No speedometer -> no turbo?

Post by **ekaftan** » 13 Sep 2008, 05:01

In my 'new' TurboCT the speedo needle works ok for the first half hour of the commute. Then dies...

Right around when that happens I realize I have less power.

Are these two related? Does the ECU restrict turbo boost when it thinks the car is not moving?

And finally, what are the likely culprits of those failures? I read there is no cable on this car, even though the speedo in mechanical.

Thanks.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 13 Sep 2008, 08:36

im not sure what type of speedo you have but if it dose have any bearing on the lack off power, it must have an electronic speedo, in which case check the plug conector at the point on the diff/gear box that a speedo cable would normaly be atatched,

as the terminals become tarnished/green, just clean ,grease and bung back together

regards malcolm

deian · Post by **deian** » 14 Sep 2008, 22:04

are we talking speedo or rev counter here (don't mean to sound patronising),

but a dodgy rev counter may upset the ecu and give less power due to a limp mode being activated, it could also happen with the speedo too, but more so with the rev counter as it needs the engine speed to calculate fuel injection and timing etc.

whatever kind of feed the speedo/rev,cntr gets, i'm agreeing with malcolm, it would electronic on a CT engine.

what kind of car is it btw? an xantia activa or an xm

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Sep 2008, 06:22

Hi ekaftan,

Yes, the speedo is electronic and driven by the engine ECU via the Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS). The VSS is located on the fianl drive housing on the RH driveshaft side. It is a white cylinder with a 3-way plug on it. As Malcolm says, check the connections to it and if this does not resolve matters, replace it.

A faulty VSS will upset the engine as the ECU uses measured road speed to fine-tune the timing and injection. If the signal is absent, the ECU will use default, assumed, safe values which inevitably reduce power. A sort of semi "Limp-Home" mode.

After resolving the problem, you may need to reset the ECU by leaving the battery disconnected for at least thirty minutes before full performance is restored.

Dei, the Turbo CT is a VSX Xantia with the Activa (XU10J2CTE) engine. Thirsty but veeeerrrryyyy nice

deian · Post by **deian** » 15 Sep 2008, 21:56

Well you (or I in this case) learn something new everyday, unless it was there in the back of my mind somewhere, that must be a rare car, rarer than the activa maybe(?).

Aaaaanyway...

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Sep 2008, 22:41

deian wrote:must be a rare car, rarer than the activa maybe(?).

Very possibly Dei. All I know is there is one less in the UK than there was as it was a MK2 Turbo CT Exclusive estate DickieG and I dismantled a while back. It donated it's leather to my 2.1 estate and provided us both with hoards of valuable spares.

They are seriously lovely cars, especially in estate form but sadly, the one we broke was beyond economic repair. There was bodyshell damage, it was cosmetically very sad, the hydraulics had been filled with ATF and rust had set in at the rear

It did not die in vain though - a lot of it lives on in several other Xantias and a whole lot more of it is stashed away

Post by **ekaftan** » 18 Sep 2008, 17:55

deian wrote:Well you (or I in this case) learn something new everyday, unless it was there in the back of my mind somewhere, that must be a rare car, rarer than the activa maybe(?).

Aaaaanyway...

I not that rare... just not sold in the UK I guess. I am in Chile, SouthAmerica and we did not get Activas. This car was the top of the line before the 98/99 facelift that got us the V6 Exclusive.

I disconnected and reconnected the VSS connector and the problem did not come back for a day and a half, so its maybe just corrosion or maybe its just bad. I will try to clean the connectors but getting to it is so hard that I just may as well change it....

deian · Post by **deian** » 18 Sep 2008, 21:25

It is rare in the UK as jim pointed out above you, this is a british site so ignore my ignorance of the xantia market in Chile.

It is true that there were some exotic models in different countries.

France had the best choice I think.

Over here, an Activa V6 manual would have been nice or even the V6 in Manual. Or a 2.1td Activa, etc.

ekaftan, please don't tell me you had the V6 Exclusive with a manual box?! It is entertaining enough in with an auto box in sports mode.

It's a shame the Xantia never came in 4x4 or RWD. It would have been the perfect machines then, oh, and an inline 6 engine, mmmmm.

As for ur problem, sounds like the solution to me. Spray some WD40 in the connection. Should help it a bit.

Post by **ekaftan** » 18 Sep 2008, 22:14

deian wrote: ekaftan, please don't tell me you had the V6 Exclusive with a manual box?! It is entertaining enough in with an auto box in sports mode.

This is my fourth Xantia, but no V6... only V6s in Chile are automatic, and they are rare and expensive...

This is my first manual though, and I am liking it a lot!

Homer · Post by **Homer** » 18 Sep 2008, 22:53

deian wrote:It is rare in the UK

So rare that I often had a problem getting Citroen dealers to understand what it was.

I had a MK2 exclusive estate with the same engine. When the thermostat went Citroen supplied 3 wrong ones before I gave in and got the right part from a Peugeot dealer.