Please Help!

[Unclemowg]

Hi guys,

Recently bought a Citreon C4 VTR+ petrol. Last week I went to start it and it wouldn't go, I could hear the starter trying to start it but it would give up after a couple seconds of turning the key. After a few attempts I left it and managed to get a lift to work. Once i'd finished I came home and thought i'd try my luck. It started first time, but on the screen presented a message 'pollution system faulty' I took it for a drive round my village to see if it made any differance but it hadn't. I turned it off and left it over night. Started it the next morning and all errors had disappeared. Anyway it had been running sweet for about a week until this morning, except this time I cant get it started. Does anybody have any idea what this could be ? Or experienced anything like this? Please help I dont have enough money to diagnose and spend money on parts which may or may not fix it. Thanks in advance, Ollie

[Johndouglas]

If you have a multimeter take a reading across the battery terminals before you attempt to start the engine. You should get a reading of around 12.7. Anything less than 12.7 shows a battery that's on it way out OR you've been doing a lot of short runs where the battery hasn't been sufficiently charged. Once the engine is running the voltage reading should be 14.3 or maybe slightly more.

[Unclemowg]

Thankyou John, will have a look when I get the oppertunity

[paul.h]

You also need to use a code reader to see what fault the car has logged. Did the engine management light also come on or not go out when the message appeared ? The pollution system faulty message means something that has an effect on the engine running and exhaust emissions is faulty. It could be anything but to try and replace parts without doing the code reader check could result in many parts being replaced and wasted cost until you find the right one. Things that can prevent it starting if faulty include the crank shaft and cam shaft sensors but also many others.

[Unclemowg]

Yes the engine managment light came on aswell, after I parked it and left it over night both engine mangement light and the fault message had disappeared. I continued to drive it without fault until yesterday I went to start it and it wouldn't start. Cant hear the fuel pump priming and no matter how long the key is turned it will only try to turn over for a couple seconds before giving up. Making me think it could possibly be immobiliser/ crankshaft sensor problems?

[Unclemowg]

And yes I will try and get it plugged into a lexia, as soon as possible and hopefully it'll show where the fault lies