PureTech 1.2 Engine Oil Pressure Fault and Limp Mode First Thing in Morning

[Belcheee]

Hi,
I bought a Spacetourer 1.2 PureTech back in November and had no issues until around mid Feb when there was suddenly an amber "Engine Fault: Repair Needed" message and the SERVICE light came on and stayed on. This went away the next time the car was started.

Thought nothing of it after that until around start of March when we started getting a red "Engine Oil Pressure Fault" message, oil light and STOP light on solid and limp mode. Stop the car, turn it off and on and it is fine, no messages, lights or limp mode.

Two weeks later and we have had this intermittently in terms of what days it happens. But it always happens the first time the car accelerates on the road (so after around 20mph). It does not happen when we reverse off the drive and turn it around to leave (as in still in 1st gear).
We had to drive from Bolton down to Oxford at the weekend. The issue occurred Friday morning, but after that nothing all weekend - we drove all the way down in the evening, did several trips while down there, and all the way back. The issue did not happen at all during that weekend.
Back home and it happened again this morning (Tues).

Since it happens in the morning could it be a temperature issue triggering a false warning?

Another thing to note is our drive is on a slope. We have parked it both facing up and down the slope but the issue seems to occur either way. While away at the weekend the car park was flat, and it did not happen.

I wondered if anyone can shed light on the issue? Local garage changed the oil and oil filter for us but they are guessing really at the issue. They said the engine seems to run fine and it's possibly a temperature thing.
Local garage can't do an oil pressure test so that was my next step at a Citroen/French car specialist nearby. They said changing the sensor would likely not stop it happening.

I could live with the issue if I knew that a) it wasn't potentially causing damage somewhere over time and b) it didn't go into limp mode each time. It is a pain having to drive off, pull over, turn off and on and then carry on.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

[RichardW]

Welcome

These engines have a 'wet' cambelt that runs in the oil - these shed fibres and block up the oil pick up in the sump. You can see the belt through the oil filler - have a look and see if there is any signs of cracking or deterioration. However with oil pressure faults it probably needs a new belt and the sump taking off to clean out the pick up.

[Belcheee]

Thanks for the reply.
I've read about the wet belt (since buying the car, of course!) and did have a look but it seemed fine, although I'm no mechanic. No cracks visible on the belt.
If the belt was the issue, would we not get the fault more consistently than just first thing in the morning? Or is this just a symptom of first signs of wear/blockage of the pick up?
I'm happy to try things though if it's a chance of fixing the issue - from what I've read there is no harm in changing the belt ahead of time. The car is at around 44K miles.

[PaulC5]

If the car has been Citroen dealer serviced, I would not mess about with other garages and take it to them since Citroen might offer a contribution to any repairs if it is the belt with it being a known fault. They also should have the knowledge/equipment to diagnose and fix the problem. If you get it wrong you could end up needing the engine replacing so expensive.

By not using a Citroen dealer you have already paid for work that has not helped so are not saving anything.

[GiveMeABreak]

Thanks for the reply.
I've read about the wet belt (since buying the car, of course!) and did have a look but it seemed fine, although I'm no mechanic. No cracks visible on the belt.
If the belt was the issue, would we not get the fault more consistently than just first thing in the morning? Or is this just a symptom of first signs of wear/blockage of the pick up?
I'm happy to try things though if it's a chance of fixing the issue - from what I've read there is no harm in changing the belt ahead of time. The car is at around 44K miles.

The problem is that by the very nature of the system, the belts will shred microscopic parts of the belt and these have been through several manufacturing changes and is also why they keep changing the oil specification for these. Obviously in bad cases, the belt can show obvious signs of cracking and / or shredding, but if the belt has already been changed, there may be previous 'bits' that have got into the system and this can lead to oil starvation. In the worst case scenarios, it can lead to catastrophic engine failure, where the oil warning light comes on - and if at speed, like on a motorway, it should not be ignored.

So if you're not sure of the service history (on some of these models, the belt must be changed at about 62k miles), it's best to get it looked at properly, but the oil MUST be of the correct specification and changed annually at the very least along with regular inspection of the belt condition.

[Belcheee]

Thanks for the further replies.
Sounds like it is something I need a Citroen specialist for. I'll arrange to get it into a Citroen dealer to look into.

[Belcheee]

Just to add to this now that the Citroen garage have inspected it. (The alert has continued to come in first thing in the morning, but not every day).

They advised a software update is required to fix the alert triggering. They also inspected the belt and it failed a width test so they have said that needs changing and the oil pump strainer checking - all at great cost of course!

I'm not risking anything so I'm getting the belt changed next week. I'll update on here if the update resolves the alert or not!