AX sssstuttering on acceleration

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
PeterC.
Posts: 9
Joined: 12 Jul 2002, 15:00
Location:
My Cars:

AX sssstuttering on acceleration

Post by PeterC. »

Not only do I have a Xantia but also an AX Debut, with 1.0 litre engine, 60,000 miles. It’s a L reg, as far as I can remember. Seems to eat distributor caps which after a short time results in hesitant acceleration. ie. it dies momenterily - usually when you ’re pulling away at junction or (perish the thought) overtaking. It’s a very well looked after car, always been serviced on time. Everything else has been checked (main dealer tests) and is ok. New HT leads, plugs. I suspect some unusual wear on the distributor itself (although it doesn‘t feel worn - ie. no wear evident if you wiggle it). Replacing the cap and rotor arm fixes it for a while but the cap terminals seems to wear unevenly.
Has anyone else had AX distributer problems? Unfortunately a new distibutor seems to be nearly £200. Genuine Citroen cap seems to wear better than Halford’s version, but is more expensive.

****BONUS TIP!****
(As a special reward for having to read my dull posting and perhaps even having an answer)
Having owned this AX for 6 years I can tell you this for nowt: If you get a wretched smell like dead animals mixed with rotten eggs from your AX and you can’t think what’s causing it (I even looked underneath expecting to have to extract a dead cat - or perhaps part of a person) it’s the bloody washer bottle! Yes it stinks! Empty it out and run some slightly soapy hot water through it and it’ll be fine. You’d have thought after 6 years and 40,000 miles I’d have something more revealing to say - but I haven’t. Apart from changing the heater blower and the odd distributor cap problem, it’s never gone wrong.
alan s
RIP 2010
Posts: 2542
Joined: 26 Jan 2001, 15:53
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 6

Post by alan s »

Peter,
FWIW, if you fit a timing light to the car and take it to slghtly above a fast idle, check as to where the light & pointer are staying. If they fluctuate wildly, then the bushes are worn in the distributor shaft.
Possibly something to file under "useless information" but may just save you a dizzy cap or three<img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle>
Alan S<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Post Reply