ZX Idle problems

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terminal14
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ZX Idle problems

Post by terminal14 »

Dear All,
This is my first post here so happy new year everyone.
So please can i get some help? I have a 1996 Citroën ZX estate 1.8 Automatic. Vin Number VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]. I’m not get with cars but i can be quite handy hence me being here.
The car has a few idle problems, sometimes its idles fine at around 1000RPM ( that’s with the aircon on as im a Brit living in Malaysia) however it will tend to creep up until about 1700RPM. If i then put it into gear and hold the brake down, it will then go back down to about 1000 RPM, when i lift the brake its fine. This will tend to happen at any temperature, not just when the fans kick in.
I recently decided to check for air leaks on the air flow pipes and didn’t find any, but i did find a pipe hanging down from the just below the idle sensor. Now the pipe looks like it should be there, its cut to size and shaped and seems to slot in nice, It starts from the air box housing just under the oil filler cap going to the left side of the idle senor housing. So my journey to and from work the next day was great, she ran lovely. The next day the car was very unhappy and was now not firing right at all, it was undrivable. So i thought it must be something to do with my repair. I unhooked the pipe and opened the sensor housing; the idle sensor was covered in oil, so i cleaned it and started her up and great, running fine. When i examined the extra pipe, it does give off some sort of vapour.
So at the moment im driving around without the pipe installed but the car still stalls when i put it in reverse.
Please can someone help me, any information would be so much appreciated. the throttle body has been cleaned out using carb cleaner. But i need to know what that pipe does and what do i need to do with it? Please see the pictures i have added.
Regards
Ian
PS i currently can not post the pictures as yet. I will figure that out soon
Last edited by terminal14 on 28 Jan 2014, 11:13, edited 1 time in total.
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terminal14
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Re: ZX Idle problems

Post by terminal14 »

:(
citronut
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x 92

Re: ZX Idle problems

Post by citronut »

hi and welcome

the first thing i would do is dismantle the throttle body and the stepper motor, and all the air pipes, and breather pipe, give them all a good blast out with carb cleaner,

then give the stepper motor a light squirt of the likes oy duck oil/3 in 1, BUT NOT THAT HORIBLE W STUFF!!!!!,,

you should find the stepper motor, its usually a small cylindrical shaped devise attached to the throttle bode by two small torx screws,

then bung it all back together,

the pipe you refer to is probably a crank case breather pipe

were are you located
Regards, malcolm.

current ride a BX 1.7 TZD estate
1986 MK1 BX 1.9na D Auto(in Mothman Andy's stable )
layed up roppy 1.9TD XANT estate, now gone to meet her maker
purple and lilac metalic 2CV(VIOLET)registered to her in doors
1972 DS special been layed up aprox 31 years
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Re: ZX Idle problems

Post by myglaren »

Here is a guide to posting photo's.
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terminal14
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Re: ZX Idle problems

Post by terminal14 »

Hi Guys,
Well first of all many thanks for the help, it really means a lot. I from Southampton but im living in Malaysia right now so i bought the ZX as i did not want to buy a Proton. So anyway Citroen has pulled out of Malaysia so finding people here who know the cars is very hard to find.

So i have cleaned up a few things in around the throttle body including the pipes and idle sensor which was really dirty so the carb cleaner did a great job. Now the car is running better but the idle still is not right, so i think i better take the throttle body off and clean it up. I have never done this before so i thought i would seek more wisdom from you guys. I need to know if the throttle body has any sort of gasket? if so i will need to order one from the UK. PLease can i get some advise on the best way to clean up a throttle body?

regards
IAn
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citronut
Posts: 10937
Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 00:46
Location: United Kingdom east sussex
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x 92

Re: ZX Idle problems

Post by citronut »

do you konw of Sujit Singh,
i sol my CX 2.5 TRI Auto Safari to him a couple of years ago,
he is a CCC ( Citroen car club member ) and lives in Malaysia,

i will send you a pm. with his email address
Regards, malcolm.

current ride a BX 1.7 TZD estate
1986 MK1 BX 1.9na D Auto(in Mothman Andy's stable )
layed up roppy 1.9TD XANT estate, now gone to meet her maker
purple and lilac metalic 2CV(VIOLET)registered to her in doors
1972 DS special been layed up aprox 31 years
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terminal14
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Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 03:41
Location: Malaysia
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Re: ZX Idle problems

Post by terminal14 »

That's great, thank you very much. I think i will have many questions to come so it will nice to make as many contacts as i can. In the next 2 - 3 i will be taking out the interior including the dash so i can then sort out the wiring as soldering in Malaysia is not really done by the looks of things, most of the wires are twisted and taped.

Im about to get the rear trailing arms replaced and a new head light fitted soon by a place i know so some things can be done by my local garage here, it’s the more trickier items that can be hard to get done here. For example i have a solid ECU warning light showing, i took it to a Peugeot place and they did not have the tools to read from the 2 pin interface plug. So i have decided to try a few of these problems myself and see how i go.
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