Eco On New C4 Picasso

[Tim-Ann]

Hi there,

 

I have a 7 day old C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi VTR+ when I collected the car the ECO system worked fine.  However 3 days later it stopped working so I booked it in to the Bradford Citroen dealer and was told that the ECO system would not run whilst using any repeat any of the heating or cooling settings this meant that everything including the fan had to be off for the ECO system to work now what use is that I ask.

 

I have spoken to another owner who says his works using everything so I've asked Citroen direct who so far have been evasive passing me on to Customer Service another day wasted without answering my simple question should it work with the heating cooling systems running I can understand that the A/C would drain the battery so does the DAB radio if that was the case then the ECO would start the engine or cease the heating cooling items that are draining the battery.

 

So does anyone on the forum use the ECO system and does it work when the heating or cooling fan is running?

 

Many thanks, Tim.

[pureity]

Tim,

 

I would say that the Bradford Citroen dealer hasn't a clue. Mine works with Air Con on and Head lights on. If the Head Lights are on then ECO doesn't stay on for long but without the Headlights on Air Con and Radio on there is no problem. It all depends on the load on the battery, but at least it should kick in.

 

Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that the dealers don't really have a clue what they are dealing with.

 

Paul.

[john h]

Cars in general have become much too technical, even main dealers and mechanics cant keep up, at the end of the day whatever the fault its going to be expensive for the owner.

[Tim-Ann]

Hi there,

 

Many thanks for your replies, most of my conversations have been with Citroen direct who again seem to be stating that it is how the system works and that if I forget AC which I know is a big drain on the battery and only have the fan on the lowest level then the ECO light flashes but the engine does not stop.  If I have everything off and then it does stop but if I turn the fan on then the engine restarts, that to me is madness and probably means I can only use ECO mode it the temperature range of 10 to 16 degrees the only times when I can have the window open.

 

I was also told that with the AC and Fan off the air vents should work but they don't either so to me the ECO system on my car seems worthless, its not going to cost me anything it is only 18 days old, but I might get rid of it.

 

Again many thanks for your help, Tim.  

[paul.h]

For those like myself who know nothing about the ECO system I had a quick look in the new C4 Picasso handbook on the service.citroen site (documentation de bord, select language and then the car ).

 

The ECO system is the STOP / START system which should reduce fuel use in stop/start town driving conditions. Depending on the gearbox type, when going slow/in neutral/clutch pedal released/stopped, the engine will stop unless there is a demand that needs the engine to run, such as needing to keep a comfortable temperature in the cabin, demisting is being used, where the engine is needed to maintain a control and it lists battery charging, engine temperature, braking assistance, ambient temperature. There are other cases where the engine will not stop (or will automatically start again except for 6 mph case - here it starts if it goes above 15 mph) - a driver's door open(s), driver's seat belt not fastened (is undone), since starting the engine the car has not reached 6 mph, the electric parking brake is being used. The engine will start again if the clutch pedal is pressed/gearbox taken out of neutral/put in reverse - depending on the type of gearbox.  

 

 

Now applying this to the original post and the ECO not working, possibly the battery voltage has dropped a bit so it needs charging, I am not sure about the particular car but normally the air con compressor is driven by a belt from the engine crankshaft pulley and not electrically - so if the air con is wanted then the engine must run. Without the air con but just running the cabin fan, probably would let the ECO system work unless the battery voltage dropped. If you have a look under the bonnet you should be able to see the air con compressor and if it is driven from the engine. So it could be in hot weather you have to accept the ECO system will not work if you want to run the air con.

[Tim-Ann]

Hi there,

 

Thanks for your reply, it did work for the first few days from new and I have done long runs 100 miles plus and still it does not work.  Please understand I am aware that AC would demand the engine running but not just level 1 of the the fan which has 8 levels 1 being the lowest,  What I'm asking is anyone here running a similar car to mine and does their ECO stop work when the AC is off but the fan in on level 1?

 

Many thanks for your reply, Tim.

[paul.h]

If not done already, you could join the Picasso forum and post the same question or put a link on it to here. There is a link to the Picasso forum on the home page or you could use this one http://www.citroenpicasso.org.uk/picasso/