C4 Picasso - Engine Management System Failure

[damobird]

I have a February 56 (2007) C4 Picasso bought as a family car to replace my 3 door C4. In May after 2500 miles, whilst doing 50mph, the car jolted, beeped and then displayed an error message "engine management system failure" - if you blinked you would miss the message. I checked the fault log visable to me and there was nothing there. Nothing else seemed to happen and I checked the manual which gave me no advice, other than if it says STOP you should STOP but it didn't do that so I carried on.

 

So, the next time in my car, I noticed the spanner, to indicate that a service is due. I rang my local garage and arranged for the car to be looked at. On the morning of it being looked at, they rang me at 9:06am to say it was ready for collection. I asked them what was wrong and they said that they didn't know so had just reset the service counter.

 

1200 miles later on a motorway at 70mph, the same thing happens again. The car jolts, beeps, my cruise turns off and my car starts to slow down until i realise what is happening and start accelerating again. I rang my garage, took it in for them to inspect and they have given me exactly the same reason as before. They don't know why it has happened - it is known as a "Phantom Fault" - great! Does that mean that every now and then whilst I am driving my car it is going to keep doing this and there is no solution? They did tell me though that if it happens again, just bring it in for them to look at. Now what is the point in that?

 

What should I do? Buy a Ford? I have emailed Citroens support but I am not holding out for much. I don't think that it is safe for a car to keep doing this!?

 

Does anyone else have any experiences of this sort of problem? What should I do? Please help!!!

 

Searching the net doesn't return much.

[kfk]

I think you will be lucky to find an answer to your problems on the net if only because your dealing with such a new model.

 

However, having read your comments i would ask if the fault has only occured with the cruise control activated and did you make mention of this to the dealer when you booked it in.

 

By far the best way to get a diagnosis on any problem is to provide as much information as possible......duration of journey, speed travelling at, type of road, weather conditions, fuel level, last switch activated etc....however trivial you may feel the information is the more important someone else might find it........as i did with the cruise control comment @ 50mph.....were you using cruise control @ 70mph?

 

I would recommend that you speak to your local dealer service manager and make him aware of your concerns.

 

People in workshops have varying skill levels, maybe you could get your vehicle booked in to be looked at by there consultant technician, obviously it would be of greater use to both parties if the fault has reoccured.

 

I would guess from your comment about the vehicle being ready by 9.06 am that the computer was plugged in .......no faults recorded, computers cleared/reinitialised and a quick spin round the block......i doubt they ran it up the motorway.

[Rich_Eason]

I think you will be lucky to find an answer to your problems on the net if only because your dealing with such a new model.

 

However, having read your comments i would ask if the fault has only occured with the cruise control activated and did you make mention of this to the dealer when you booked it in.

 

By far the best way to get a diagnosis on any problem is to provide as much information as possible......duration of journey, speed travelling at, type of road, weather conditions, fuel level, last switch activated etc....however trivial you may feel the information is the more important someone else might find it........as i did with the cruise control comment @ 50mph.....were you using cruise control @ 70mph?

 

I would recommend that you speak to your local dealer service manager and make him aware of your concerns.

 

People in workshops have varying skill levels, maybe you could get your vehicle booked in to be looked at by there consultant technician, obviously it would be of greater use to both parties if the fault has reoccured.

 

I would guess from your comment about the vehicle being ready by 9.06 am that the computer was plugged in .......no faults recorded, computers cleared/reinitialised and a quick spin round the block......i doubt they ran it up the motorway.

Daft question or just a thought...depending on how you look at it...

 

Could something like this occur due to a bad earth /fleeting eart contact/ or short somewhere?

[tom2aliuk]

We have the exact same problem with our 56 plate C4 Picasso which we purchased in Jan 07.

 

The fault occurred twice whilst travelling at 70mph on two seperate occasions over a period of 6 wks.

 

At the time of the incident the vehicle did not display any warning sign to other road users which nearly caused a serious accident.

 

Vehicle was returned to garage for repair on first occasion however fault reoccurred.

 

We are in the process of rejecting the vehicle on grounds of safety, however we are getting no assistance from the dealership or the manafacturer.

 

It would assist us greatly if you could provide a response and we will keep you updated.