paul.h

I may be wrong, but I would have thought plugging the MAF back in should have cleared the fault and hence the eml/service lights should have gone after switching the ignition on and off. The lights staying on may mean there is another fault and a code reader is probably easiest way to find out. Cheap ones are only about £40 but you need to get a guarantee they will work on your car (same applies to a garage doing diagnostics), 2004 was the date when diesels had to be compliant for code readers. I have seen on the French car forum (super sticky, lexias) that members will help others with code reading.

2.2 hdi auto official figures in a 2003 brochure are 28/52/40 mpg urban/extra urban/combined. If not done already, then reset the trip computer by pressing on the end of the wiper stalk and then go on a run in case the figures you have are affected by a lot of previous town driving. As well as checking the brakes are not binding, I find on motorways if you keep to about 65 mph then fuel consumption will be about 10% less than if going 70ish, do not race up the hills and also the weather has a large effect - if into a wind then expect extra 10% fuel used. I do a lot of trips on the M62 between Warrington and Hull and in good conditions can get high 50s mpg but in bad can get 45 mpg. - this is for our 2.2 hdi VTR manual (6 speed) mark 1 hatchback. Also use the instantaneous mpg on the trip computer to see how different driving styles affect mpg. If it is due for a DPF change, it may be blocked up and that has been mentioned on here that it increases fuel consumption.

Haynes manual says the filler neck can not be separated from the tank. It is fastened at the top by a bolt to the inner wheel arch so the arch liner has to be removed to get to it. Haynes suggests swilling out the tank with clean fuel if there is sediment or water. With the fuel pump removed, if you can get a hand inside I would wipe it out with a clean lint free rag as best you can. If the metal bits settle out in the fuel, it may be possible to re-use most of the old fuel by letting it settle in a bucket, but check it is clean in a clear jar as it is put back in the tank

Squeaking could be suspension arm bearings - do the rear tyres lean in a bit indicating worn bearings ?

Yes, you need to remove the rear calipers and clean up the corrosion on the backs of the calipers and the suspension arms. This can be done without disconnecting the brake pipes to avoid bleeding the brakes. Have a look at the pinned post on the Problems and Fixes subforum on removal of rear brake calipers. Also look at the link on it to a further thread. If you have bad corrosion on the disc this could also be due to the pads rusting into the calipers and needing cleaning up. Citroen have introduced an additional shim that goes across the top of the pads clipping to the spring and holds the pads tighter against the spring. Once I had fit these it stopped the new pads clonking, although they are probably not necessary otherwise there may have been a recall.

First thoughts are the low pressure and / or the high pressure fuel pump is worn. If so, there should also be bits in the fuel filter. I may be wrong, but as well as replacing the pump(s) it could mean it all needing cleaning out (tank and pipes) or the bits may still cause problems - wearing out the new pumps and blocking the new injectors. It sounds expensive, at a guess injectors and pumps may be around £1000, if so it may be worth looking at used ones. Note that brass is not magnetic so a magnet will not catch these bits, only any steel ones.

I would try a direct message to Steve at coastline taxis or give them a call, from memory they are based in South Shields. A google search gave this as the contact info. AAA Coastline Taxis 0191 4552222 - Coastline Taxis Marsden La, S Shields, NE34 9ZZ

This is copied from a post by coastline taxis, saying fuse failure is common. 'as you look at the obd port the fuse is to the left on the bsi unit 3rd or 4th from the right'

The photo of the electrical connector on the saloon shows it has a locking tab/lug that needs to be nipped to the plug body as the plug is pulled apart but the photo for the tourer is too dark to see it but I would think it will be the same.

This is from the ETAI Revue Technique C5 II manual (available through Amazon's French site or ETAI in the new book section as CIP B737.5). Remove the tailgate inside small plastic cover (done already), disconnect the electrical plug, remove the wing nut (looks as if it is plastic), the light unit should now be free to remove from the outside and the bulbs can be removed from the bulb holder. It looks as if you also have to remove the other rear light unit to change its bulbs - this seems a common theme, the same is necessary on our C4 to replace rear bulbs. Out of interest, have you used your car to tow a caravan and if so does the rear suspension drop much with the extra weight ?

Failure of the crank position sensor could prevent it starting since the car would not know the engine is turning. Also I think its failure does not give a fault code. I have not had one fail but have read that when on their way out, as they get hot they can cause cutting out of the engine but allow a restart once cooled down. I think the cam shaft position sensor may be similar. I do not know enough about diesel diagnostics to help on the injectors and fuel flows. Have you tried priming the fuel system before starting in case of an air leak letting the fuel drain back to the tank ?

I did a google search on P1163 and a Honest John posting at the top of the search results had this in it for something similar. P1206 also came up with things but I guess you have tried google yourself. --------------------------------------------------------------- Teflonpete. My C3 all ok for the past week and a half. Originally after remapping the ecu they said as I was driving nearly 170 miles it would give the ecu time to remap the injectors. that worked for a few days. Took it back a week last monday they remapped the injectors then carried out the correct road test, not just a blip on the trottle in the garage like most garages would do. Apparently according to the procedure the car needs driving at 30mph for so long then 70 mph for so long then back to an idle. mine seems perfect after that. let us know how yu get on Reply to this message | Report message as offensive | Link Sat 17 Oct 2009 16:04 Citroen C3 ECU failure - JamesQB miniman and teflonpete, it's interesting to see more people again suffering this annoying problem. I've heard of ECU remaps solving the problem, but often not for good, which makes the fault even more confusing. I recently conducted a back-leakage test on my injectors and one of them is leaking a huge amount compared to the others, 400ml compared to 75ml on the lowest injector. Unfortunately this would indicate I do need at least one new injector, although it really should be all 4 since the back-leakage varies considerably between each injector. What a cost it's going to be if I do that, for a car worth probably less than 2K now! miniman, is your C3 still going well without the starting problem and ensuing clouds of white smoke since the remap? Reply to this message | Report message as offensive | Link Sat 17 Oct 2009 16:15 Citroen C3 ECU failure - Armitage Shanks {p} There is a firm called Reman (Remanufacture?) who repair all sorts of car electronics including ECUs. It is possible to have injectors refurbed for a lot less than the cost of new ones, and with a warranty. Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 17/10/2009 at 16:17 Reply to this message | Report message as offensive | Link Tue 20 Oct 2009 22:40 Citroen C3 ECU failure - Miniman James QB, Yep the car still running perfect after 3 weeks or so. Can i stop holding my breath and just blame all the other mechanics who have not completed the procedure by taking it for the prescribed test drive Reply to this message | Report message as offensive | Link Sun 25 Oct 2009 00:38 Citroen C3 ECU failure - Alan-FC Sorry about not closing this one off! I was so relieved that the garage eventually sorted it out. Give them their due, they got there and I felt were as helpful as they could possibly be. They did not bill me for anything, which was very good of them. The problem as it turned out was a faulty vacuum valve that sits behind the engine, between the engine and the bulkhead, sounds simple but what a torture getting there. Things seemed to progress with Citroen after I got the press involved, who were fantastic. I just could not accept that a 3 year old car with 60k miles serviced by the book, was unrepairable! The car has been running brilliantly since then and has clocked up 88K miles. Thanks for all your help and inputs. Reply to this message | Report message as offensive | Link Mon 9 Nov 2009 16:06 Citroen C3 ECU failure - smokey citroen Had exactly the same problem with intermittent starting and loads of white smoke. Eventually after changing glow plugs, temperature sensor, valves, the problem was sorted by very helpful BT fleet engineers and it was the glow plug relay timer. This cost £25 and I now have a "reliable"C3 after eight months. -------------------------------------------------- Eco mode and battery light flashing just means that something electrical such as the inside lights or the radio have been on for more than about 15 minutes after the engine has been turned off. There is a system called eco mode that switches off the electrics until the engine has been run again. I think most Citroens do this to save the battery going flat. I do not understand the key not turning the ignition switch since this is just a mechanical device with a steering lock - if it will not turn then maybe the steering wheel needs to be waggled to release the lock. The power steering is electrical so maybe this has something to do with it.

Thanks. You soon get to know the frequent visitors to this site (those who have the time to spare and maybe some experience on their cars), the C5 subforum seems to be most active with a good following of knowledgeable people. There are not many professionals and ones to appreciate are Coastline taxis on C5s, kfk and iannez.

On the ICE forum there are a few posts on C5 radio replacement that are worth a look. Appears the radio can be replaced by after market ones but to keep the radio steering wheel controls and the dash display requires special connections.

I have been getting this but if you get any listed posts from the search, note the date and sub forum and go to this and work your way through the pages until you find the post. It did not used to be like this so with a bit of luck it may get fixed.

I think when the car has been jacked up without first raising the suspension, people have had problems immediately so your car must be ok - however, the risk must be there or it would not be in the handbook. Once the suspension is raised the engine can be switched off and it stays raised, mine has never lowered itself when I have been working on it.

The mark 1 C5 2.0 hdi does not have a diesel particle filter so no need to worry about that one.

The engine warning light coming on could be anything related to engine emissions (so ignition/fuel fault) but the fault code will be stored until deleted so it should be picked up by a diagnostic check. Code readers are now quite cheap so if it is about £40 for a diagnostic that just reads the codes then you could buy your own reader for a similar amount. Try somebody like Gendan on the internet. I think there also people on the C4ownersclub forum who will read codes. You have not stated your engine but on our 2003 1.4 petrol when the engine light came on (and stayed on) an injector had failed during heavy rain. This is a common fault due to washer water/rain passing through the bonnet gap under the washer jets (or from the washer piping joints) and dripping on to the injectors. To prevent it happening again I put sealant under the washer jets and changed the washer piping for a rubber type instead of the hard plastic.

The egr valve is nothing to do with the turbo but lets exhaust gases back in to the engine to cool the combustion and reduce nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gases. Possibilities for white smoke could include a water leak into the cylinders giving steam in the exhaust, a turbo problem (when we had one fail on a Saab it was surrounded by white smoke coming out of the exhaust). It may be worth posting this on the C5 pages since this engine is also used there and that forum has more posters.

Does the dash computer reset by holding the button in at the end of the wiper stalk ? If it is like the C4, once that reaches 10000 km (about 6200 miles) it does not go any higher and has to be reset.

Apart from the fuel leak, the other problems appear to be common ones on this site and may be found by a good search. The outside temp sensor is the small lump at the bottom of the passenger door mirror and it can fail needing replacement. The washer pump does both front and rear screens, running in opposite directions but the washer bottle outlets/pipe can block needing a good clean. Other people do not always bother fixing the rear screen not opening. For the fuel tank, you will have to have a look underneath and see if it has a hole or something has broken off. As a new owner, the suspension must be set at max height with the engine running before it is jacked up or there is a risk of suspension problems. This is noted in the handbook but could be easily missed. Still use axle stands though but it does make access underneath easier. The Haynes manual does not cover the 2.2 hdi engine but everything else is relevant.

In the mark 1 C5 there are two 2.0 hdi engines, one at 90 hp and one 110 hp (from the car VIN, the 90 hp has RHY and the 110 hp has RHZ in the numbers) with 0-62 mph times of 13.5 and 11.6 seconds in the estate according to an old brochure. The 2.2 hdi 0-62 mph is 10.6 seconds. Most are 110 hp but I can not remember any previous posts that comment on poor performance except when there has been a problem. Before spending £350 which must be a large proportion of the car's value, I would check if it is a 90 hp or there is something wrong.

Is the F the oil level indication on the speedo ? If so, then it could be the engine oil level is low, hence the warning beeps. Should be getting F 0---- to 00000 giving min to max levels. Only times I have had the beeps are when the battery voltage has been low (2003 1.4 sx petrol C3) but the handbook lists a few things that give the warning.

Could be the hose has failed internally blocking off the air flow when under vacuum from the pump. If you have another car, you could try one from that. If this is not the cause, then may be the pump is worn.

Never had this happen but initial thoughts are possibly a faulty ignition switch or loose battery connection. Also have a look for loose connections under the bonnet. Is the ignition key turning slightly such as from a lot of other things on the key ring (noted from a post by kfk as a possible cause of cutting out).