C8 2.0hdi cut out & wont restart

[Hunsno1]

Hi All,

On the way back from Norfolk to Leeds our 2005 C8 2.0 hdi cut out about 80 miles into the journey.

I was barreling along around the legal speed limit and suddenly the car just lost all power. I didn't notice if the engine management light came on immediately after or before but as I was coasting "Anti Polution Fault" flashed up. I managed to coast into a layby but the engine was dead.

The AA came out and plugged the car into the diagnostic computer and there were no fault codes. It has good fuel pressure, cam is turning, everything is as it should be. He even tried spraying easy start, unplugged air flow sensor etc etc. Nothing. Ended up being trailered home and thats that. One dead C8 sat outside the house. It turns over fine but wont fire up.

Its been suggested that it could be a blocked DPF but i'd be surprised/p'd off. I had the fuel additive topped up last year and its only done about 4000 miles since. The car had done about 260 motorway miles on Friday and about 80 fast A road miles leading up to its demise so would have thought it would have regenerated by that point. I take it out for a run at least once a month to give it a blow out anyway!

Any suggestions? Not the scrap it kind though.

Gary

[jgra1]

hi Gary..
Assuming your engine is similar to my 110HP 8 valve

I have this all last weekend.. in my case I need to bash, push / pull the white plug that accesses the engine fuse box .. I have some bad connectors ( a common fault I think).. there is also a green and a black plug I think

happened 6 times on motorways.. very scary really but half expected it so stayed near lane 1..

.. on mine, you can hear the fuel pump switching on and off when you waggle plug.. worth a try even though your pressure seems ok..
I have no idea how to clean the female sockets within the plug.. if anyone has a tip for that I would appreciate it? they are fairly small..

John

[wheeler]

Does it even kick on easy start ? You can easily rule out a blocked DPF/cat by removing it & see if it starts. If it doesent kick on easy start & the exhaust or inlet is not blocked the you need to look at maybe doing a compression test.

[Hunsno1]

Hi John, yeah 110hp 8v engine. Not had chance to "play about" with the fuses. Will have to look tomorrow. The AA guy did pull a few fuses and check them but said they were all ok.

Really don't fancy pulling the dpf out unless I have to Wheeler. Last resort. It didn't feel mechanical if you know what I mean. If it was a petrol engine I'd swear the ignition coil(s) had gone.

Gary

[miked]

I recon it's a 16V, Basically the same as the 8V.

Where are you? The AA man's fault code reader will not tell you as much as as a dedicated citroen lexia would.

Hi All,

On the way back from Norfolk to Leeds our 2005 C8 2.0 hdi cut out about 80 miles into the journey.

..... Cam is turning, everything is as it should be.

Any suggestions? Not the scrap it kind though.

Gary

Are you sure the cambelt is OK, hasn't skipped a tooth or worse?

[Peter.N.]

If its not at least firing on easystart it sounds as though have no compression, is the starter spinning it faster than usual? If so I would suspect the cam belt.

Peter

[wheeler]

Yep, never seen an 8v HDi in a C8, they are all 16v. You wouldn't need to fully remove the DPF, just loosen it off.

[Hunsno1]

Wheeler, Miked, Yep you're right it's a 16v engine. I looked under the bonnet and because it only looks like a single cam I assumed it was 8v. Didn't realise the cams are linked by a chain and not both on the cam belt. Need to have a proper dig around and see if I can find out if the belt's gone, just not had chance.

To be fair, the only time i've ever had a belt go on me before was years ago in my Alfa GTV. That made a right mess of the engine and sounded like I was trailing a bag of spanners under the car! Everything just went quiet on the C8. Wouldn't a cambelt failure have made similar mechanical, metal bashing against metal noises?

When the Alfa went i'd bent a con rod, 5 valves etc and damaged the crankshaft!!!! Please tell me the Hdi isn't as fragile...

Got the Wifes Cousin coming round to have a look on Thursday. He's doing us a favour and going mobile seeing as we can't get the car to his garage. Expecting the worst tbh. At least that way I can't be surprised by the outcome i suppose.

[Hell Razor5543]

No promises, but the HDi engines appear to have a safety design to allow for belt failures. The rocker arms snap, but (with luck) nothing else will have taken damage.

This is the sort of thing that fails. This is a full set;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-307-4 ... 43c079ee18" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Northern_Mike]

No promises, but the HDi engines appear to have a safety design to allow for belt failures. The rocker arms snap,

I think that's only the 8v HDi James, I believe the 16v is a proper valve-masher..

[Peter.N.]

That's what I thought Mike but there appear to be 16 rockers in that kit.

Peter

[miked]

Fingers crossed Hunsno1. Last week we returned from our holiday in France in our '807. It's normally my wife's daily transport while I have a much nippier Xsara but I returned from Holiday with a lot more respect for it. We left Versailles, (South of Paris) after a good breakfast at 10am, and despite finding the motorway closed on our side of the tunnel and having to head North from Ashford with all the other traffic to pick up the M2 (lost at least 3 hours) arrived home in North Cumbria at 9pm, feeling as fresh as when I set off. But anyway:

Wheeler, Miked, Yep you're right it's a 16v engine. I looked under the bonnet and because it only looks like a single cam I assumed it was 8v. Didn't realise the cams are linked by a chain and not both on the cam belt. Need to have a proper dig around and see if I can find out if the belt's gone, just not had chance.

I'm probably barking up the wrong tree, so I'm wishing I didn't mention the cam belt. Logically it could be any number of other things. I am paranoid about the C8/807 belt failure problem though and I can't stop myself asking any C8/807 owners if they know about it, even if their timing belt is OK. I always understood the HDi engine to be bullet proof, until we bought our 807, which had just had a new engine fitted. I wanted to find out why and was a bit shocked. The invoice to the previous owner was, and still is in the car. If you search the web about it, you will read horror stories.

In short, If the cambelt is ok, which is most likely, get it checked / changed anyway, and be aware of the issue. If the timing is out or the cambelt has gone, don't let anyone try to get to the rockers without them understanding the problems they might face. It is repairable but not as simple as the 8V engine, even main dealers have written engines off (as with our car) in the process of trying.

If you want to know more about the timing belt issue, there is a bloke called Gavin in Edinburgh who has a website here: http://www.c8centre.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I have had no personal dealings with them at all, so I can't recommend him, but his website explains the issue.

[miked]

No promises, but the HDi engines appear to have a safety design to allow for belt failures. The rocker arms snap,

I think that's only the 8v HDi James, I believe the 16v is a proper valve-masher..

No. As I understand it, the rocker arms snap on the 2.0 16v HDi, just like the 2.0 8v HDi. It's getting to the rocker arms which is the problem with the 16v. At least when they are in a C8 or 807, which has a design feature that drips water all over the cambelt cover and injectors.

[Hunsno1]

Well the cam belt has gone. Engine turning over but no movement from the cams.

I really don't think the missus has any idea how bad this is and as we go to Corfu on Friday I'll not tell her until we get back.

Thanks for you help and input so far folks. Was hoping it wasn't this but will have to have good hard think about the next move. Hopefully 10 days in the sun will help.

[miked]

I just searched your posts and realised I missed your first ever post when you introduced yourself. I'm gutted about that as I could have told you then to be aware of the cam-belt issue. I even read and replied on your topic about the sidelights but still didn't mention it. I am now going to try harder to make sure I don't make that mistake again and I hope anyone else who reads this remembers for the next person who signs up having just bought an early HDi Eurovan2 be it a C8, 807, Ulysse or Phedra.

I have read some reports about people who have had success getting PSA (Citroen/Peugeot) to foot the entire bill, as the belt failed way before it's stated lifetime and because PSA are well aware of the cause of the problem. They manufactured a 'fix' for it but didn't advertise it at all, In my opinion it should have been a recall. After we bought our car, and I was aware of the issue I went to the dealer who 'fixed' our car for the previous owner, and bought the rainwater diverter mentioned in the link below and the parts guy hadn't a clue what I was talking about until he looked up the part number I gave him.

Peuget PDF from years ago about the issue

I really hope you do not give up on the car.

Mike.