Preheat error

[steve_g]

Hi all,

My 1.6 110 hdi has decided it's not happy and has thrown up an engine management light, had a mate who works at Halfords take a quick look yesterday with a diagnostic machine, it produced 2 fault codes one of which was a preheat error (the other wasn't a significant issues), we cleared the errors to see if that helped and it didn't reappear (because the engine was still warm) having left it overnight I've gone back to the car and found the engine management light on again I can only assume it's the same preheat error (as the engine was cold), I know it's a vague issue but any ideas on the cause? (Do hdi engines still use glow plugs?). And any ideas how much to fix in a worst case scenario?

(Dash says "engine fault - repair needed")

Cheers

Steve

[WTF]

Do you know what the codes where? Could it be that the pre heat has cleared and the other error was a bit bigger than first thought?

HATE that message. It's so generic. Had one on mine recently but this was after a massive drop in power and limp mode - I had a leak in my intercooler.

[steve_g]

Do you know what the codes where? Could it be that the pre heat has cleared and the other error was a bit bigger than first thought?

HATE that message. It's so generic. Had one on mine recently but this was after a massive drop in power and limp mode - I had a leak in my intercooler.

honestly not sure what the codes were to be fair but we totally dismissed the 2nd fault i think it was a bulb fault or something like that, where is the intercooler on a ds3 behind the front grill? i noticed a water leak when i took the car for tracking this morning!

grrrrrrr hate cars sometimes!

[WTF]

Yours might not be that, the "engine fault - repair needed" covers soooooooo many faults. Are you sure it was a leak and not just dew this morning? Easy to think the worst when your mind starts to conjure up things.

Any other symptoms? Fan running, low power etc?

I'd take it to a Citroen Garage and get them to take a look and get a confirmed error/fault result if it was me.

[steve_g]

Yours might not be that, the "engine fault - repair needed" covers soooooooo many faults. Are you sure it was a leak and not just dew this morning? Easy to think the worst when your mind starts to conjure up things.

Any other symptoms? Fan running, low power etc?

I'd take it to a Citroen Garage and get them to take a look and get a confirmed error/fault result if it was me.

Nope as far as driving is concerned the car is driving fine! I'm just afraid that driving it will make it worse ( due to drive to butlins today with a group of friends which is quite a way away from here). I've booked it in but I need to wait until the 3rd of October for it to be looked at

[WTF]

Can you take it to another Citroen place? I bounce between two places depending on who can see the car/has a courtesy car etc

[steve_g]

Yeah tried the 3 local Citroen dealers all fully booked but to be honest the place I've booked it into always provides the best service so I'm not too bothered about that, I'll reported back when I find out the cause

[Jan79]

The HDI engines still use glow plugs.
My car is pretty new so I didn't have to change these but I've done it quite a few times on my old saxo diesel and there it wasn't a problem.
NGK glow plugs you can get for about 20€ each.

[steve_g]

Problem solved, Citroen dealer found the glow plugs were at fault, just for future ref the cost to resolve was: either £86 fitted for one glow plug or £193 for all four. Costs a lot but it's sorted and I can rest easy knowing the car is fine for the moment and it was done pretty quick and I've got a nice Citroen invoice for the folder so I'm happy

[Jan79]

Nice to hear everything is fine again.