Just limped home in 2nd gear after driving HDi Citroen Synergie 2000 W reg (96,000 miles) - up hill with 4 occupants - car was working hard at 70mph approx - sudden loss of power felt through throttle pedal, and smoke out back. Had to pull in, down to very low power, only able to do very low speeds. Not overheating, no oil leaks, auxilliary belt still on when I looked under bonnet, all electrics fine, no warning lights on. It only just made it home, I was hardly touching the throttle and was able to freewheel a lot thank God, but very little power.
Any ideas? Feels expensive. Is the cambelt hidden behind a cover? Could it have suddenley given up? Was due for renewal at 100k. Anything else it could be? I am rather concerned to say the least. Bought the car 05/09/2006 from small dealer. Will I have comeback if it's major? Am thinking cambelt (what are the signs?). Or Turbo? Or could it be anything simple (unlikely if big cloud of smoke!)
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If it was the cambelt the car wouldnt be running. Could be turbo though.
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If it was the cambelt the engine would not have been running at all. Not ticking over, not down on power, nothing. It physically could not run.
I would imagine it's the turbo, but probably a connecting pipe rather than the turbo itself.
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Jinx? Hmmm. Well at least I can rule the cambelt out. - thanks for that. What would cause all the light/mid grey smoke? Unburnt diesel? Turbos go often? Expensive?!
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That would indeed mean totally unburnt diesel or water.
Partially burnt diesel gives off black smoke.
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>>Bought the car 05/09/2006 from small dealer. WillI have comeback if it's major?
I would say you do, contact them first thing and arrange for it to be towed to them . They should cover the repair costs.
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Thanks J1mbo - dealer is approx. 110 miles away, who pay for tow to him?
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I would first check all air inlet pipes from the turbocharger to intercooler, intercooler to inlet manifold, sometimes these pop off under high load, and high turbo temp, as the pressure is high and the rubber pipes get hot and softer.
Can you hear a hissing noise when you normally expect there to be power (unlikely to hear it unless unser load, not on driveway)
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I will try and check to see if there's a hissing noise in the morning - wouldn't it be nice if a pipe had just popped off rather than a terminal engine failure! Fingers crossed.
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Just went out to listen to it, idles fine, starts no problem, but definitely different noise coming from under engine. Turbo is audible - but sounds, erm, a bit louder. Will check manifold, exhaust underneath and as many pipes as I can see tomorrow.
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I'm with Ashok and others who suggest a pipe adrift. Happened to me while towing across the A66 although my Synergie wasn't a HDi. The smoke, I believe, come from the engine management expecting air in the cylinders at high pressure but getting only atmospheric, therefore excess fuel.
Good luck.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Ummm, tricky one that but I would imagine the dealer would. Do you have any sort of "Home Start" cover or similar, might be worth trying that.
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Did the engine management light come on?
My HDi Xantia had a similar problem a couple of months ago, seemed down on power and when I revved it a little harder to make up for it, the engine management light came on and the car went into limp home mode - wouldn't let me do more than 2,100 rpm.
After a few days of gentle driving, the light went off, but it still didn't seem to be running at full power. The same thing would happen if I tried revving it hard again, going above 2,500 rpm triggered the engine management light and limp home mode.
I took it to a local independent Citroen specialist, praying it wouldn't be the turbo. They had the car a month trying to get to the bottom of it!
First, they replaced the EGR valve. Then the turbo actuator. Finally, they tracked the problem to the intercooler, which was replaced.
Still didn't seem too good when I got it back, eventually had the belt changed, which seemed to sort it out - although I'd still say it has worse low end response than it did before all the trouble - seems to have developed terrible turbo lag, which it didn't really have before.
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Did the engine management light come on?
No light on XantKing. You're story is kinda scarey. ;|
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Exactly the same as my mates Vectra's symptoms which left us stuck on the M5 for an hour (though only 2 occupants but 3 bikes + luggage). The problem was a displaced hose as others suggest. Same happened on a friend's dad's Mondeo, hose adrift.
I couldn't see anything adrift in the dark but mate thought it was turbo gone so got a tow to main dealer thinking it'd all be Warranty Direct'd, and he won't be making that mistake again!
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Mike Farrow
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The problem was a displaced hose as others suggest.
Is putting a pipe back on a simple job? DIY?!
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From my own experience, it was an easy DIY job at the roadside using a torch and a penknife Just a question of lining up 2 bits of oily plastic and tightening a large hose clip. Didn't get it right first time, it lasted about a mile! Second fix lasted until I traded the car a year later.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Thanks Hawk Eye. The other thing is in the 35 days I have owned the car, the air-conditioning warning light came on whilst driving slowly. I rang Citroen, who diagnosed (over the phone) that it is a problem with the motor for the air-con, and mentioned it has 2 internal fans/motors and it sounds like 1 is faulty, making the other one (possibly) work harder. The air-con still works, but I just get this flashing light making me feel guilty. My question is this:
As the air-con is still working, should I rush to get this job done as well? Is it possible that if this motor implodes or whatever these things do, will it throw the auxiliary belt and lock everything, throwing valves and all sorts of nasties out?
As you can tell, I'm used to this sort of thing - our previous car was a Scenic... ('Let's buy another Frecnch car - they can't all be as bad as Renault'.
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Fantastic news is that it was the pipe between the turbo and the intercooler had simply popped off under heavy load. Exminster Garage fixed whilst up on ramp (bit of a b*gger to get to). Nice easy problem, thanks all for advice. Well done again.
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This sounds all a bit similar to my Citroen Dispatch HDi (based on the Synergie). Mine had variable amounts of power, and no low end torque / top end power.
It was checked and the ECU showed up a faulty Air Mass Meter. I replaced this, but it was still sometimes iffy. Then the fuel pump leaked and left me stranded in the fens coming back from a race (complete with trailer and race car attached).
I had a new pump fitted, new cambelt etc etc, and it is better, but not perfect. A friend uses the van in the week (I only use it as race support), and after he'd had it a few weeks I got it back for a race weekend. It was very sluggish, and manovering around on the drive to line up with trailer it kept bogging down, then blowing out black smoke. This lasted until I gave it a good blast.
My main concern is that sometimes it lacks power on full throttle (no smoke), but as I release throttle, it picks up?? Its done 130k miles.
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Neil T
E90 BMW 320d M Sport, E91 330d SE Touring
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