Dash lights

[kiwifrog]

Dumb question but what is this orange warning light on the dash of my 93 Xantia ? Sometimes if flashes on start up , it was actually flashing when I took the pic

[CitroJim]

Engine Oil level.

It can be very unreliable and 'cry wolf' a lot, especially if you use very modern high-tech synthetic oils.

[xantia_v6]

On my first Xantia, the level warning light would flash sometimes, even when the level was correct, but an oil change would put it out for a few months.

[CitroJim]

On my first Xantia, the level warning light would flash sometimes, even when the level was correct, but an oil change would put it out for a few months.

Mine often does on my Activa, especially after a hot start...

Gabriel very rarely lights hers so I wonder if there may be a subtle difference between the S1 and the S2...

[kiwifrog]

On my first Xantia, the level warning light would flash sometimes, even when the level was correct, but an oil change would put it out for a few months.

Mine often does on my Activa, especially after a hot start...

Gabriel very rarely lights hers so I wonder if there may be a subtle difference between the S1 and the S2...

Yes nearly always does it when hot. Thanks guys

[Stickyfinger]

My V6 ALWAYS flashes its light after a short run, it does not have to go far and will on restart flash away without fail.

I HATE it, it is the only thing that dislike about the car..

[Old-Guy]

The Green Lady rarely flashes her 'Low Oil' light, it's genuinely a bit low (around half) which the sensor takes exception to if she's been started parked nose down on a slope - in which case it will go out within a few seconds. I hadn't noticed that oil changes make any difference, perhaps because it's always been my habit to carefully top-off the oil level after a service and she used to take around 5,000 miles to consume the 2-300ml needed to start the sensor playing games.

However, she does have tarty fits of showing her 'Water in Fuel' light without justification.
In the first few months of ownership, several times this caused me to park her nose down, had a cup of tea to let any water to sink down to the filter's drain tap, tapped-off a jam-jar full of fuel....and never found one drop of water! Loose electrical connection somewhere, but I've never been able to find it. Even swapped the sensor with the one from the VSX (which didn't do this) - made no difference.

If you have an Old French car, electrical gremlins are inevitable.

[kiwifrog]

The Green Lady rarely flashes her 'Low Oil' light, it's genuinely a bit low (around half) which the sensor takes exception to if she's been started parked nose down on a slope - in which case it will go out within a few seconds. I hadn't noticed that oil changes make any difference, perhaps because it's always been my habit to carefully top-off the oil level after a service and she used to take around 5,000 miles to consume the 2-300ml needed to start the sensor playing games.

However, she does have tarty fits of showing her 'Water in Fuel' light without justification.
In the first few months of ownership, several times this caused me to park her nose down, had a cup of tea to let any water to sink down to the filter's drain tap, tapped-off a jam-jar full of fuel....and never found one drop of water! Loose electrical connection somewhere, but I've never been able to find it. Even swapped the sensor with the one from the VSX (which didn't do this) - made no difference.

If you have an Old French car, electrical gremlins are inevitable.

Yes my Water in fuel light was always coming on for no reason

[CitroJim]

Yes my Water in fuel light was always coming on for no reason

They're well known for 'crying wolf' and were in fact deleted in later models...

Disconnect the sensor on the fuel filter body and you'll not be troubled by it again!

[Mandrake]

I've always wondered why a water in diesel sensor is needed ? Is it a calamity if a bit of water got into the diesel in terms of engine damage ?

And more to the point, HOW would water get into the diesel to the point that it would need a warning indicator for it ?

[superloopy]

I'd always assumed that it was there via the pump. Just an 'extra' to dispensing diesel ... Anyways there's always an egg cup of water around the diesel filler neck when i fill up in this neck of the woods so am guessing it gets in that way too ..

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[Old-Guy]

Diesel tanks, whether at filling stations or in most diesel vehilces, will contain a small amount of water in the bottom (a well-known, universal, and potentially disastrous problem in boats). The the most common cause is condensation of atmospheric moisture - warm front comes through bringing warm moist air from the Atlantic; the rising atmospheric pressure pushes some of this warm moist air into the (partially empty) tank. Some of the moisture condenses out on the inside surface of the tank which is being kept cooler than the air by the far greater mass of cold diesel in the tank. It may only be a few tiny droplets of moisture each time, but this accumulates until the fuel level in the tank gets low and then the pickup starts sucking a little water.
This water isn't harmless because, being denser than diesel, it tends to settles out of the fuel when the engine isn't running, and accumulate in every low point in the fuel system including the bottom of the HP pump and the nozzles of the injectors.
Omitting a water trap is yet another cost-saving measure (by manufacturers) that will cause greater expense for vehicle owners in the long run.

[myglaren]

No idea what effect it might have on diesel but for petrol cars, dumping a bottle of meths into a nearly empty tank will eliminate any accumulated water as meths is miscible with both petrol and water.
I expect the same with diesel

[CitroJim]

As Guy says, water can damage the pump if it hangs about in it by causing corrosion but almost always any small bits of water that do get past the filter will be injected harmlessly into the engine...

If you change the filter regularly and drain the filter bowl there is no issue.

I have seen pumps ruined by being left full of wet diesel for a very long time...

[Stewart(oily)]

My beloved Xantia S2 Estate used to cry wolf with that oil level light too, parking with two wheels up on a kerb was enough to set it flashing even though the dipstick would reveal all to be normal, the current S2 HDI does not do this.