I've just bought a 1999 xsara 1.4i west coast

mugatea · Post by **mugatea** » 12 Nov 2006, 17:20

hi I've just joined the site. I sold my fiat cinquecento last week and bought myself a 1999 xsara 1.4 west coast on wednesday. It cost £650 and seems to be in mint condition. Its a great drive and really comfortable.

But there does seem to be some niggles that I'd very much appreciate anyones thoughts on, since I'm inexperienced with cars generally and citroens specifically.

The passenger airbag and standard airbag warning lights sometimes stay on and then disapear at other times.

Can I fix this or should I take it to get fixed or can i leave it?

While I was driving on the motorway today, I took the sliproad and stopped at some traffic lights. When I stopped the car began revving on its own from 2000 to 3000 revs then falling to 2000 and repeating for several minutes before settling down to normal idling.

Whats that about?

Also there was a small bit of oil on the engine. I took some photo's but there probably useless. My friends says its probably not serious but to spray it with wd40 to clean it cause it ould be just a spill. I've done that, but want any opinions if possible.

It was sprayed earlier that day with wd 40 so the wee bit of oil is gone.

thanks

jamie

mugatea · Post by **mugatea** » 13 Nov 2006, 12:32

I was speaking to a freiend today and he said the accelarator could be a coil, but he was just guessing. I've noticed that when you are speeding up and changing up the gears that it will rev slightly as you press the clutch. Not sure if thats normal or what.

Any ideas anyone?

Jamie

slim123 · Post by **slim123** » 13 Nov 2006, 14:36

Hi Jamie.

The revving up and down is possibly some dirt in the air intake, remove the plastic top from the throttle body housing, then give it a realy good clean with some carb cleaner, this can sometimes work wonders.

Air bag light, ????? Maybe someone else can shed some light.

Oily mess, unfortunatly you have bought a car with a leaking head gasket, not a big job to do, but on these engines it is a case of when you do it rather than if !! They all go here eventually, keep an eye on it and the oil level, if it starts to loose a lot and make a mess, then get yer hands in and change it.

Regards
Slim

mugatea · Post by **mugatea** » 13 Nov 2006, 16:23

thanks a lot, I'll give that a shot.

Jamie

drpau · Post by **drpau** » 13 Nov 2006, 19:30

With regard to the airbag light - very common on the Xsara - if you have moved the seat or if someone has plonked themselves down roughly on them my airbag light often comes on and flashes away there. Often if you get down and twidle the wires under the seats going to the seatbelt pre-tensioners the light will go out. Mines flashing at the minute but cant be bothered sticking my head down there....

mugatea · Post by **mugatea** » 14 Nov 2006, 14:34

excellent, thanks. I'll try that.

cheers

jamie

mugatea · Post by **mugatea** » 15 Nov 2006, 11:14

ok I'm gonna try to get some carb cleaner today. Now I've done some research and found that the problem with idling could very well be the stepper motor. There are near identical cases on this site of the problem I've got. Now it seems that maybe just a clean of this motor could solve my problem.

So can anyone tell me where the stepper motor for an old model xsara? (Please be exact)

What do I clean it with?

jamie

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 15 Nov 2006, 11:17

Does your car have a throtle potentiometer? If it does the track may have worn through.

Some postings on here on Throttle potentiometers - sometimes they can be cleaned.

mugatea · Post by **mugatea** » 15 Nov 2006, 11:54

wow, have never even heard of that. I dont know, I'm afraid.

Jamie

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 15 Nov 2006, 13:11

Throttle potentiometer is the business end of 'fly by wire throttles' - if there is no physical conection between the pedal and the fuel injection - you've got one. Worth looking at - may even be a loose connection. I expect there is a normal bowden type cable running from the pedal to it.

mugatea · Post by **mugatea** » 15 Nov 2006, 17:44

ok it all seems to be getting too complicated for me and I really dont know anything about cars.

Something happened today tho. When I came of the motorway and was at teh lights I pulled off once they were green and and it became jolty as all the power disapeared and came back and then it got jolty. I think it stopped revving too when I pressed the accelerator. I had music on and panicked and couldnt switch it off so I cant be totally sure. Anyway, I just managed to pull over with the car giving me only enough power to bascily crawl. A few minutes later I moved on and had no problems with the power again. How odd, eh?

I'm sure its all related. Does this give anyone any ideas?

Jamie