DS3 engine hesitation and the mystery fuel filter

[Azbates]

Hi,
My DS3 seems to have developed a fault that I'm hoping some of you guys might be able to help with.
When I accelerate, at low RPM the engine hesitates/holds backfor a second or 2. It seems to be most notable when going up slight hills, it hesitates then continues as normal. The rpm doesn't drop or jump when it does it.
Ive spent hours googling stuff and thought it could be a fuel filter issue, I've bought one but now can't find the bloomin thing on the car, I can't find anything whatsoever about in the internet either

If you guys can't help then I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go to a garage, I really can't afford it at the moment otherwise I'd take it straight to one.

Thanks for reading

Aaron

[RichardW]

Welcome along!

Is this the turbo engine? Post up the last 8 digits of the VIN, and we can have a look, but quite common for modern cars not to have a fuel filter.

[Azbates]

Welcome along!

Is this the turbo engine? Post up the last 8 digits of the VIN, and we can have a look, but quite common for modern cars not to have a fuel filter.

Hi,

No it's not the turbo model, it's the 1.6 VTI.

The vin is VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]********

I sort of presumed there was a filter as they came up when I entered my reg on car parts websites and they popped up. I'm guessing they could be wrong lol

[Azbates]

Forgot to add its petrol

[GiveMeABreak]

There is no part listed for the replacement that I can see, but this might be it shown at (13) and closer at (C) in blue.

To get to it the Air filter housing has to be removed - BUT, as with anything on high pressure injection systems, I would be extremely cautious about doing any work on the fuel circuit.

[Azbates]

There is no part listed for the replacement that I can see, but this might be it shown at (13) and closer at (C) in blue.

To get to it the Air filter housing has to be removed - BUT, as with anything on high pressure injection systems, I would be extremely cautious about doing any work on the fuel circuit.

DS3 Fuel Filter.PNG

Thanks for the graphic, I've decided to book the car into a Citroen specialist, I'll update this thread when it's sorted in case anybody else has a similar issue. I'll also ask them to confirm if that is indeed the location of the fuel filter!

Thanks

[Azbates]

Just to close this thread up, the car is back from the Citroen specialist, car went on diagnostics, no faults, parameters all fine. They put some new spark plugs in and it's now running perfectly.

Hopefully if any body has a similar issue then this could point them in the right direction.

Cheers

Aaron

[jamie10]

I know this question is now 4 years old, but my DS3 1.2 turbo Pure Tec had been suffering from this issue from the day i got it, but got progressively worse, to the point when the other day, when overtaking in fifth it essentially shut down and went into emergency mode (with the engine mgmt light coming on and saying ‘engine repair needed’, cutting the turbo and essentially only allowing the car to get home, so to speak. Of course it was slightly worrying, thinking it could be the turbo itself, the fuel injectors or something more serious. I took it to my mechanic and upon hearing the noise the fan was making, he instantly remembered a similar problem on another ds3 and immediately said it was a spark plug issue. A simple fix, the car now pulls like a traction engine with no hesitation whatsoever.

Problem solved.

[matguitar]

I've been having the same problem and after some googling I found this thread and, like you, have been experiencing stuttering when accelerating uphill, I know it's not dirty injectors as I regularly use redex cleaner. Got it booked in for a spark plug replacement this week so hopefully it's just that they're the originals and are growing old