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Did biofuel cause my Citroen DS3 to break down?

My 8-month-old Citroen DS3 e-HDI 110 stopped at the side of the road with the engine management light on after I had lost all power and the car refused to go above 1500 rpm. As it is the DSport version, I have the Citroen 1-Touch system helpline. An excellent AA man came out and diagnosed low fuel pressure. The car was taken to the nearest Citroen dealer and the cause was found to be a waxed-up fuel filter. Both the AA patrolman and the service manager said they have seen this several times in recent months and put it down to the amount of bio in some diesel fuel.

Asked on 4 May 2013 by TB, Diss, Norfolk

Answered by Honest John
Standard problem caused by using diesel with high biodiesel content. What happens is that the high moisture content of the biodiesel emulsifies in low temperatures, blocking the fuel filter. The problem is with the fuel rather than with the car. I ran a Mazda 5 with exactly the same Ford/PSA engine for a year on Shell Fuelsave and never had this problem.
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