Hi From A Frustrated Limping C8 Owner

[Coffeejohnny]

I have been looking in to joining for sometime now I have chosen to join now as I am trying to find answers to help get my car back on the road. Prior to the C8 I had a Xsara Picasso

 

The C8 seemed to be a great buy until things started going wrong :(  I was going to cut my losses and just get rid of it but I can't rally afford to do that either so I am stuck with it. When it is back up and running hopefully I can be a happy Citroen owner again.

 

Briefly it is in limp mode and the engine light is not working at all so not sure where to start. Fault code reader doesn't read it, so will need to get the lexia tool I think. That's if I decide to keep it. Faults that I remember being told of were EGR and turbo related.

 

 

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Which engine, what year and how many miles ?

 

If the egr and turbo faults are showing together then it could be a split/holed vacuum pipe. So check all the pipes to the actuators are in good condition before even thinking about anything expensive. This is from the C5 Common Problems topic:

 

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11. C5 2.2 hdi 136 hp only, swirl plate diaphragm actuator ball cup breaks.

Vacuum leak/turbo fault codes (any engine).

Located at the left end of the cylinder head. Symptoms may be loss of acceleration, engine management light, increased fuel economy. The plastic ball cup may be replaced on its own (10 mins) or the complete actuator replaced (several hours DIY), about £20 but the cup is not available separately. This topic has a few notes on how to replace the part http://www.citroen-o...ragm#entry40936

 

There is a diy fix here if not able or want to get the dealer part http://www.citroen-o...-to/#entry82945

 

I read in Car Mechanics a case where the actuator had a vacuum leak which resulted in the engine management light and limp mode and fault codes for over boost and turbo regulation fault. The slow loss of vacuum reduced it also to the turbo wastegate so turbo boost level dropped, the ecu then increased the boost control duty cycle which then deactivated the swirl control increasing the vacuum boost and tripping the EML/limp mode. These fault codes have also been reported here and it turned out to be a split in the vacuum pipe to the egr valve actuator - so any cause of a vacuum leak should be looked for before touching the turbo.

[Coffeejohnny]

Thanks yes its the 2.2 Hdi 2005 model 88000 miles. I have been looking through those posts. Issue I have is the accessibility of the engine. Need to be able to get under it I think. 

 

I had seen this post but hadn't gotten to trying to trying it. I cleaned the Airflow sensor today and will have a look at this solution tomorrow. Thank you

Edited May 23, 2016 by Coffeejohnny

[Coffeejohnny]

Thought I would add here issues that have been resolved on this car to date.

 

Starter motor intermittently working and then not, this cost the life of a fuse plate from the battery. Citroen wanted to replace the whole cable and this wasn't going to be cheap.

 

Cut off the fuse plate and replaced it with a mega fuse and required fittings. This included replacing the fuse plate with a standard fitting such as what is used to bolt the earths to the body. One on to the battery clip and one to the wire.

 

The starter motor was replaced and this then put an end to the intermittent fault which also was costing money in replacement fuses. 

[Coffeejohnny]

Faults as I am aware.

 

As above, car in limp mode. Constant hiss from the turbo, this sounds more and more like a split pipe and I need to find out but I am trying to find an english manual to help with looking into these issues.

 

Screen wash pump repeatedly popping the fuse, all wiring appears to be correct and cannot appear to find the cause here. This means that I have no screen wash and that is annoying.

 

Window winders appear to be slowing and in some cases not closing unless being taken to the full open position.

 

If I get these sorted I will report back what was done to remedy the issues.

[paul.h]

Some info here for a workshop manual http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/23950-c8-workshop-manual/

[Coffeejohnny]

Thank you, had seen that I think I will go for the ebay one as I have a mac, although I may get a cheap laptop if I am going to keep the car as I will get the lexis tool too.