Judder When Running

[robcmar]

My son bought a 1.4 petrol C3 after driving my 1.6hdi and is now having problems with his.

 

There is a slight judder when accelerating and at the same he noticed this the warning light for the air con came on. This light doesn't stay on all the time though. Could there be a connection, is this (the juddering) a sign that the air con needs servicing ?

[paul.h]

What year/mileage/model is the car, any engine warning lights ? Is the air con manual/climate control, was the warning light mentioned the one on the on/off switch ? Does the air con operate normally when switched on ?

 

Known problems (and from experience of our 2003 1.4SX) include

- fuel injector failure due to water from rain or washer jets dripping on to the injectors through the jet mounting hole in the bonnet - in our case at 25k miles after heavy rain, this also gave the engine warning light and poor running/misfiring all the time. There are posts on this.

- accelerator pedal needing replacement as the electrical pot in the pedal wears - in our case to set off high revs were needed to prevent it juddering at low revs. A new pedal was £30 to 40 a few years ago and was a stock item and from memory only 2 nuts hold it in place.

 

Other possibilities could include usual servicing items such as air filter, spark plugs, throttle body/plate cleaning, air leak between air flow meter and inlet manifold.

Also possibly coolant temperature sensor fault, crank position sensor starting to fail - symptoms worsen to failing to start particularly when hot, ignition coil pack starting to fail, a problem with the clutch or a CV joint.

[paul.h]

Deleted - internet probs resulted in repeated posts.

[paul.h]

Deleted - internet probs resulted in repeated post three times

[robcmar]

What year/mileage/model is the car, any engine warning lights ? Is the air con manual/climate control, was the warning light mentioned the one on the on/off switch ? Does the air con operate normally when switched on ?

 

Known problems (and from experience of our 2003 1.4SX) include

- fuel injector failure due to water from rain or washer jets dripping on to the injectors through the jet mounting hole in the bonnet - in our case at 25k miles after heavy rain, this also gave the engine warning light and poor running/misfiring all the time. There are posts on this.

- accelerator pedal needing replacement as the electrical pot in the pedal wears - in our case to set off high revs were needed to prevent it juddering at low revs. A new pedal was £30 to 40 a few years ago and was a stock item and from memory only 2 nuts hold it in place.

 

Other possibilities could include usual servicing items such as air filter, spark plugs, throttle body/plate cleaning, air leak between air flow meter and inlet manifold.

Also possibly coolant temperature sensor fault, crank position sensor starting to fail - symptoms worsen to failing to start particularly when hot, ignition coil pack starting to fail, a problem with the clutch or a CV joint.

[robcmar]

Thanks for that. Eventually diagnosed as air con needed servicing and the piston 'controls' were malfunctioning. £280 later everything fine !