Xsara Engine Misfire/cutout Problem

[BobNich]

My wife has an R reg Xsara 1.8 16V. It has developed an intermittent fault where the engine will try and stall. Happens over all speed ranges even when you are doing 70. You can drive the car for 20 or 30 miles and nothing happens. On other occasions it will happen within a few minutes of starting. Originally thought it was temperature related as initially fault always occured at end of daily commute journey. Since I've started driving the car I have noticed it happens over various time periods, distances and temperatures. If it happens at very slow speed i.e. when pulling out of a junction, the car will stop dead, all dashboard lights on. Just like the ignition was switched off. Engine will re-start immediatly with no hesitation.

 

Local dealers had the car for 2 days and were not able to find the fault.

 

Anyone out there got any constructive suggestions ?

 

Cheers, BobNich

[Guest kyla]

My wife has an R reg Xsara 1.8 16V. It has developed an intermittent fault where the engine will try and stall. Happens over all speed ranges even when you are doing 70. You can drive the car for 20 or 30 miles and nothing happens. On other occasions it will happen within a few minutes of starting. Originally thought it was temperature related as initially fault always occured at end of daily commute journey. Since I've started driving the car I have noticed it happens over various time periods, distances and temperatures. If it happens at very slow speed i.e. when pulling out of a junction, the car will stop dead, all dashboard lights on. Just like the ignition was switched off. Engine will re-start immediatly with no hesitation.

 

Local dealers had the car for 2 days and were not able to find the fault.

 

Anyone out there got any constructive suggestions ?

 

Cheers, BobNich

[Guest kyla]

Please can someone answer this as I have an S reg does exactly the same thing driving me mad

[Guest timvtr]

not sure if this will help.

 

I had a similar problem in my vtr in that when i put my foot on the clutch it would sometimes rev erratically and then stall. i removed the air intake hose from the throttle housing and cleaned the inside of the throttle housing with some solvent based cleaner. seemed to fix the problem for me. i had a bit of oil (which felt sticky) in there possibly because of my K&N air filter.

[michaelmid]

:(

Please can someone answer this as I have an S reg does exactly the same thing driving me mad

 

michaelmid april 6 2008

Yeah! I got the same problem, tried a local Citroen garage,tried changing throttle valve..didnt work had the problem for 4 years , could be a sensor but it costs too much to keep investigating..learned to live with it. can someone give us a clue?

[Typhon]

I've got the same problem with my '99 Xsara 1.6

 

I will investigate this until it is fixed. What have you guys tried? I will check some sensors and try another coil-unit to see if that does the trick!

[Typhon]

Maaaybe I've found out something...

 

It could be the lambda-sensor:

http://www.carsurvey.org/viewcomments_review_77143.html

 

http://www.citispares.co.uk/PartsSearchRes...t&offset=50

 

 

I will order the lambda sensor and give you guys a full briefing once it's done. With pictures :rolleyes:

[stimulator]

my Citroen experience is Picasso and C3. On those cars there are microswitches on the brake pedal and the clutch pedal.

 

The one on the brake pedal performs two basic functions

1. It signals the BSI to put on the brake lights

 

2. It signals the ECU to cut the fuel and/or change the fuel programming. (your braking it doesn't need fuel)

 

On the clutch pedal the switch (when the pedal is pressed) turns the fuel back on so that the engine doesn't cut out at junctions etc.

 

On the Picasso (Xsara) the brake switch very often comes loose so that the wrong info is being sent to the ECU. On early Pics (HDi) if you pressed both the brake and the throttle at the same time you got a 'jerky misfire type reaction from the engine. On my C3 HDis the engine managemnet light comes on.

 

the brake swicth is at the top of the pedal and is a push fit into a housing. it's worth a look.