Engine Management Faulty

[Guest nelson]

My C3 2006 with high milage has the engine management system faulty light coming on and it goes into 'limp home mode'. This has righted itself twice and i brought it to garage and had sensor fitted and this worked for 20 minutes! The revs go to 3000 when started and then to 2000 and stays. Sounds like a tractor.Has been put on computor with no faults showing. Not going to Citroen garage as have been put off by charges for unnecessary costs for recoding a spare key! Help please as this has been going on for 6 weeks now and several garages later........

[Dave444]

I have had many engine management faults in my C3 2005 (low mileage) and been in limp home mode a couple of times. Solution is to stop, wait 2 minutes, start again and its OK. I think the computer chip needs to reset and/or reboot. After a day or two the warning light goes out again usually but I have had fuel injectors replaced and a fuse box PCB replaced for difficult starting. Trouble still shows from time to time especially if the car is left unused for a month or so. I just live with it.

 

Dave

[Guest nelson]

Hi Dave. thanks for reply. My C3 started by going into 'limp home' intermittently but now it is doing it all the time!! There is a topic on it already on the forum seemingly but i have gone thru all the pages and cant locate it

[paul.h]

What model/engine is your C3 and which sensor was replaced ?

[Dave444]

I know that many Citroen dealers charge a lot for computer analysis of faults but I have not been charged at all (at least in a direct way) by the one I go to which is in Ash Vale near Farnborough. Tel 01252 373716. I have no connection with the business. I am only a customer. If you live anywhere near I can recommend them.

 

My engine management faults have often gone away by the time I can reach a garage but three persistent ones have been dealt with by the above. I have had a new automatic gearbox under warranty which was the worst one. Would have cost me more than £4000.

 

One of the problems from the computer is that the route cause of the trouble sparks off a whole list of consequential fault reports which can be very misleading. It takes a bit of experience to deal with that.

 

Sometimes I think the old system was better. You didnt know what was wrong till you heard some noises and the engine blew up but at least it didn't go into limp home mode. The engine management system might protect you from serious damage to your car but is it worth it? It is not accurate enough at pinning down the faults in my opinion.

 

Bottom line is that the average motorist really has no choice but to go to a Citroen dealer but find a good one.

 

Dave

[Guest nelson]

What model/engine is your C3 and which sensor was replaced ?

 

Its a 2006 series 2 1.1 VSX 5 door petrol C3. I havent a clue what sensor was replaced!!!! It started ok this morning again! Eng management system failure light coming on though so its a bit baffling that it seems to right itself automatically!!

 

Update! Just happened again after being no more than 10 mins on the road so Any ideas please? unfortunatly I dont live in dublin and I really dont want to have it misdiagnosed and pay out hundreds only to have it 'limp home' again. But I dont have many choices I guess!

[paul.h]

The only time I have had the engine management light come on was when a fuel injector failed after heavy rain. The car (2003 1.4sx petrol) then only ran on 3 cylinders and was only cured by replacement of the injector. You may end up having to pay for diagnostic work since there are many things that could be replaced before finding the actual fault. However, some things to look for could include an air leak, split hose on the air inlet to the manifold, clean the throttle plate area, a problem with the idle stepper motor fastened to the throttle body such as loose connection/bad wiring (this sets the idle speed), any other loose connections, check if any servicing is due such as air filter and spark plug replacement. You may find the Haynes manual will help.

[Guest nelson]

ok. Thanks again Paul. Looks like i might have to go to Citroen garage :) Can the Haynes Manual be downloaded or only bought?

[paul.h]

Unfortunately Haynes manuals only seem to be available as printed copies. Most car accessory shops sell them for about £18 plus they are sometimes in libraries.

[Guest nelson]

Hi again. My C3 had to be rescued by recovery truck when the rev s went so high and the brakes couldnt stop the car :angry: Luckily there wasnt a car in front and i mounted the footpath and turned off the key!! I had it brought to the Citroen garage who put it on the Lexia computer and it showed up that the throttle motor was stuck. In fairness to them they tried to free it but couldnt so had to replace it ( the eng man light went out the minute the new motor went in!). That was 3 days ago and its running fine now.........touch wood!! So thanks to everyone who showed interest. I'l post again if it stops working!

[firas taqash]

Hi I have citroen c3 and its not working after a snow storm ..it appears on the screen eng man system and the engine sound like a tractors ..I tried to switch it several times but its not working ...so any advices please

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

If the engine management light has come on then a fault code reader should be used to get the fault code which will give a good indication of what is wrong. If it is related to the snow, then maybe the engine or a sensor has become wet and once dried it may be ok. You could also check in the air filter inlet and the filter in case snow has got in there and blocked it or if the filter has become wet. If it has suddenly become noisy then check if there is enough oil in the engine. You could also check if the exhaust pipe has become blocked at the exit if it is covered in snow. Check the engine coolant level is between min and max on the expansion tank and if it did not have anti freeze in then it is possible the coolant water has frozen and possibly damaged the engine.