Thanks for the advice on the alarm. Because of the bad weather, this weekend was the 1st chance I have had to look at it.I found a box just under and to the right of the glove compartment but could not find any loose connections.I could have a diagnostics check done but if there were the possibility that the alarm has packed up I would rather put the £70 towards a replacement rather than just to be told there is a fault.Are there independent operators around who could do a diagnostic check for a reasonable price? I will have another look at this later however I do need your advice on another problem.
On Friday we went to a wedding at York,which is about 2hrs drive away.The car ran smoothly until we got there.I had to make a right turn and as I was accelerating up a hill the engine just died.After a couple of secs it started again but the EMS light stayed on.We went into the service and when we left(about 90 mins later)the car started and the EMS light stayed off.We had no problems going to the reception and later we set off for the 2hr run home.Again no problems starting (no EMS light),a long run up the A1 at 70/80 mph and the car responded as you would expect,cruised well and overtook with no problems. As we came off the A1, turned left onto a minor road, dropped a gear and accelerated, it died again. After a couple of secs it fired up EMS light on) and we got home ok.
Over the weekend we didn’t go far and had no problems. This morning coming to work,(a journey of about 30 miles)the engine died 3 times all under the same circumstances,twice accelerating away from roundabouts and once after switching roads and accelerating again.
It appears to me that the problem occurs when the engine is running hot, i.e. at normal running temp. It seems fine if I am holding a standard pace but the second I drop the pace, change gear etc to accelerate then there is a distinct chance it will cut out. It doesn’t seem to occur when the engine is cold, but when cold it does not accelerate smoothly.
Could the alarm and accelerating problems be linked in some way, possibly through the immobiliser or can I treat these as 2 separate problems. I had thought of some sort of fuel starvation during acceleration but the thought of an EMS fault bothers me, as this could be very expensive.
FYI a new fuel pump was fitted to the tank about 6 weeks ago

Thanks for all the help today. Great advise, did not get to do the job as by the time i got my things together here in Plymouth was very wet indeed. will try again tomorrow.
Thanks again.
gav425
1997 Citroen Xantia 1.9TD 114,000

Aprilla,

"Frankly, I would still trust the reliability of an old 190E over that of a modern C-Class."

I usually enjoy reading your posts a lot and found you comment very interesting as it is very close to a dilema I currently have.

Could you clarify whether you feel you would trust an old 190 (with 6-figure mileage and wear & tear etc) more than a modern c-class, or only if there was a new equivalent of a 190.

My dilema is a wanting a/c in a large estate, and I am thinking of getting another w124 with a/c as our current one seems so good, but my brain says something like a newish mondeo has to be much better value and should be more reliable (... a test drive confirms it is far less serene). The idea of having a/c installed doesn't appeal too much on the basis that is has a fair chance of converting a car that works perfectly too rattly/unreliable etc. and we want to keep it whatever.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

no no. we were all going to die from sunburn due to the CFCs in our fridges.

Yoou shouldn't jest about bird flu though. Just because it hasn't been in the papers recently doesn't mean that a) its not out there and b) we are safe from it.

>>Am I right to say that HPI condition alert (VCAR?) vehicles are difficult to sell or does this become less important with age and declining values (the car is MOT'd)?


For your first question, yes. Read any 'how to buy a car' guide, and it'll tell you to look out for panels out of alignment, bad welding etc. This is because poor repairs, cheap non-galvanised panels & welds that have taken a large impact are likely to give rise to places where rust will start. And anyway, nobody else will buy it, even if you do! Hence the depression of prices.

On the other hand, what is more important to a buyer of an old car is whether there are 4 good tyres; whether the brake pads have 20k miles left in them; when the cambelt was last changed etc. So at that age, sensible people would prefer a well maintained V-car car over a poorly maintained nonVcar car.