds and with or without the caravan on tow .
Citroen Customer Service are not very helpful , their attitude being if the machine shows no fault then there isn't one , also Citroen technical don't seem to have any answers .
This recurring problem is spoiling what I think is a very nice car ........
Some thoughts please.
Thanks,
David
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Intermittent faults suggest wiring problems. Have all the connectors been unconnected, checked forcorrosion, sprayed with WD40 and reconnected? Looking at the wiring has any been damaged by heat, vibration as loose, or pulled round very tight bends. If any clever microprocessor controller, is it properly heatsinked with conductive grease on back.
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I ask the question does it have a clima(AC)there is a fault which allows the electro brain box to think the car is over heating and cuts the fuel off and it is directed by a false signal in the clima circuit .This happened on my 99 xm 2.5 td,I not saying its the same fault but our french friends certainly no how to create problems ,But they are still wonderfull cars.
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David,
I would like to add my words of wisdom(?) here but in todays microprocessor controlled world, there's little to say.
I don't know the system in use here (Glad we converted the once Citroen-only fleet to MG Rover now!) but we have little or no problems with our Bosch VP44 based systems. (Only a few injection pump leaks!!)
Usually, any electrical problems usually stem from a connection problem. So as Andrew says, be sure to check ALL connections. But I'd hope that the Citroen dealer has done so!
To change the pump twice is a very expensive operation for Citroen!
I am due for a visit to my old friend at the local Bosch Service Centre in Exeter soon, I will ask him if he knows of anything.
I have watched them calibrating a V12 Diesel Fuel injection pump (train or lifeboat engine, I can't remember) on their £150K Bosch test rig - now that is something not to miss, believe me! What a piece of machinery - you wouldn't believe it!
Watch this space
Rgds
David
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David
I own an HDi (own money!) and wish I could help. I would tend to think that the contribution about connectors is close to the mark. Components may fail early in their life (infant mortality and "bath-tub curve" and all that) but some wiring I've seen looks quite stressed in some of its routing.
I wish I had a wiring diagram that showed just what sensors are connected to the ECU - then it might be possible to fathom out what might be happening. I read a thread somewhere (not even sure it was this site) that located a power loss fault to the fact that the brake lights were permanently on - apparently the ECU thought that as the driver was braking then why on earth would he need power?
One idiosyncracy I've noticed with the HDi is that if I stall it (clumsy driving, but it has happened) the engine won't restart unless the ignition has been switched off and then back on again (seems like a software reset to me).
Please keep us posted on this one.
Ian
p.s. I agree that the HDi's a great car.
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Aha - Citroens cutting out again! I am an expert on this and the answer is - nobody seems to know the answer (as I think David W. has found out, having rung Citroen)! Now I'm going all twitchy again, just thinking about it......must go and have a lie down.
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Carole,
Renind me of some key words so I can search for your previous comments. Was yours a Xsara?
David
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I received some welcome feedback from a technician on this today.
He had experienced similar problems with two Peugeot HDIs. Both cars had bad feed wiring to main relay next to ECU. He re-wired the feed to this relay instead of opening the loom. Problems solved.
I will pass this onto the Xantia guy and see if it could be the problem.
By the way I've found your car problems on search now Carole.
David
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Hi,
I have a 1999 HDi 110 bhp xantia estate bought 7 months old from a citroen dealer in April 2000. I took out and extra 1 years warrenty and was I glad I did.The car refused to start one morning and was recovered by citroen assist. The garage changed the double function relay next to the engine ECU. The car was returned 3 days later. However the same thing happened again, the car failed to start. recovered again this time they changed the fuel pump in the tank. Car retuned and yes you quessed it once more if failed to start. Recovered to dealer and there it stayed for 5 weeks over Christmas and New Year. No courtesy car as they and I became enemies.!!! Citroen Uk involved no joy No fault codes showing at all on their equipment.Finally they changed the engine ECU as they said the ECU thought the engine was running and there fore would not allow it to start. 25,000 miles now on the clock and I think any day now the fault will return as Citroen or the dealer could not offer any further information. If I win the lottery this car will be crushed in a spectacular way out side Citroen UK HQ.
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I recently bought a 2000 synergie HDI which has been disposed of by its first owner because of a similar tale of woe to yours. Every time it lost power it was going into limp mode until the engine was switched off. When restarted, however the engine management light was resetting and no faults had been found by several main agents I eventually found a hole in the intercooler which was allowing the pressure sensor to detect an intermittent low pressure reading and switch the brain into limp mode. As the pressure was hovering around the bottom of the acceptable range the brain considered it not worth remembering! I found the fault by measuring everything I could think of with a pressure gauge.
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