Dave444

I know that many Citroen dealers charge a lot for computer analysis of faults but I have not been charged at all (at least in a direct way) by the one I go to which is in Ash Vale near Farnborough. Tel 01252 373716. I have no connection with the business. I am only a customer. If you live anywhere near I can recommend them. My engine management faults have often gone away by the time I can reach a garage but three persistent ones have been dealt with by the above. I have had a new automatic gearbox under warranty which was the worst one. Would have cost me more than £4000. One of the problems from the computer is that the route cause of the trouble sparks off a whole list of consequential fault reports which can be very misleading. It takes a bit of experience to deal with that. Sometimes I think the old system was better. You didnt know what was wrong till you heard some noises and the engine blew up but at least it didn't go into limp home mode. The engine management system might protect you from serious damage to your car but is it worth it? It is not accurate enough at pinning down the faults in my opinion. Bottom line is that the average motorist really has no choice but to go to a Citroen dealer but find a good one. Dave

I have had many engine management faults in my C3 2005 (low mileage) and been in limp home mode a couple of times. Solution is to stop, wait 2 minutes, start again and its OK. I think the computer chip needs to reset and/or reboot. After a day or two the warning light goes out again usually but I have had fuel injectors replaced and a fuse box PCB replaced for difficult starting. Trouble still shows from time to time especially if the car is left unused for a month or so. I just live with it. Dave

Many Citroen dealers will not charge for a diagnostic check in my experience. Encourages customers to get the repair done at their garage. I have also had difficulty with interpreting diagnostic results but if you have a permanent fault and the engine management warning light is on there should be some diagnostic code comeing up on the computer check. I have had two intermittent faults and the warning went off too soon to make the check. If the light goes out don't bother going for a check up. Ask around to see if you can find a Citroen dealer who doesn't charge for the computer test, the test takes only a few minutes. I have found Citroen very helpful. Probably because we can see all the faults more easily nowadays with engine management and they may be worried more about their reputation.

I have an automatic pertrol C3 2005 with 20,000 miles on it. Had it from new. I also had a problem with sticking in top gear occasionally just as the warranty was expiring after 3 years. Solution was to switch off, switch on again and I was OK for a week or two. It gave an engine management alarm which had to be referred to Citroen to resolve as the code was not listed. They told me it was an internal gearbox problem, something to do with hydraulic controls. I needed a new gearbox and no service exchange is available now, they don't do that. However, Citroen gave me a new gearbox and no more problems since then. Just as well as the gearbox was priced at £4200, about the same as the car was worth at the time. They never really detailed the trouble and I left it there when the new gear box was offered. The petrol car has a torque converter gearbox whereas the diesel car has an automatic cluch change so there is a difference there. Makes me wonder whether my problem was correctly diagnosed. However, it must have been a problem in the gearbox itself as that is the component that was changed.

Yes that's it snow mode and Sport mode at the same time. Anyway Citroen have agreed to fix it at no charge as the mileage is so low 17,000 now Dave

Thanks raveydavey. It might not come to changing the gearbox, it could still be one of the gearbox controls/sensors. I have had the car from new and have the complete service history documented and the gearbox oil has remained at the correct level. Apart from this bomb shell I have been quite pleased with the car. It comes with a good range of extras. I notice that Newbie said in his posting that he is “having all the electrovalves replaced. £500 – great”. I will chase up the Citroen Service centre with the aid of my local agent who is still trying to resolve this. They have not charged me anything yet which is a small saving grace. It hinges a lot on finding out what the computer fault report actually means. The car is still running well and sounds good except when the fault comes on which is only very occasional. Dave

My C3 has come up with Sport and Snow indications symultaneously at approx weekly intervals for a couple of months. It means a gearbox management fault according to the handbook and I see that verified from a scan thro the forum. My local agent got a fault report "06" out of his computer. Does anyone know what the 06 means. My Citroen agent didn't know as he was expecting a Pxxx number. (3 numerical digits) The effect is that it gets stuck in high gear and the only way out is to stop, switch off and restart. The gear lever is ignored in manual and the indication remains at "D" for drive. The gear box costs in excess of £4000 which is about the trade in value of the car at 3 years old. Yes the guarantee has just run out...... and I've only done 16,000 miles. Any comments would be gratefully appreciated. Dave