Car problem...we're all stumped

[hammerman]

Ok...car is Citroen Xsara estate 1.4i petrol T reg....60k miles

Had it for nearly a year now and i have a big problem with the car mis-firing. The problem has been there since i bought the car but is getting progresivly worse. Sometimes, when i start the car, it will feel "lumpy"...almost like the fuel is too rich or is running on 3 cylinders and will then stall....this can happen 2 or 3 times....or not at all.

When i'm driving along, it may start "bunny-hopping" and mis-fire for a second or two. But it's round town where it seems worse particulary when i'm coming to a stop at a junction or lights when the car will just stall.

It will tick over fine but then all of a sudden the revs drop and it stalls. It can sometimes smell a bit "fumey" but it flew through the MOT last week. My brother in law (B-I-L) is a mechanic and it's got him stumped. We changed the coil last week and that didn't have any effect.


Personally, it feels like an electrical problem to me but my B-I-L thinks it could be fuel related. So where do we start...plugs ? (they were changed 2 years ago atnd have done around 20,k miles), fuel filters ? engine management system ? fuel pump ?

Any help would be very welcome Thanks

[code1]

Sounds like an injection problem...Revving then dying could point to fuel management problem.

Is it smoking ? - Blue or dark smoke.

Any chance of putting it on a good diagnostic computer ?.

There are only 2 choices - Fuel or Electric -

In the long run, it might even save you money, as changing bits to find the root problem might be more costly.

[Toureman]

It can be so many things but check the main connectors that go into the ecu, they can get corroded over time causing faults like yours.

[TWR]

Hi, Has the fuel filter been changed? Is there a kink in the fuel line? Has the cars fuel tank at any time had the wrong fuel in it? ( Derv petrol) Plug leads? Has the timing been tampered with? are the plugs the right ones,? are the air lines into the intake kinked? Is there water in the tank or getting into the tank? is the breather within the filler neck clear?

[cazzz1975]

check the head, it may have a hairline crack

[Cockney_si]

Does it have a distributor?
I've had this problem with cars in the past and it's been down to a badly worn distributor cap and rotor arm.