The Dreaded ZX 1.4i Problems

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

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
nesssalmon
Posts: 33
Joined: 30 Mar 2004, 22:27
Location:
My Cars:

The Dreaded ZX 1.4i Problems

Post by nesssalmon »

Hi

I am having the following problems with my 1994 1.4i Single Point Injection ZX (L reg)
Low/uneven idle speed and sometimes stalling at lights etc.
When accelerating after taking foot of the gas there is no response, then all of a sudden the car comes to life and jerks forward?
(Probably unrelated) heater is only luke warm.

I have already tried:
New stepper motor -
Check hoses etc for blockages
Fully serviced
Checked fuses/connections etc
Fitted new thermostat
Drained and bled coolant system (pipes in and out of matrix are hot)


I have thought of temperature sensor?
Potentiometer (not sure if I can clean this does anyone know?)
Throttle body problem?
ECU?

I would be very grateful if anyone can throw any more light on the problems as when driving with foot on gas she drives very well indeed.

Cheers
Robert
User avatar
Clogzz
Posts: 2115
Joined: 15 May 2005, 18:04
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 36
Contact:

Post by Clogzz »

Typical of vacuum leak.
There is air getting into the manifold.
Squirt WD40 around the manifold hoses and gaskets, using the 'spaghetti' as extension.
Where the leak sucks in the WD40, Image the idle speed will increase.
2002 C5 2.0i AL4 230,000 km 76372389
mezuk04
Posts: 1125
Joined: 03 Sep 2004, 19:15
Location: Nottinghamshire, England
My Cars:

Post by mezuk04 »

Couldnt agree more with Clogzz hes spot on.....i suffered the exact same on my zx petrol....absoutly horrid hehehehe!
Volkswagen Golf 59' 1.6TD S :(
nesssalmon
Posts: 33
Joined: 30 Mar 2004, 22:27
Location:
My Cars:

Post by nesssalmon »

Thanks for your help Clogzz and mezuk04, I will have a look over the weekend. I forgot to say this only happens when the car is warm. She runs perfectly from cold for about 10mins. Does this still fit in with a vacuum leak?

Forgive my ignorance, but are all the hoses linking to the manifold vacuum hoses? I have noticed there is one hose directly beneath that manifold that appears to be connected to the coolant system? I this correct?
I guessed a warm water injection somewhere to aid fuel atomization?

Cheers
Robert
mezuk04
Posts: 1125
Joined: 03 Sep 2004, 19:15
Location: Nottinghamshire, England
My Cars:

Post by mezuk04 »

Mine use to do it anytime....clutch down/clutch up/engaging gears/braking on cold or warm engine, i am the quickest 'draw' around (if only this was the wild west) of being able to turn the ignition back round in motion :lol:
Volkswagen Golf 59' 1.6TD S :(
__CA__
Posts: 22
Joined: 03 Dec 2005, 18:49
Location:
My Cars:

Post by __CA__ »

Regarding the luke warm heater - I had the same thing on my 2.0 16v. It would only blow warm (ish) air out of the centre vents. Cold feet and cold screen - not good in winter!

Try topping up the coolant and bleeding the whole system properly (the heater is at the highest point so you need to rig up a temporary header tank on the filler cap to do this).

If the heater matrix is holed, you will find the passenger carpet gets wet after a few days and the windows will probably be steamed up when you get to the car in the morning. (You may already have these symptoms? I didn't notice the wet carpet initially as the mat on top was still dry.) In really bad cases you will have steam coming out of the vents :lol:

So what this boils down to is a leaking heater matrix. They cost about £30 from GSF for an original spec Valeo replacement. The bad news is that you have to take the whole dashboard out to get to the matrix. It's not really that difficult, just a bit time consuming (3-4 hours to remove it I guess). Still, I found it quite an interesting job to do as you get to see where all the electrics are routed etc.

One word of advice - use new O rings on the connections to the heater hoses, I didn't and they leaked.

It is worth the effort, especially in this weather, the car is toasty warm again :D

One other tip - label all the screws etc as you remove them as well as the electrical connectors!
User avatar
Clogzz
Posts: 2115
Joined: 15 May 2005, 18:04
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 36
Contact:

Re: The Dreaded ZX 1.4i Problems

Post by Clogzz »

mezuk04 wrote:Couldnt agree more with Clogzz hes spot on
Thank you for this endorsement ! Image

nesssalmon wrote:I have noticed there is one hose directly beneath that manifold that appears to be connected to the coolant system? I this correct?
Yes, probably 2 water hoses to warm the manifold.

nesssalmon wrote:heater is only luke warm
pipes in and out of matrix are hot
If the pipes are hot, then the water is flowing through the matrix, and the fault must be in the controls or flaps and vents, or even the heater blower.
2002 C5 2.0i AL4 230,000 km 76372389
citroenzx
Posts: 290
Joined: 14 Mar 2005, 01:57
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
Contact:

Post by citroenzx »

well it sounds like the same problem as mine has, and i'm almost 100% sure its the coil pack. read somwhere that they start to degrade after 80k miles and mine started doing it on 84k. I then spotted another second hand pack for the 1.4 for £10 on ebay so i thought what the heck and got it. so i put that on and it cured the problem for a short time then the problem came back, so will be getting a brand new one soon. £45 from GSF.
  ...:::CITROENZX:::...
nesssalmon
Posts: 33
Joined: 30 Mar 2004, 22:27
Location:
My Cars:

Post by nesssalmon »

Thanks all for your suggestions - most appreciated.

I have had a look at my vacuum hoses over the weekend and sprayed with wd40. Nothing was obviously sucking? I then checked all connections made sure they were tight. Went for a drive and the car was behaving very well. but still stalling :( but no lurching:)

On the drive to work this morning car seems worse than ever with lurching but no stalling... Mnnn...?

There is one big braided hose going from the manifold to under the brake servo - any ideas if that is a vacuum hose? Also a tube leaving the manifold heading off to the left from wing side? this connects to a pot kind of thing with a connector on top. This then disappears into the wing? Any ideas also (charcoal filter?) but why the electrical connector?


Re heating, I think I will look at the controls next as my hoses are hot where they should be.

May be the coil - thanks for that, is there a way to check a coil that is defective?

Many Thanks
Robert
User avatar
Clogzz
Posts: 2115
Joined: 15 May 2005, 18:04
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 36
Contact:

Post by Clogzz »

Talk of tube heading into the wing, and other ideas here:

http://frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16405

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=17008 2 pages

The braided hose is vacuum for the brake.
The ignition coil can't be tested for intermittency.
The throttle potentiometer may need a clean, as they get dusty and intermittent in the idle and low rev area.
2002 C5 2.0i AL4 230,000 km 76372389
Post Reply