Xantia 1.8 cutting out

cottage1 · Post by **cottage1** » 05 Nov 2010, 12:22

Hope somebody can help,car drives perfect then all of a sudden cuts out for a second or so and then comes back to life,just as if ignition been turned off,rev counter doesn't drop,no lights come on,seems to happen more anywhere over 35 mph,anyone help please.

Ref · Post by **Ref** » 05 Nov 2010, 12:24

Have you checked your spark plugs?

handyman · Post by **handyman** » 05 Nov 2010, 20:11

It is probably the coil pack or the insulation between one of the coils and a spark plug. It seems to be a design fault on this particular engine. I have found this on a couple of these engines so far.

Lift off the coil pack and look at the insulation. If any one of these is dirty or burnt, that will be the cause. Eventually, the ECU will switch into limp mode.

H

Thermonuclear · Post by **Thermonuclear** » 07 Nov 2010, 16:21

Had the same problem on a 1.8 16 valve Xantia this time last year, the engine would cut out for 1-3 seconds when driving at a constant speed once or twice a day. After much checking I traced the fault to a faulty Manifold Air Pressure Sensor. Other potential causes are the coil pack (as posted above) or the double injection relay, or just a bad plug or wire somewhere.

Post by **CitroJim** » 07 Nov 2010, 16:46

I've had this on the Activa. It was very intermittent but has never (touch-wood) returned since swapping the double injection relay.

A clue can be gleaned as to where the fault lies by watching the dash when the engine cuts out. If the dash warning lights come on and the tacho needle falls to zero then the fault is likely the relay. If the dash remains normal then the problem is the coil or sensors.

A duff coil will often be OK when cold and fail when hot.

One cause of this problem was duff ignition switch contacts. In this case the dash will die with no lights and all instruments falling to zero.