Citroen C5 HDI on a 02 plate

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Pirate
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Citroen C5 HDI on a 02 plate

Post by Pirate »

I brought this car back in December which seems to have loads of silly little faults.
It started with the handbrake problem mentioned in other posts
Anyways the problem I have now is the car starts fine I pull away but when I lift off the accelerator to change gear the engine will then only rev up to 1600 RPM. so I then leave it running and after about 5 minutes it will pick up & run fine for the rest of the journey, if I park up for 2 hours I have the same problem.
I dont know if this is a coincidence but the last twice I put diesel in (£20:00 worth) then the problem clears for a few days.

Since Ive Had The car Ive had a particular error come up for a few minutes then disapear.

I dont use the car much and when I do its very short journeys other than the odd Holiday, Ive been told that i was a bad choice of car for the amount of driving I do, but I thought that it would be a good car to tow my caravan.
any suggestions? I've never had a diesel motor before so I have no idea of what things to look for and no money to pay a garage to suss it out.

Thanks for Reading

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Post by myglaren »

I have a similar problem with mine and there are others like it and also with a C8 and a Pug HD1.

There is more about it in one of my threads but I think mine stems from losing a wheel arch liner and sucking up water/sand/grit/w.h.y. during the winter and wrecking the MAF. Also an air leak somewhere.

I can set off and it is fine for a mile then the "Antipollution Fault" comes up on the display and the revs are limited to <3000 and the boost doesn't come in until>3000 revs - so not at all :(

After a few miles this will clear and the car run fine. It is also rather slow to start despite a new battery and I feel that this is a part of it too.

I reckon your first job is to check and clean the MAF.

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Post by Pirate »

Thanks myglaren I will give that a try and then let you know how it goes

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Post by Citroenmad »

Is yours a 2.0 HDi or 2.2 HDI?
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Re: Citroën C5 HDI on a 02 plate

Post by cachaciero »

Pirate wrote:I brought this car back in December which seems to have loads of silly little faults.
It started with the handbrake problem mentioned in other posts
Anyways the problem I have now is the car starts fine I pull away but when I lift off the accelerator to change gear the engine will then only rev up to 1600 RPM. so I then leave it running and after about 5 minutes it will pick up & run fine for the rest of the journey, if I park up for 2 hours I have the same problem.
I dont know if this is a coincidence but the last twice I put diesel in (£20:00 worth) then the problem clears for a few days.

Since Ive Had The car Ive had a particular error come up for a few minutes then disapear.
What particular error?
I do wonder if you have a problem with air getting in on the low pressure side of the fuel system or maybe a problem with the lift pump in the tank, both of which may be influenced by the higher fuel head when you take on fuel.

cachaciero
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Post by Pirate »

Sorry for the late reply myglaren Citroenmad & cachaciero

Citroenmad: Its the 2.2 HDI

cachaciero: Is there any way of checking the low pressure side of the fuel system or the lift pump in the tank
In the last week i have had various errors come up
"esp / something not working
Anti polution fault
particular filter error
plus the yellow icon on the dash that looks like an engine and the sevice light
but they are all clear today.

myglaren: I removed the maf and gave it a good spray with carb cleaner
but still have the problem with low revs after starting for 5 minutes or so I have no idea on checking the maf though.

Could it be water in the fuel filter?

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Post by myglaren »

Pirate wrote: Could it be water in the fuel filter?
I would think it unlikely but there is a drain cock on the bottom of the filter.
It's a bit of a squeeze but try and get a container (the never-fail jam jar) under the filter, open the cock and allow some diesel to drain out - you may have to either open the lid or detach a pipe to allow this to happen.
Check the jam jar for any evidence of contamination.
Look out for very fine metal particles!

To remove the lift pump, lift the rear seat squab, passenger side.
Remove the plastic disc from the exposed floor.
remove the various wires and pipes from the tank plug, secure them with cable ties or string.
Using a suitable tool - either the side of a large screwdriver - or some make a wooden tool specifically for this - gently remove the locking ring - work round the lugs in turn so as not to damage or distort it, it can be quite tight.
Lift the plug and carefully extract the pump/sender/strainer module and check/clean it as necessary - it can be very clogged up with quite unpleasant gunk.
Petrol is quite a good cleaner for this job.
As per Mr Haynes, replacement is the opposite of removal.
Take care not to stress the module which can be a bit tricky to remove and replace.


You say that it is used mainly for short infrequent trips.
A good blast down a motorway - about 100 miles all told - can work wonders, run it for at least five minutes at 4,000 revs - third gear will most likely be needed. Also if you have some decent hills, really boot it uphill a few times.

If you continue to have problems it could be worthwhile contacting one of our Lexia owners and have them run a diagnostic.
Paul (citroenxm) did mine on Saturday and revealed quite a few faults.
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Post by Pirate »

Thanks myglaren I will give the fuel filter a try and then the lift pump, Im hopeing to go away for a weeks holiday soon so with a bit of luck that might blow the cobwebs out of it.
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Post by Pirate »

Another thing thats strange is after starting then driving away and then the drop in revs down to 1600rpm if I then switch off and restart it will rev properly for a while before the revs dropping again even if I turn off and back on while im moving so there seems to be enough fuel there, its like a choke coming in for a while sometimes I can hear a click like a relay just as it starts to pick up.

sorry to babble on im just trying to give as much info as I can

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Post by cachaciero »

The ESP/ASR message comes up when the Injection ECU detects an engine damaging condition this is also usually associated with the engine going into LIMP mode i.e a max rev limit of 2k rpm which it sounds as yours does. There can be many reasons for this usually fuel or turbo related.

It really does seem to me that you need the injection ECU read with a Lexia both to see what error codes are set also to check such things as fuel, air pressures /flows etc.

cachaciero
2006 Toyota Prius T Spirit
2001 2.2 C5 Exclusive SE
1996 XM 2.1 TD Auto VSX
1995 XM 2.1 TD Auto SX died @ 140K
1987 CX 2.5 Gti Turbo II dead
1984 Ford Scorpio
1981 CX 2.4 Pallas Auto
Renault 21
1220 GS Club
Rover P6 2000TC
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