Injector issues

[HB1625]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and after some advice please.

I have a Citroen C4 1.6 diesel 11 plate and recently broke down. Diagnostic check said injector 3 had failed. This was replaced but failed again 3 days later. A new injector was fitted and coded. The car is spluttering, has very little power, it juddered and lurched when I tried to drive it the day after the injector was fitted. It then started to smell of burning fuel and was smoking from the exhaust.

It's been in to a main dealer for diagnosis (fault log had been cleared so this didn't come up with anything) and has been reprogrammed but this hasn't cured the problem. Further diagnosis is going to be very costly. Any ideas on what the problem could be? Many thanks.

[PaulC5]

Was the correct injector replaced, Citroen tend to number from the gear box end ?

[shtu]

It's also possible that multiple injectors have failed. All the symptoms you describe suggest an injector fault.

Unfortuntely, proper diagnosis is something that really has to be done in-person - with the info above any advice you get here is nothing more than guesswork. I'd tend to recommend finding a diesel injector specialist rather than a main dealer. Testing an injector should be about £25ish a time.

[HB1625]

PaulC5 - I don't know in all honesty, I only have their word for it.

shtu - that's interesting, thank you. It's currently with the main dealer awaiting further instruction. They want to remove and send all injectors away at a cost of over £660. That's probably more than my little old car is worth.

[HB1625]

I should add, it's the AA that have fitted it, roadside. The same injector failed again 3 days later so they fitted a new one. It's been coded apparently, and all injectors have been 'reset'. They advised taking it to a main dealer to have the ECU reflashed. This has been done and not solved the problem. The main dealers now want to go by a process of elimination, starting with removing all of the injectors for testing.

[Pluggit]

I pressume its a PSA hdi engine. Injectors get bad press when they are a lot more forgiving than people think. Ive never had one fail in any of my hdi engines. They are only as reliable as the fuel being supplied. All it takes is a bit of water-in-fuel contamination to cause an injector issue. I would go back to basics and replace the filter AFTER having pumped up a good half gallon of diesel thru the system just to get any air/water out of the pipes. Coding isnt really an issue. I have tested with stand-by injectors of differing codes and the vehicle has run fine. The code only tells the ecu to set a fuel delivery slope at a set level. The worst that happens is that an engine will run slightly lean or rich giving slightly different running feel. The ecu will eventually "learn" the new uncoded injector in. I think you have a fuel delivery issue rather than an injector(s) issue. Ps: whats the mileage, and dont always think a main dealer is gods gift to engine diagnostics - some forum members have far more knowledge and hands-on experience.

[HB1625]

Thanks for replying. Mileage is around 49,000. Quite low mileage for the year I think. I don't know about PSA, but yes it's hdi.

I was glad to stumble across this forum and hoped someone would indeed share some ideas with me.

The only reason it ended up with a main dealer is because the AA said they would have the right equipment to reflash the ECU, which is what they said it needed. A number of local garages either won't touch injectors at all or were suggesting that there was potentially far greater damage.

You mention pumping up a half gallon of diesel through the system - do you mean by driving it and getting fuel through the system that way? or leaving the engine to run for a while? Forgive me, I'm a lady with no knowledge of cars at all other than how to drive one and put diesel in. The car's just been sat still for fear of causing further damage.

[HB1625]

When the car was first diagnosed, I was told injector 3 needed replacing. I've just been sent the full report from the AA (extract attached).

It mentions all kinds of codes, including PO266 and something about cylinder 2. Can anyone shed any light on this? Does it mean other things were wrong and does it give any clues as to what they did to put it right?