jadrake

Thanks for the rapid responses! Sorry - forgot to put the all-important stuff: 2.2l HDi

Hi, I have a 53 plate diesel C8. I love my car. It takes me and my large family everywhere we want to go, with all our luggage. It's awesome EXCEPT ... It has an intermitent engine fault. Let me explain: 95% of the time, she drives beautifully. No problems at all. 900 miles to the Lake district and back over Christmas - no problem. Very occasionally, she will become sluggish and lose power. She jumps and jerks when around 2000 rpm. She can be driven, but it's not pleasant. If you park up, the engine is very sluggish. Putting your foot right down only raises the revs slowly to about 1500, then it races to 3500-4000. Usually there is black smoke, and the smell of unburnt diesel. There is also a funny whirring, spinning sound from the passenger side of the engine compartment. After a while, it all goes away and returns to normal. Last night it happened, so I sat on the drive with the engine running and revved it a few times. Sluggish, then racing. Turned off and on again, same problem. Turned off and on again, all back to normal, like nothing had happened! I've taken the car to 3 different garages - 1 Citroen dealer and 2 independents. Each time, it was playing up the night before, but when it got to the garage - perfectly well behaved. No faults logged either. This is driving me crazy! I love my C8, but my wife is now refusing to drive it, as she's scared of it playing up when she's out alone. Can anyone offer any advice? I have absolutely no idea where to start, and without a fault code or the car actually playing up at the garage, no-one else seems able to help. Thanks, Adam