Citroen Xantia 2.0i 16v recurring problem

chesterkeff · Post by **chesterkeff** » 07 Jun 2009, 15:07

Hello,

First time on the forum. Hope someone might be able to help. I have a 'X' Xantia 2.0 petrol. Problems started about two months ago. The engine would smell very strongly of petrol on start up, diagnostics light comes on, revs would occasionally be very free, revving up and down - sometimes not. Smoke on pulling away at times. On a long run on the motor way/dual carriage way the engine would lose power then return again within a few seconds. As I come off the motor way and slow down for the junction, all lights come on as the engine cuts out.
I tried a local independent Citroen specialist (Chester) but they were unable to access the ECU as they thought that someone had looked at the engine before and not logged out properly? They did clean out the idle valve and that was OK until about a day later the light came on and the usual problems were repeated.
I booked it into local Citroen (Hartwell) Chester dealership. They were able to access the ECU and obviously found a fault code because they told me that the mixture was too rich and had adjusted this on the ECU. They also cleaned out the idle valve - must be spotless now!
Yesterday after about two weeks of running the car daily, the diagnostics light has appeared again and the engine loses power intermittently.
I have no knowledge of engines - have you guessed? - but this is my second Xantia and I love it. It has only 78,000 on the clock and is in quite good condition. I am loathe to get rid of it.
Just wondering if anyone out there has had similar problems. Any possible conclusions or next steps would be greatly appreciated. Anyone in Chester /North Wales area recommend a garage.
Thanks for reading!
Glenn

Post by **CitroJim** » 07 Jun 2009, 20:39

Hi Keff and welcome to the forum

Good to see the dealers really know their onions. Rich it is from the symptoms but even with pukka diagnostics, there is nothing that can be adjusted in the ECU, nothing at all.

It would be interesting to know the faults recorded in the ECU and that should help nail the problem.

There are two main suspects: The MAP sensor and the oxygen sensor. Another valid cause of the problem may be a manifold air leak leading the the MAP sensor becoming confused and causing the ECU to over-richen the mixture.

It's worth having the MAP sensor off and giving it a clean as in some vehicles they do get a bit gunged up over time.

This really is bread and butter stuff to any competent workshops having the right diagnostic equipment. Frankly I'm surprised they've made such a meal of it thus far.

VertVega · Post by **VertVega** » 07 Jun 2009, 21:44

Hi chesterkeff, welcome to the forum.

You have made a nice choice

I guess we have same type of engine with the exception that my clock shows more than twice that number

Usually cold autumn (or winter) mornings when you start the engine then you can get petrol smell into the cabin. Most probably it comes from the same location as in mine. Tighten hose clamps of the fuel pressure regulator (see picture). If they are still the original ones you can replace them with common hose clamps.

It was surprising to hear that a Citroen specialist was unable to access ECU

, not logging out properly

, ECU locked

... adjustments in ECU ... (getting even better).
I am just a Citroen amateur and this a hobby for me but I would suggest that you should consider of changing your specialist.

As CitroJim said it would be nice to read the fault codes. According to the symptoms I would say it is the MAP sensor. Do you also have occasional power loss while driving at a constant speed and after a while back to normal again? Car might also shake during acceleration. These are from my own experience of the MAP sensor failure.

See also this thread where addo has added a picture of the MAP sensor:
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=26727

chesterkeff · Post by **chesterkeff** » 07 Jun 2009, 22:11

Many thanks for all your help.

I too thought the specialist should know better, but they like to baffle you with science. I'll avoid them next time.

Am I wrong or is LAMDA SOND sensor something different from MAP sensor?

You can sense I'm taking a steep learning curve here!

Best wishes

Glenn

VertVega · Post by **VertVega** » 07 Jun 2009, 22:22

chesterkeff, I am sure you will enjoy your stay here

Lamda sensor (Oxygen sensor) is attached to the catalysator. It also has affect on the fuel supply and consumption.
MAP sensor (manifold absolute pressure sensor) is attached (read hidden) under the manifold.

Post by **myglaren** » 07 Jun 2009, 22:33

Shoot me if I am wrong but I believe that Volvo introduced the oxygen sensor to improve their sales in the US, California in particular.

Sond is Swedish for probe, or remote sensor.

chesterkeff · Post by **chesterkeff** » 07 Jun 2009, 22:34

Thanks for the detail and the advice, very much appreciated.

I shall return.......with healthy Xantia.

addo · Post by **addo** » 07 Jun 2009, 23:23

Jim, I don't have a Laxia, but assumed you could alter injector dwell on a petrol motor with it. Is that actually reflash territory?

Normally an Oxygen sensor won't log a fault code on the Xantia unless it fails completely. Checking all engine wiring integrity would be a good step, although arduous.

A test of the battery and charging system might also help, in case it's something simple like that.

Post by **xantia_v6** » 08 Jun 2009, 07:09

Your fault is not the Oxygen sensor, as that is not even used for the first few minutes after start-up, until the engine is warm enough to run with stoichiometric mixture.

As no-one else has mentioned it, I will raise the engine temperature sensor as a possible culprit. It should be logged as a fault in the ECU. There is a separate sensor for the temperatue guage, so you won't directly see an intermittant sensor.

French Car Forum

Citroen Xantia 2.0i 16v recurring problem

Citroen Xantia 2.0i 16v recurring problem

Citroen 2.0i recurring problem