Xsara 1.4I Engine Dies While Driving, Now It Won't Start

[brokencross]

Hi guys, first of all this is my first post in this forum, and as you can guess it's not for the best reasons, but thanks in advance if someone can give me some hints on what is happening with my car.

 

I have a 2001 Xsara 1.4i Break.

 

So it all started when I was driving normally and suddenly the engine would just die on me, the first times it happened it started fine, but one time I tried to start it, the engine turned over but nothing. That would be always the issue that lead me to an electrician, which already happened two times.

 

So, the tank had petrol and it did detect it while the ignition was in the position II but if I tried to start it, the petrol needle would dip as if it had none.

I replaced the battery, thinking that might be the issue.

 

So I took it to a car electrician and he said it was the crash sensor that was acting up and it needed to be replaced. He also checked the petrol pump and it was working fine.

So he replaced that sensor and the car was running fine, but it never again started after the first turn over, it just took almost 3 or 4 turn overs for it to fire.

 

Some time after, the car started to show the same symptoms. So I went to the electrician again and after a week he said it was the wire plug from the ECU that was oxidized so he cleaned it and car was running again.

But again, the engine wouldn't start immediately like it would before all this mess, it needed to turn over more than 3 times.

 

Some days ago it started to die down again while I was driving, one time it did even show the check engine light and showed a message related to engine failure. I tried to start it and it made a grinding noise. But after a couple minutes waiting, I turned the key and it fired up.

A week after it would die at least a time a week while I was driving, no matter the situation but it would start again.

 

So yesterday, I was going out and the car just refused to start. The engine would turn over but it wouldn't fire, the needle showed half tank while in position II, but if I tried to start it the needle would just plunge.

 

The second time this happened, the electrician checked the coils and they were working, even though before all this happening there wasn't any electricity passing by so the spark plugs wouldn't do anything.

So it must be an electrical issue, I guess.

 

As it is the third time this happens I'm going to an official shop to see if they can sort it out via check-up but I'd love to know if someone could actually give me any pointers related to this issue.

 

Thanks!

Edited December 24, 2014 by brokencross

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

It could be the crankshaft sensor that has failed. These often start to fail when the engine is hot, stopping the engine, but once cooled down will let it run again. Eventually they will not let the engine run. A new one from a Citroen dealer will be about £25 and if the same as on the 1.4 petrol 75 bhp C3 it does not take long to replace. Other possibilities could be a cam shaft sensor or the ignition coil.

 

I would not bother using the electrician again, you have wasted your time/money and if you had gone to a Citroen dealer or Citroen specialist with the right diagnosis equipment this would probably have been fixed first time.

[brokencross]

Welcome to the forum.

 

It could be the crankshaft sensor that has failed. These often start to fail when the engine is hot, stopping the engine, but once cooled down will let it run again. Eventually they will not let the engine run. A new one from a Citroen dealer will be about £25 and if the same as on the 1.4 petrol 75 bhp C3 it does not take long to replace. Other possibilities could be a cam shaft sensor or the ignition coil.

 

I would not bother using the electrician again, you have wasted your time/money and if you had gone to a Citroen dealer or Citroen specialist with the right diagnosis equipment this would probably have been fixed first time.

Yep. You are very right, I shoul've gone to Citroen the first time.

Thank you very much.

[brokencross]

Well, I called Citroen and they said they could only accept my car to be checked up starting on the 29th, since their shop was really busy and it didn't had many mechanics due to the holidays.

I also talked to a guy who happened to have a Xsara 1.6 HDi. He told me his car was doing the same and since he replaced the fuel filter it didn't happen anymore. I have no idea if that's the solution to my issue, since it was running on and off between "fixes".

I don't recall having the fuel filter replaced since I bought the car back in 2001, and since it is cheap it wouldn't hurt to replace it. What do you guys think?

[paul.h]

Since your car is a petrol 1.4, I think it will not have a fuel filter that needs changing as often as on a diesel and I think it is not likely to be the cause of your problems. A check on the eurocarparts site (without using your car reg) lists a filter for about £5 so no big cost to replace. The ones on diesel engines have to be replaced every 2 to 4 years or 30 to 40k miles  since they can block up with dirt and also sludge which can restrict performance or reduce the fuel pressure so the engine will not run.

[brokencross]

Since your car is a petrol 1.4, I think it will not have a fuel filter that needs changing as often as on a diesel and I think it is not likely to be the cause of your problems. A check on the eurocarparts site (without using your car reg) lists a filter for about £5 so no big cost to replace. The ones on diesel engines have to be replaced every 2 to 4 years or 30 to 40k miles  since they can block up with dirt and also sludge which can restrict performance or reduce the fuel pressure so the engine will not run.

Yes, I thought about that, since petrol is a lot more cleaner than diesel, but then again I think it has never been changed and the car is 13 years old. So I'll check that and report back with results. Thanks!

[coastline taxis]

check your earth leads to both bodywork and engine

[brokencross]

Well, I've got updates. Turns out it was the main plug in the engine bay that was making bad contact. So with some vibration, a pin or a bad wire would give out and the car would stall or not start at all. Since Citroen only admitted the car starting on the 8th, I called another electrician and after some troubleshooting he decided to check said plug. After pulling or some playing with the plug,  the car would start/stall so that was obviously the culprit.

 

And since problems don't come alone, the power window motor decided to break as well. 

 

But anyways, I do think it's the end of the issue. Thank you all for your help!