Citroen Xsarra Picasso spluttering/jerking when I drive sometimes

Posted 26th Jul 2016

I have a Citroen Xsarra Picasso 1.6 HDI (56 model). About 5 weeks ago, my car just stopped on me when driving and the low oil pressure message and engine light came on. After a couple of minutes, the car started up again. Two weeks later it happened again, and I took it to my garage - the mechanic there was unable to read up what the code meant, so he cleared it and the car was ok again. Last Thursday, on doing a 42-mile drive, after 10 miles, the car started spluttering and jerking and sounded really loud. It kept this up for the rest of the journey (happened about every 2 miles or so). I parked up the car for two hours and then had to drive back home. The car was ok for 10 minutes then started up the spluttering, jerking, etc every couple of miles for the rest of the drive home. I drove it to my garage the next morning and a mechanic drove it around the block and came back and said that it was driving fine! They told me to drop it off this Thursday as they need more time to look at it, however, they did say that they thought it could be a turbo problem (a friend suggested a possible sensor problem). I drove the car home (about a 10-minute drive and had no problems). I drove it to work yesterday, it was fine, driving home it cut out on me going around a corner and all of the lights came on. I started up the engine and it started straight away, however, driving home for the rest of the journey, the car was spluttering, jerking and sounding loud like it did before - only just managed to get it back to my house. I haven't driven the car today, but will try to drop it off to my garage tomorrow night when the roads are quieter, so that that they can look at it on Thursday morning. Any ideas about this, please? Thank you.

12 Comments

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discobob
26th Jul 2016
My parents had this in theirs although not as consistent as yours sounds - and they were constantly to the garage with it and didn't get resolved - this was main dealers and specialist Diesel place - similar plate to yours as well if I remember right - Sorry to say - but hopefully somebody here will be more helpful and have a solution for you
.MUFC.
26th Jul 2016
Sounds like fuel pump or injector problem but could be a turbo issue, any excess smoke?. If they don't know what the code means then a quick Google would tell them. Other things like faulty egr and/or dpf could be suspect too. Also as it's French and typically unreliable I'd consider scrapping it ;).
kramvic
26th Jul 2016
Have a look on here, chances are somebody will have had the same problem.

citroenpicasso.org.uk/pic…so/
mas99
26th Jul 2016
Without the error codes you're just guessing.
Was the oil low when the warning light came on?
Has it been serviced regularly?
Do you only do short journeys?
Has the fuel economy changed?

Does the problem occur only when its hot? Does it restart easily when hot?

In general any diesel running badly I'd suggest changing the fuel filter and air filter before doing anything else.
Clean the EGR - easy to do and doesn't take long.

The HDi is a common rail high pressure system and it can be quite common to get issues with the pressure - either faulty regulator, failed injector /injector seals/ fuel pump. Is there any fuel pooling around the injectors?

One issue is that they are quite complex and not many garages actually understand what they are doing. I've run a 2.0hdi to 165K miles without issues (and sold it on to someone who is still using it). Plenty of people in France run them to 250K miles+ so they are reliable if treated properly.

But we need more info - under what conditions do problems occur? What other symptoms (smoke/economy/starting/power loss)?
Haliviel
27th Jul 2016
engine cutting out intermittently, and starting again after a while, also the rough running could be the crank position sensor. it should show as a code when a diagnostic machine is plugged in.
cecilmcroberts
27th Jul 2016
Possibly Engine Oil Cooler, had same message in another car (Mazda 3 - exact message was "insufficient engine oil pressure") few years back and the engine oil cooler was not holding pressure and had a slight leak or something along those lines. Quite the same where message came up one day, never again for weeks, etc etc. Car was under warranty so no idea of the price to fix!
Anonymous User
27th Jul 2016
I had similar issue in my old c max 1.6 diesel
I think its same engine as well
I got it checked everywhere but in the end it was EGR error the car goes in limp mode hence it doesn't drive properly
look for your local EGR delete specialist on google and give them a call
it has to be specialist who only does this job because if you remove dpf or EGR the car doesn't pass mot but they delete from ECU and mot can't find that EGR is missing
.MUFC.
27th Jul 2016
iibdii
I had similar issue in my old c max 1.6 dieselI think its same engine as … I had similar issue in my old c max 1.6 dieselI think its same engine as well I got it checked everywhere but in the end it was EGR error the car goes in limp mode hence it doesn't drive properlylook for your local EGR delete specialist on google and give them a call it has to be specialist who only does this job because if you remove dpf or EGR the car doesn't pass mot but they delete from ECU and mot can't find that EGR is missing

No it would only fail if the dpf was totally removed, but it wouldn't fail if you had the dpf hollowed out, you can usually disable the egr youself by disconnecting the cable if electronic or vacuum hose and then blocking vacuum hose with a bolt or something if vacuum operated. It would probably put engine light on but the problem would go away if it was the egr at fault, unless the egr was stuck open. When I've done it in the past I clean the egr out and then disable it.
Sophiasky Author
27th Jul 2016
About 5 weeks ago when I dropped the car into my garage (when it first cut out on me and the low oil pressure message came on and then went back off), the mechanic said that he had no idea what the code meant when he tried to google it - said that the code did not exist - I asked him what the code was, but he said that he had cleared it and couldn't remember. After driving away, the car was ok for a couple of weeks, before cutting out again. The spluttering/jerking has only been happening since last Thursday, it's not a slight splutter either, my daughter was with me and described it as feeling 'quite violent'. Before Thursday, the engine light would light up sometimes, ie, I would drive the car in the morning and it was ok, then go out in the evening and the light would come up - the following morning get in the car and the light was off again. Two weeks ago I went out and the engine light came on, so stopped the car and lifted the bonnet. I checked the oil level and coolant levels (which were both fine) and then shut the bonnet - started the car again, and the engine light had gone out. I've been told by my garage to take the car down when the light is lit up again but haven't had the chance to do that, as it keeps coming on and shortly goes out again. Even though that happens, is there a code that is stored when the engine light comes on, even though it goes back out again? Thank you.
.MUFC.
27th Jul 2016
Sophiasky
About 5 weeks ago when I dropped the car into my garage (when it first … About 5 weeks ago when I dropped the car into my garage (when it first cut out on me and the low oil pressure message came on and then went back off), the mechanic said that he had no idea what the code meant when he tried to google it - said that the code did not exist - I asked him what the code was, but he said that he had cleared it and couldn't remember. After driving away, the car was ok for a couple of weeks, before cutting out again. The spluttering/jerking has only been happening since last Thursday, it's not a slight splutter either, my daughter was with me and described it as feeling 'quite violent'. Before Thursday, the engine light would light up sometimes, ie, I would drive the car in the morning and it was ok, then go out in the evening and the light would come up - the following morning get in the car and the light was off again. Two weeks ago I went out and the engine light came on, so stopped the car and lifted the bonnet. I checked the oil level and coolant levels (which were both fine) and then shut the bonnet - started the car again, and the engine light had gone out. I've been told by my garage to take the car down when the light is lit up again but haven't had the chance to do that, as it keeps coming on and shortly goes out again. Even though that happens, is there a code that is stored when the engine light comes on, even though it goes back out again? Thank you.

Dealer level diagnostic readers would pull the code even though the eml goes out. It gets stored in memory along with engine temp, speed etc.
Sophiasky Author
27th Jul 2016
shauneco
Dealer level diagnostic readers would pull the code even though the eml … Dealer level diagnostic readers would pull the code even though the eml goes out. It gets stored in memory along with engine temp, speed etc.

Thank you for telling me that. The car is now sat outside my local garage waiting to be looked at tomorrow. It drove down ok, but my daughter told me that when I started my car, a lot of smoke came from the exhaust, just added that detail to the note about the car problems that I left for the garage. Just hope it doesn't turn out to be an expensive fix - I am planning on driving us all to Bristol Airport in it on the 15th August for a 6.25 am flight and have just found out that if the car is not useable, there are no very early trains to Bristol from Exeter St Davids - the earliest train is around 6.15 am!
.MUFC.
27th Jul 2016
Sophiasky
Thank you for telling me that. The car is now sat outside my local garage … Thank you for telling me that. The car is now sat outside my local garage waiting to be looked at tomorrow. It drove down ok, but my daughter told me that when I started my car, a lot of smoke came from the exhaust, just added that detail to the note about the car problems that I left for the garage. Just hope it doesn't turn out to be an expensive fix - I am planning on driving us all to Bristol Airport in it on the 15th August for a 6.25 am flight and have just found out that if the car is not useable, there are no very early trains to Bristol from Exeter St Davids - the earliest train is around 6.15 am!

Sadly it could be numerous things and we can only speculate, Turbo going can cause lots of smoke, So can faulty injectors and fuel pumps, Glow plugs are another possible cause of smoke especially if it improves as the engine reaches normal temp.

Hope it gets sorted and you make your flight, might be best to ask a friend or relative to take you or be on standby?. Good luck.