jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Does this sound right..?

The mother in-law's '52' C3 (@24k) nearly died on her the other morning and threw a CEL. When I tried it later the same day it drove fine, however the CEL remained on.

I suggested disconnecting the battery overnight in an attempt to reset ECU/CEL, although I'm not certain if a reset can be performed on a Citroen in this way. Also suggested bunging in some injector cleaner wouldn't hurt (cars mainly used for very short journeys to shops and back..!).

Anyhow, they called the 'mechanic' they've always used, who took it away for a few hours, brought it back claiming to have reprogrammed it (no replacement parts) and charged them £260 FFS..!

Am I right in suspecting they've been had and all he's done is reset the ECU..?

Thoughts please..

Devildog

If not done by a citroen dealer then yes, I'd suggest the mechanic is taking the mick

AndyMoody

iTrader: (2)

My wife had a 1.4 C3 on a 52 plate, worse reliable car in the world. It had CEL light coming on and off, fuel injector failure twice due to design fault where the water from the washer jets drip straight onto the injector and causes them to short out and fail. When the injector fails it runs on 3 cylinders and the CEL comes on. New injector is £75ish plus labour. It is covered by a Citroen Technical bulletin but they didn't want to cover it the second time under warranty. Check this and replace with new modified jets. Also front suspension is on a recall, check VOSA site. We had front spring snap and whole lot dropped causing a fair bit of damage. Luckily at very low speed or could have been much worse, Citroen don't give a sh%$e about it either. Wiper linkage failed, many ECU updates, fuel pipe came off injector rail after the first injector failed, dealer said they fitted it properly but it poured petrol everywhere and was very lucky not to go up in flames, probably best thing could have happened to it really.

We p/x'ed it for a Honda as we could never rely on it working. If you want anymore info I'll see what I can dig out.

Andy.

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Actually, it was £280 and as far as I'm aware it hasn't been near a main dealer..! Lol, mother in-law gets all defensive if I suggest the guy has had them in, they've used him for years, but I've noticed little things before such as unchanged air filters etc..

Andy, thanks for the heads up.. the ECU updates you had done by the dealer, were they a reflash of sorts..?

The car has already had the injector changed (iirc they're a single injector into inlet manifold), which went less than a month out of warranty. In-laws complained and ended up having to paying a 'contribution' (~£80 iirc), but I'm now wondering if the same thing is on it's way out again..?!

How do I find out about the suspension recall, as I'm certain the car hasn't been recalled and would it still be eligible at over 5yrs old..?

Other than this the car has been fairly reliable considering it's driven so badly and only ever does 1-2miles at a time..!

AndyMoody

iTrader: (2)

I think they were reflashes, dealer called them updates.......it had many. There is plenty of info on the net about C3's cutting out at junctions and stuff which I sure even made it on to BBC Watchdog. I must admit the car was much better after the last lot of 'updates'. These can only be done by a main dealer. As to the suspension see here: http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/rec...hes/search.asp hopefully the link works, if not stick in C3 from Jan 2001 to present day and a good few come up. C3 from Nov 01 to Nov 03 affected. Seems dealer should fit some cup but ours completely snapped the coil spring in half leaving a bit laying on the road and one end of it was rusty so it had been broken a good while before it snapped and dropped the wheelarch liner onto the wheel. It smashed the liner, car couldn't move and had to be recovered causing even more damage to the lip spoiler. The dealer did replace both suspension legs, got car recovered and replaced spoiler and liner outside warranty period. It seems that Citroen are fully aware of this problem but its cheaper only to replace and repair those that fail rather than recall them back to the dealer. I dread to think why may have been the consequences if travelling at 70mph on a motorway or dual carriageway, the car couldn't steer or anything. Also the balljoint had massive play if the same side which collapsed in my opinion caused by strain on it when the failure happened, main dealer and Citroen Customer Services were having none of it even after lots of phone calls, letters to MD etc etc. Dealer wanted £120ish to replace, I got part from a different main dealer for £32 and the bloke I use to service my Scooby fitted it in about 20 mins for about £20



As to the injectors, Citroen did the first one under warranty, then when it failed again even after being told by the main dealer it was a Technical Bulletin that the washers leaked they said it was down to us to pay again about £175ish as the injector is £75. They said the bulletin was issued after the first replacement so tough luck. Eventually they did decide to pay for that to be done but it took ages for them to decide and we had to go to area Manager to decide. Look under the bonnet for water stains around the washer jets, new jets are £3 each or might even be a pair and have rubber seals to stop it happening again. The injectors are also supposed to be modified with silicon sealer on the sides to stop water ingress. If your one has a modified one look for a white blob of sealant in a hole on the side of the injector.

I would never buy another Citroen, I had 3 Peugeots before the Scooby and they weren't reliability nightmares even though PSA Group are Peugeot ****roen. My wifes car had done nearly 50000 in less than 5 years, we lost count of the visits back to get to repaired. We were on first names terms with the Service Manager and the Receptionist.

Sorry for such a long reply but lots to say about C3's !!!!!!

Andy

BOB.T

If you get an electrical fault on a C3 it's always worth disconnecting the battery, touching terminals together (whilst NOT being connected to or touching the battery!!) and reconnecting. It should, in most cases get you on your way and to a dealer

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Interesting, how did you find that one out..?

BOB.T

I have a mate who used to work a Citroen