Hello And Help Please. Citroen 1.3 Hdi Will Not Start

[nigel517]

hi I have just purchased a 2003 Citroen 1.3 Hdi exclusive with the intention of taking it over to my holiday villa in Turkey. I think I may have been sold a Turkey.

The car has done 109,000 and has a good service history. When I picked the car up the seller said he was selling it for a friend who had emigrated. He said that the battery had gone flat and he had managed to start it with a starter pack but didn't want to buy a new battery as it was being sold. He explained that the poor battery stopped the car getting diesel via the ecu.

The car has to be started with a cold start sprayed into the air intake and then it starts and ticks over well. I drove it home 300 miles and it generally ran well. it has two problems.

It will not start without the damp start, a new battery and reset has not cured this and although it will cruise along at 80 mph happily when you try and accelerate quickly it stutters around 3000 rpm as if a rev limiter was coming in.

Having read the various forums I feel that the problem might be the egr valve and possibly the air mass sensor. my question is before cleaning, replacing these is would they actually prevent the car from starting or just cause rough running. I need to get the car sorted soon for my trip but I feel I have bought a problem. Normally I would have walked away but having travelled 300 miles to collect it I trusted this chaps explain action. A fool I know. any help suggestions to sort the car would be appreciated.

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

The engine will be  a 1.4 hdi (1398 cc). Since it runs once started, probably most of the sensors are ok unless the engine management light is coming on (should go off once the engine is started to show the bulb is ok). When the engine is stopped, can it be restarted soon without needing the spray or is it needed only after several hours of the engine cooling ?  If there is a fuel pump hand bulb you could try using this before starting the car in case fuel is draining back to the tank, possibly due to an air leak around the fuel filter hose connections or filter lid. Poor performance could be the fuel filter needing replacing. An egr fault often gives a lot of exhaust smoke but you could check any actuator hoses connected to it for splits.

 

Anything else and it probably will need a diagnostic check to see if all the sensors are ok and giving correct values.

[nigel517]

Thanks for that. It just refuses to start hot or cold unless you use the spray. Then it runs great until you take the revs to over 3000 . The engine management light goes out but flickers r

Then goes out again if you try and take it above 3000rpm.n

[paul.h]

Still try using the hand fuel pump but I suspect you are going to need a diagnostic check. If done at a Citroen dealer they will use the correct equipment (Lexia) and will be able to check all the sensors. Without the check you could replace lots of parts until you find what is wrong.

[coastline taxis]

Change the fuel and air filter and check the camshaft sensor

[nigel517]

thanks for the replies I will keep you posted.