Citroen ZX not starting.

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xeotup
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Joined: 01 Jan 2010, 17:45
Location: Devon / Stafford
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Citroen ZX not starting.

Post by xeotup »

It rained a lot a few days ago, my Citroen ZX 1.4 spi died in the rain just outside my house.

Battery is fine, fuel injection works fine, distributor is fine, the spark plugs are firing. There's fuel. It just isn't starting, Have tried jump leads too. Starter motor turns, but car still doesn't start. Have also tried starting the car on ether.

Now, when the car died, it struggled below 2k, much below it, it stalled.

When we tried towing it today, the car would run above 2k fine, much below it, same again, would stall.

Any ideas on what's wrong and how i would go about fixing it? Is it something to do with idling incorrectly?
deian
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Post by deian »

throttle potentiometer? check the connections around the throttle body and spray with wd40

i assume it's running on 4 cylinders?

and does it have a rotor arm/dizzy cap? if so check for hairline cracks, it could be earthing to the engine
xeotup
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Post by xeotup »

Okay will have a look tomorrow thanks :D

The garage is having a look tomorrow too.

My friend found me a spare injection TB incase thats broke, aswell as a new fuel filter, set of sparks and a new coil.
Sl4yer
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Post by Sl4yer »

Check the idle control stepper motor. Had a similar problem on mine once. Will it start if you press the accelerator when cranking?

James
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Now Citroenless for the first time in 20 years
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2007 Honda CR-V Auto
deian
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Post by deian »

I think it would still kind of start even if the idle control valve would be bust,

could it be flooded? if so start maybe try starting it with the foot firmly flat on the accelerator pedal, this technique sends a signal to the ecu to stop fuelling and only to spark hence clearing a flooded engine

failing that, find the fuel pump relay, pull that out and crank her over (maybe you may not get a spark minus the fuel pump relay too, just take a ht out and see if it sparks that way it will just spark and no fuel and eventually it may come to life, make sure you have enough battery life for the cranking

bottom line is, you need fuel, air and spark, if you get them where they are needed your car will work, a faint spark may not start a car, and a spark that is out of time won't start a car, is there some kind of sensor to measure the engine speed?
citronut
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Post by citronut »

the cam belt hasnt sliped a tooth or two has it

regards malcolm
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