clipper

Good point about the oil. I think I will bring forward the next oil change and ask the garage to do a complete engine flush and perhaps even add a hydraulic lifter cleaning additive. I have no clue if the problem on cold staring is related to the MIL being lit up, but it is the only issue that I have with the way the engine runs. My theory about the valves comes from various pieces of info found on internat, icluding this from a Peugeot 206CC tech forum which s describing exactly the same symptoms in a 2005 2.0 16v car (I don't know if my C8 has this same engine, but I suspect so....): the main cause of this fault we have found out is the hydrolic tappets. the oil ways in them have been made to big causing them to drain qiuckly and fill very slowly. worst when starting from cold,mid warm. also makes the car hesitant and fluffy feeling when driving. this gives the apperance and symptom of a mifire(hence i originally changed loads of coils and plugs to try and solve this fault) this lack of combustion and other related issues bring on the anti pollution light. the peugeout (very good fix )is to fit the tappets from their 1.8 series. these make the engine idle smoothly and feels more responsive. most main dealers should know of this fix as it was in recent mastertec update files. this only affects the 2.0 (rfn) engines

So I am living with my 2004 C8 (2.0 petrol) and its mystery Antipollution fault (which the last two times has shown no codes when plugged in to the diagnostics...) But now that the weather has got colder, I am noticing that the engine will refuse to rev just after starting up. It only happens when the engine is cold, and after coaxing the engine with the throttle a bit, it clears and the car drives fine. Investigating a bit on internet it seems that this could quite likely be due to a sticking valve. Is there any easy(ish) way to check if this is the case? A compression test when cold for example? I already know that the repair cost if it is the case will be prohibitive, but it would be nice to get to the bottom of the issue.

I have previously used spray foam (builder's foam) to fix rigid polystyrene things, but this foam, once dry is not flexible so is not suitable for upholstery. I have looked for a flexible polyurethane type foam available commercially in a can, but haven't found anything. I have seen topics in which people have used solid chunks of foam (including pipe lagging foam!) to stuff inside the seats to try to recreate the original shape.... I might give this a go as it is probably the cheapest option. The good thing is that I don't have to separate the fabric from the original foam in the damaged area as it has already come away on its own! I will put up a separate thread if I ever get round to trying this!

Great. Thanks for the confirmation, I think I'll get one so that I can turn off the MIL whenever I need to. As far as I can see, as long as the secondary air pump actually works when it should (mainly in the first 20 seconds after starting the engine), and stops when it should, there is not actually much of a problem. It seems that common causes of failure are when they either sieze up, or burn out due to running all the time, and as mine is new and working as it should, the fault code must be from some intermittent control circuit or relay fault but this doesn't really worry me. I have now replaced the COM 2000 unit (the headlights were switching themselves on at will) and replaced all the dash bulbs that were out, given the interior a good, thorough clean and to be honest I am now quite pleased with the car. Will be getting new tyres on Friday, and then it should be reay for moving people around Spain! I would just like to fix the child lock on the left sliding door....

Thanks for the response, I went to the garage today and I watched as they plugged in the OBD and looked at the computer. The MIL was on, and had been for the last 3 or 4 trips. The result was "no fault stored". We really don't understand how the MIL can be on if no fault is stored, but we repeatedly started and stopped the engine until finally it showed P1430 - Electric air pump failure. This pump was the only thing changed by the garage so far, it was changed in the first visit because the pump wasn't working properly, but they are adamant that the new one is fine. Also, we are not really sure that this is the fault that caused the MIL to come on! But anyway I want to be clear: Internet does not need another thread about Citroen Anti-pollution faults! I do not intend to invest much time or any more money in trying to fix an issue that nobody else ever seems to fix. My thread was more about living with faults, although I would like everything to work properly, we have to be realistic about driving a 12 year old Citroen! So I can see that the Foxwell tool looks good for my needs and is reasonably cheap, but what advantage does it have over a Bluetooth ELM 327 for example (which would be half the price)?

Hi all, Glad to find a site dedicated to this car (I always join the corresponding forum when I get a "new" car as I find the information really useful). So, I have just bought a C8 2.0 16v Petrol SX in Spain (LHD). Obviously this car is now old and was quite cheap, so I am not intending to fix everything at any cost, but I would like to know how others are dealing with the following faults that I have noticed in mine. The first one is the Anti Pollution fault. From what I understand, it is virtually impossible to eradicate this unless the fault codes are very clear. I have a very good independent mechanic who has the PSA diagnostic tool and he has now had the car in three times, and read the codes and reset the MIL each time. However, he simply cannot find any real fault (sometimes it shows ignition faults when there aren´t any) and he refuses to simply throw parts at it in the hope it helps. He has now offered to reset the MIL free of charge every time it comes on. The thing is I don't want to depend on him for ever! So what is the cheapest effective reset tool I can buy? NOTE that I do not want Lexia functionality, just a reset tool for peanuts. Here, an anti pollution fault is an automatic MOT failure so I need an easy portable tool to be able to put out the light just before the inspection. Second is the collapsing seat foam. The trims on the driver seat pop off all the time because the side bolster has disintegrated. I understand that the seats are foam injection filled and cannot be reupholstered, but has anyone managed to insert a "rigid" panel in the bolster to try to maintain the lateral integrity a bit? Or performed any similar "bodge"? Third is the rear door child locks, on one side it is activated by using the "window" lock on the driver's door, but this doesn't work on the other side, which can always be opened from the inside. Anyone know any fixes for this? I am sure I will think of more niggles, but these are the most urgent ones for now! On the upside, the car drives pretty nicely (not as nice as the Toyota Granvia I had before but such is life), suspension and brakes are good and there are no leaks for the moment, and it looks nice! Thanks