Common Problems (Rev 12/3/2018)

[paul.h]

Under this post we can put together a list of problems common to the C3. I will add to this post as more common problems are found from the forum and elsewhere, so do not read it as a one off. Note that the posting date is not changed when it is edited but the revision date will be in the title. Can other members also post their own experiences.

 

These have happened to our 2003 1.4 sx petrol.

 

1. Front suspension coil spring snapped.

Both sides replaced free by our Citroen dealer. See 28 for a rear spring failure.

 

2. Petrol injector failure.

Replaced free by our dealer under warranty. The engine had a very bad misfire and the engine management light came on. Caused by water dripping on the injector from the washer pipe connections and through the bonnet washer jet holes. Prevention is to put sealant under the washer jet and to change the plastic washer piping to flexible rubber to seal better and move any joints to the side of the bonnet. If the engine is only a bit juddery without the management light coming on, it may be worth replacing the spark plugs before condemning the injectors.

 

3. Rear wiper failed to park correctly.

Cured when the rear wiper motor was changed when the tailgate was replaced with a s/h one due to a large dent but this also included the wiring to the body. So it could have been a motor or wiring problem although checks on the wiring did not find any faults. There are 2 cases on a C5 caused by damaged wires between the door and body - see this post http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/22007-c5-rear-wiper-has-a-mind-of-its-own/

 

4. Windscreen washer pump fuse blows in freezing temperatures.

Fuse access is not quick so using an additive in the water helps prevent, but if the water does not spray after a quick twist of the washer switch then it is best to leave it until the weather has warmed. I have also moved the fuse to outside the engine fusebox so it can be changed quickly.

 

5. Front suspension drop link wear causing a knocking noise.

Quick to diy replace, about £30 each side.

 

6. Plastic roof rails lift at the ends.

Glue may provide a temporary fix, in the end we replaced them and the new ones seem better made. About £40 for both.

 

7. The original car battery is a bit underpowered so it is slow to turn the engine in winter.

When replacing it we got a higher capacity one, 450 vs 300 amp.

 

8. Loss of air conditioning refrigerant.

Apparently the lower connection to the condenser matrix at the front of the engine compartment can corrode and leak - applying grease can prevent this.

 

9. Exhaust tail box hanger around the box rusts through and a replacement is not available from Citroen.

This is common to a few Citroens. Our hanger out lasted the box but a Citroen full exhaust is about £300 so I fit a Klarius one which has a hanger welded to the box, about £100 from Eurocarparts. However the replacement resonates internally, even after 2 years, at certains revs. This noise has also been reported by another owner. An internet search may bring up a suitable universal exhaust bracket to clamp on that will do a repair. This one MB5 from Clampcouk is a direct fit for the C2 and C3 http://www.clampcouk.co.uk/exhaust-repair/exhaust-brackets-straps/mb5-citroen-c2-exhaust-silencer-back-box-band.html

 

10. Number plate light bulbs only last a few months.

 

11. Sometimes the remote key fob fails to lock or unlock the doors.

May be caused by radio interference from such as a mobile phone, but the key will work and after some time the locking returns to normal if you come back to the car. I have not tried to find a solution to this. There is a pinned note about this. One other owner reported replacing the comms 2000 unit which contains the remote receiver. A C3 Picasso 2010 driver's lock was not working on the remote and using the key in the key hole in the side of the door provided the fix.

 

12. When trying to start the car, occasionally, the starter seems to jam and not turn the engine as though it has not engaged. I have not yet tried to sort this.

 

13. Alloy wheels stick to the hub.

This applies to any car with alloy wheels. Rust on the hub can make it difficult to remove the wheels. When I first got the car, with each wheel in turn jacked up and axle stands used, I had to knock off the wheels using a piece of wood against the inner side of each tyre (not the alloy wheel) and hit it with a 4lb hammer until they came loose. Then before refitting, the hub and wheel were cleaned up and a smear of copper grease applied to the contact points.

 

14. Occasionally the clock resets when starting the car.

This has happened a few times on the C3 and also the C4. Nothing obviously wrong, battery voltage ok and just accepting it. The 2011 C4 was cured by a software update.

 

15. Jerky acceleration at low revs making setting off difficult.

This was fixed by replacing the accelerator pedal, about £40 and ½ hour. There may have been a recall of some early cars.

 

16. Front brake caliper broken bleed screw.

When changing the brake/clutch fluid I managed to snap the driver's side bleed screw. Fortunately a new caliper from Citroen was only £76. A used one was about half this but there are no guarantees of condition. Possibilities to remove the remains of the screw were considered but appear to usually be unsuccessful so not worth the effort.

 

Problems reported by others.

 

17. When using the rear wiper washer, the water comes out at the front wipers.

The front and rear wipers use the same washer pump but it runs in opposite directions. It has 1 inlet but 2 outlets. If the outlet or the piping to the rear blocks, then the water will use the other outlet and go to the front wipers. It can apply to many Citroen models.

 

18. Power steering fails.

This has not happened to our car but has been noted elsewhere. If it is an electrical glitch, turning the ignition on and off a few times may fix it.

 

19. Headlight condensation.

This has not happened to our car but if the rear cover and seal are not replaced properly then water can get in. If so, leaving the cover off in warm weather, using a hair dryer, etc. may help to dry it out. I read somewhere an owner cut a small section out of the back cover and glued a mesh in its place to keep dirt out and this worked. When refitting the back cover after bulb replacement, check the seal is in place in the cover and the tags on the bottom of the cover are inserted into the cut out in the light unit.

 

20. Odd electrical problems caused by wrong battery disconnection procedure.

If you need to disconnect the battery and not do a BSI reset procedure, I have found the following has not given me any problems on a 2004 and 2007 C5 and a 2003 C3:

- remove the ignition key from the car

- open the bonnet

- wait a few minutes for the BSI to shut down

- disconnect the battery negative terminal

 

When reconnecting

- ignition key out of the car

- reconnect the battery

- wait a few minutes

- insert the key in the ignition and wait a minute

- turn the key to the first position and wait a minute

- turn the key so the dash lights come on and wait a minute

- start the engine

- take the windows down and up to reset the anti pinch

- reset the clock (and radio on the C3).

 

21. Odd electrical problems after jump starting another car.

This occurred on a Peugeot 406 but could apply to a Citroen. When jump starting another car a power spike caused the BSI software to become corrupt and the headlights would come on after the car was switched off and locked, causing the battery to go flat. It was possible to reprogramme another BSI to use but this may not always be the case, requiring a new BSI to be needed.

The problem is when you are jump starting, the regulator on the running (good) car senses a drain on itself and allows the regulator to put out more power to maintain 14.4v and if you just pull the jump lead off you are causing a power surge until the regulator adjusts itself. 9 out of 10 times it is fine but the 406 customer was just unlucky.

 

To help avoid this possibility when jump starting it is recommended to

 

- connect jump leads making sure you put the negative lead onto the engine of the flat car

- once the flat car is started do not take the leads off

- go into the good car and switch on the rear demister, headlights and foglights.

- then remove the jump leads

- now switch the headlight and demisters off one at a time.

 

This allows the regulator to catch up and regulate the power output. We are not talking about seconds here, its actually miliseconds for it to alter itself but its long enough to fry things.

 

22. Window switches fail to work properly.

Thankyou to Roders21 for this solution.

My windows stopped working correctly, to shut or open finger had to be kept on button or they would stop halfway.

Solution, replace switches £20 each from Citroen dealer.

Pop the top of the central console around the gear lever and get your hand under the switch and squeeze the catches either end of the switch, pull switch out and unplug it.

 

 

23. New C3 front fog lights not working.

Thankyou to gazard for this solution.

Front driving lamps on my 2009 C3 Exclusive 1.6HDI stopped working and the fault was traced to a leaky washer on the screen wash which allowed screen wash to flow through the wiring and all the way to the other side of the engine compartment to corrode the fuse box. As far as I know the leak occurred at the bottom of the tank and liquid must have got in to the loom via the pump wires.

The dealer was very specific that the liquid has traveled from the tank to the fuse box. I've been presented with an £1100 repair bill which has so far been been reduced by 60% with contributions from Citroen and the dealer that sold the car to me. However, Citroen covered the full cost since the owner was a good customer and the car had a full service history.

 

24. 1.4 petrol engine oil leaks.

This engine is known for oil leaks from the head gasket (near an oil way) and one has been reported on a 2010 new C3, needing a new head gasket under warranty.

 

Our 2010 C3 1.4 VTI 95 bhp petrol engine had an oil leak down the back of the engine which was where the oil pump solenoid wiring enters the block - a new solenoid was fitted under warranty. At 5 years old, 28k miles there is evidence of a slight oil leak at the timing chain end of the engine from high up. I need to remove the right wheel arch liner and possibly the engine mounting to find/see the source but internet searches suggest the timing chain tensioner seal can leak. There is also oil over the right drive shaft inner cv joint which may be a differential seal leak or possibly it is from higher up.

 

Our 2010 C3 1.4 VTI 95 bhp petrol engine also has an oil weap from the timing chain tensioner bolt. An internet search found there was a period including 2010 where the bolt was not fully tightened to 75 Nm leading to oil leaks on the EPC engines with the solution being to tighten it or replace the metal washer seal or replace the tensioner and seal. So I have today (18/9/2016) found that the bolt was not that tight and have done it up using a torque wrench. To access it though needed a lot of other bits removing (air filter box, throttle body) since the bolt is not accessible otherwise - start to finish was 3 hours with the throttle body retaining screws being very awkward to get to. If the seal or tensioner was to be replaced it needs the cam shafts locking in place so the chain does not risk jumping a tooth - a dealer quote to replace the tensioner was about £180 (parts about £40).

 

Our 2010 C3 1.4 VTI 95 bhp petrol engine had an oil leak from the driver's side differential/driveshaft seal. I had this repaired at a dealer for £157.

 

25. Camshaft position sensor failure - 2010 C3, 1.4 VTI petrol.

This happened on our C3, 15k miles. The engine management light came on, anti pollution message, went in to limp mode so the performance was poor. Fault codes were read as P0341, 0342, 0343 camshaft position sensor A bank 1 or single sensor range, low, high. Both the inlet and exhaust sensors were replaced as I thought if one has failed the other may not be too far behind. On checking, the inlet one gave a resistance measurement between all of the 3 pins and the new and exhaust only did on 2 pins. £47 for 2 sensors, they come with new O-ring seals.

 

26. Leakage of eolys fluid - red goo drips on the floor.

This appears to be a common problem and needs the fluid bag replacing since the original can deteriorate. Cost about £120. See this topic http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/21641-eolys-fluid-leaks/

 

27. Comms 2000 unit reset method to fix wipers/washers not working.

This topic by vectratot includes a method to reset the comms 2000 unit after the wipers and washers stopped working http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/22284-wipers-washers-stopped-working/?do=findComment&comment=82270

 

28. Rear suspension coil spring snapped - 2010 C3, 1.4 VTI petrol.

This happened on our C3, 22k miles, 4 years 4 months. The right side top coil broke off, discovered by finding the bit on the floor but the handling did not seem afffected. Fortunately both sides were replaced without charge by our dealer even though the car was no longer under warranty since Citroen will pay for spring failures.

 

29. Air flow meter fault - check the wiring first.

This topic by Zony found that a fault code indicating a problem with the air flow meter was finally traced to a wiring loom when replacing the meter did not give a fix. So it is recommended that if an engine management fault indicates a low or no output from the air flow meter, then first the wiring loom should be checked for damage http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/22657-c3-engine-management-light/?do=findComment&comment=83973

 

30. High temperature warnings.

This topic by Skyman fixed the problem using a dealer supplied temp sensor after trying a low cost ebay one which did not work http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/22595-temp-high-temp-warnings-fixed-by-new-sensor/

 

This occurred on our 2010 C3 1.4 VTI 96 bhp. A check on live data showed the engine coolant temperature was normal yet the high temperature warning was lit and the engine fan was running  continually. A visit to the Citroen dealer for a new temperature sensor however brought up that Citroen had just issued a recall for faulty temperature sensors on the EP engines so it would be fixed without cost to ourselves. This is done by replacing the temperature sensor with a new one or as in our case where the temperature sensor is not removeable from the thermostat housing, the housing bleed screw is removed and the temperature sensor is put in its place along with a short wiring loom.

 

31. 2010 C3 1.4 VTI 95 bhp petrol engine oil consumption.

Our car is on about 27k miles now and it is using engine oil at varying rates but may be around 1 litre in 2000 miles. The oil is not leaking on the floor so it must be being burnt. This is with the recommended Total INEO ECS 5w30 oil. An internet search indicates oil use by this engine is common and is a reason the Citroen cars with it have an oil level indicator. There are reports of this engine failing on other makes of car when the oil level was too low. The oil dipstick has a plastic section at the end which makes checking the level difficult since the oil does not wet it very well but also as it is moved up and down the dip tube it picks up oil and then shows as though the level was high. The dipstick max to min level is about 1.2 litres.

 

The car is now on about 45k miles and the oil consumption has continued at a similar rate, about 1 litre in 2000 to 3000 miles. When the level does get a bit low there is a message on the dash to check the oil level which goes once the oil has been topped up.

 

32. 2010 C3 heater warm air flap sticking.

This may be a bit early for a common problem but we had to replace the heater unit (£1352 by the dealer) since the warm air temperature rotary switch cable kept bending instead of moving the warm air flaps so the cabin could not be heated. Something to check on a 2009 on C3, if the temperature control rotary switch does not move easily over its full travel then the heater unit may need replacing. http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/24205-heater-warm-air-flap-sticking-2010-c3/ An internet search could only find one other reference to this but the dealer said they had done a few when replacing the cable did not provide a fix. To change the heater unit needs the air con refrigerant removing/replacing so this is not a diy job.

 

33. 2010 C3 1.4 VTi 95 bhp timing chain wear.

Our C3 was showing signs of timing chain wear from about 50k miles 7 years old, being noisy and then giving fault codes for cam timing. We part exchanged the car with the fault for a 1.6 hdi Cactus since a car with more internal space was needed. Timing chain wear on the VTi engines is common and at a dealer can cost around £600 to repair if all the parts are needed including the cam shaft gears and not just the chain/tensioner/guides. In September 2017 all the parts were about £300 from a Citroen dealer, maybe about £250 on-line but from eurocarparts about £600. If doing the work DIY, a timing tool kit is needed to lock everything in place and this can be £50 upwards.

 

34. 2010 C3 1.4 VTi 95 bhp exhaust front pipe bracket replacement.

The bracket that is part of the front pipe rusted off at the welds on the pipe. At the 2017 MOT it still passed but was an advisory since the exhaust was still secure. The dealer offered to weld it back on for about half an hours labour (£48) but I managed to get a repair bracket that just clamped on for £25. As an example https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-C3-1-4VTi-16v-1-6-VTi-16v-Front-Exhaust-Hanger-Mount-Repair-Kit-50mm-/282603239496

[thule]

I have a 2004 HDI 8v and keep stalling the engine when I take away can you tell me is the clutch needing adjusted 

or is it just me 

cheers

Allan

[paul.h]

Possibly the clutch master and slave cylinders need bleeding if the pedal is not lifting smoothly. The fluid should be replaced anyway every 2 years at the same time as the brake fluid is changed. Also if the revs can not be gradually increased as the accelerator pedal is pushed down then possibly the pedal needs replacing due to wear in the electrics.

[thule]

Thanks I will try and bleed the whole system and replace the fluid I think the accelerator pedal is OK the clutch pedal seems to be all the way up 

[ClaudetteC3]

I wonder if there is significance on high clutch as mine is quite high (new to me 2002 plate) I did wonder if she'll be due a change of clutch soon or if jus the way of a C3?

 

Moderator edit 12/3/2018. A high clutch pedal on the C3 is normal and just takes a bit of time to get used to.