C5 2.2 Td Performance

[clarenceover]

My beloved Xantia has developed an electrical problem, coupled with the fact it has done 183,000 miles it was time for a change. (It's on ebay this week with tax & mot).

 

My company has the VTR estate which I presume is the 136bhp version (06 reg.). They are very quick with a light responsive throttle.

 

So based on this I got myself an 02 reg. C5 2.2 TD SX. It is a lovely car with lots of toys onboard and looks very good but the performance is poor and the fuel economy is still open for debate.

It has a very heavy throttle which needs a hobnail boot and a brick to extract any performance. The car is best at climbing hills in a low gear. Even on a motorway 5th (which is very, very tall and certainly doesn't help) has to be abandoned for a lower gear when a hill is reached...........I had no idea the M11 was so hilly. It genuinely feels like I'm going to have to cut a hole in the floor under the accelator pedal when going up any incline to get more room to push it down. I do feel something is wrong. My 1.9TD SX Xantia is much faster from a standstill and there is absolutley no comparison with hill climbing. The Xantia will climb any hill in 5th on a motorway.

 

I know there is a big question over claimed fuel consumption according to the Honest John website. Supposedly better than the Xantia 1.9 (40mpg) with 44mpg claimed for the 2.2 C5. I'd be happy if it could match the Xantia for mpg! It is a bigger car of course but what I CANNOT live with this is the completely lacklustre acceleration and hill climbing....................................................HELP!

[Johndouglas]

There's obviously something wrong. It should be like a rocket. Sounds like there's no turbo boost.

[Ronin]

It could be a number of things but lets start with the simple and obvious things to check first.

Check/replace the air filter and check the airbox for any obstructions from leaves etc. Also check the rubber air inlet hose for any splits, this can actually effect the air pressure sensor and prevent the boost pressure of the turbo from rising properly. Check that all the jubilee clips are secured.

 

Now check and replace the fuel filter especially if you are not sure when it was last done. get hold of some electrical contact cleaner (Maplins) and take off each sensor connector block that you see one at a time, clean, spray and reconnect them making sure that the terminals aren't corroded (powdery blue/geen colour).

 

Next, get hold of some diesel fuel injector cleaner fuel additive and add it to the tank on a re-fuel, you will notice an improvement if you have any clogged jets within 50 miles or so.

 

I'm not to sure about the 2.2 hdi but the 2.0hdi had a few problems with the EGR valve, you could by-pass it and see if the performance returns then you have your answer. Sorry but I'm not too sure where it's exact location is.

If any of that doesn't help then it is a little more serious and it would be advisable to get the car booked in to an independant citroen specialist for a fault code check on the ECU. 9 times out of 10 it's usually a faulty sensor that can be easily replaced.

 

Worst case scenario you can expect is either a new fuel pump required which is easily replaced and located in the fuel tank and accessed from under the rear bench seat inspection cover..... Or its the turbo which is rare indeed. It could be a simple issue of bleeding boost pressure from a loose pipes leading to the inlet plenum chamber.

I hope you get this sorted but let us know how you get on please. It helps other owners find solutions a lot easier. ;)

[clarenceover]

HI Ronin,

 

Thank you very much for the comprehensive reply.

It was an ebay car as was my Xantia. Actually i didn't drive it! Except when I'd payed up and left.

I've discovered that our speedy C5 estates at work are 2.0 versions. This makes me feel even worse over the performance of my 2.2 as I'd based the purchase of mine on the speediness of the estates

Coupled with the fact I've have just read about cambelt failures before 100k, mines got 95K and a bit on the clock!

I have a Citroen dealer a few 100yds down the road. I'll look at some of the things you mention, and get a new belt fitted if it doesn't go bang first. Then I'll let you know how I did.

[davidad]

Did you get the problem fixed? My 04 2.2hdi estate has started suffering from occasional loss of power. I have a handy uphill stretch of motorway nearby which is useful for performance testing. Usually if I floor the accelerator at 65-70 mph in 6th it will (if I let it) reach a very illegal speed by the top of the hill but this morning it wouldn't accelerate at all yet further on in the journey it was back to its usual self. Having had a similar problem with a previous car due to a sticky egr valve I removed the engine covers only to find that the egr valve on this engine is buried between the engine and the bulkhead and looks like a nightmare to remove. Has anyone any experience of removing the egr valve on the 2.2 or any suggestions as to what else might be causing the problem?

 

The car has done 72k miles with a full service history and had the particulate filter and eloys done a few months ago. Fuel consumption is unchanged at about 40-42 mpg.

[Ronin]

Did you get the problem fixed? My 04 2.2hdi estate has started suffering from occasional loss of power. I have a handy uphill stretch of motorway nearby which is useful for performance testing. Usually if I floor the accelerator at 65-70 mph in 6th it will (if I let it) reach a very illegal speed by the top of the hill but this morning it wouldn't accelerate at all yet further on in the journey it was back to its usual self. Having had a similar problem with a previous car due to a sticky egr valve I removed the engine covers only to find that the egr valve on this engine is buried between the engine and the bulkhead and looks like a nightmare to remove. Has anyone any experience of removing the egr valve on the 2.2 or any suggestions as to what else might be causing the problem?

 

The car has done 72k miles with a full service history and had the particulate filter and eloys done a few months ago. Fuel consumption is unchanged at about 40-42 mpg.

There is another possibility which has come to light on my Dad's hdi a few days ago. It started to have poor performance over the past six months, We went through the checks described in my previous post and it did improve but not by much.

I was stood over the engine looking & listening for fuel or air leaks while Dad was revving it and nothing seemed wrongl.

then my Grandad came out & noticed the accelerator cable slightly moving. (trust him to spot the obvious) Even though Dad was putting his foot right down it wasn't opening the linkage right up. He turned off and held down the pedal and sure enough it was moving the linkage very little indeed.

 

Once again we went to our friendly service manager at Croxdale Citroen and asked his opinion. Sure enough its a common issue and it is blamed on the cable stretching or sticking with age and wear. Imagine having your accelerator halfway down. The car will still rev high enough to hit the rev limiter but it isn't enough to open the pump enough to deliver the extra fuel..... So the pressure won't be enough to get any benefit from the turbo.

My Grandad said to both of us "What have I told you two before? Always look at the bloody obvious first!"

 

They replaced the cable and amazingly the power came back. Dad has reliably informed me that it is like a rocket in comparison so the cable has been stretching like that for a long, long time.

 

Hope it helps :huh: