I have lately bought a Citroen ZX Turbo Diesel (1993 K) and inherited all the problems. Whereas, the car came with 'full service history', I am not impressed with the customer service from the dealer.
I asked him if the radiator cooling fan should remain on when the engine reached normal temperature. He said that on this model Citroen (and a similar Peugeot) the fan remained on.
Not convinced I went along to the local Citroen dealer and asked. The guy behind the desk went to ask a mechanic and came to say that the fan should only operate to cool the radiator and then go off. Call me cynical, but he did not convince me either!
Can anyone with a Citroen ZX turbo diesel help?
Thanks
Pete
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Peter
I've got the ZX 1.9D, and as far as I can tell, the cooling system is the same across the range, in that it is an electrically-operated twin fan setup that is operated by a thermostat to run when engine temp reaches a certain level, and then switches off when normal temp returned to.
Mine has two whopping great fans, and having worked on mine this weekend, I can tell you they are not running all the time. In fact it took 25 minutes of idling before mine even cut in.
Rgds
Dom F
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Peter
Just remembered, they ARE the same across the range, as my Haynes Manual covers my model and yours, and makes no mention of different fan setups.
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Dom F
Thanks for your very quick reply!
Car came with a 12 month warranty, but to claim on that you have to find the cause of the problem - and that may not be covered by the warranty!
Got my mechanic coming round to night to fix some of the other problems. See if he can throw light on the cause.
Thanks again for your help.
Pete
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Peter
Cit/Pug fans are wired to operate even when the ignition is off, so the fan might stay running when the engine is turned off - until normal temperature is resumed. They should, however, switch off when the engine has come back down to normal temperature (assuming an overheat, perhaps in slow traffic).
Is your problem that the fans stay running all the time, even when the engine has cooled off? Something to be aware of - Haynes manuals do not necesarily reflect the actual wiring scheme of all models. I've just had a devil of a job sorting out defective fan operation on a 306 diesel - none of the Haynes diagrams was exactly right.
I believe that there will be a relay that switches the fan motors on and off, and this relay will be activated from a temperature sensor in the radiator. However, it might also have a thingy known as a "Bitron" in place of the relay. I don't know what this is (probably an electronic "rocket science" relay).
I drew stumps on my problem and took the car to a Pug main dealer, and he fixed it.
Ian Cook
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Ian
Thanks for your reply.
The fan will come on when the temperature reaches 'normal' (just under half way up on the gauge). Then it will stay on until I turn off the engine and will come back on again if I restart the engine while it is still hot.
Likewise I do not understand why it should be, hence my mechanic is visiting.
Pete
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Peter
This sounds like a faulty temperature sensor, i.e. it is cutting in at too low a temperature. I can't remember if the ZX has any temperature markings on the gauge, but if it does then "normal" would probably be about 80-90 deg C. I think the fans should cut in as the gauge approaches 100 deg C, or so (or possibly even a little higher).
Have a look on the back (or side) of the radiator - there will probably be a temperature sensor. If you pull the connector off, the fans should stop immediately. This should eliminate the relay as a possible fault.
Ian Cook
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Sounds like it could be, but could it also be a faulty relay, latching but not unlatching properly?
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Having owned in the region of 35-40 cars in the last 18 years, from Simcas to Vectras and everything in between, somewhere along the way I seem to recall that if the fan wasn't cooling very well, you could pull off the connector to the radiator thermostat and put it back on so that the connectors made contact in reverse (ie + with -, - with +) which made the fan come on permanently. I wonder if someone has done this with yours, Peter?
The Bitron, as far as I can tell, is a brand name thermostat unit.
Rgds
Dom F
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