Auto gearbox problems!

Hello all,

Had a semiauto Citroen c3 (53 plate) for about two years now. First year no problems at all. However for the last 8months been having problems with the gears changing.

At first I noticed the car was very hesitant when changing gear and sometimes took a while to do so.
Took it to a garage as check engine light was on and they told me it was a ‘gearbox problem’ but they could do nothing about it and referred me to someone else. He told me it was a problem with the Catalytic Converter so I believed this and got it fixed.
At first it drove better but the car now often severely jolts when changing gear accompanied by the beeping sound you would hear when fuel is low. Also for the last couple of days the ‘snow’ and ‘sport’ icons now flash simultaneously when the engine is jolting. Have taken it to a Citroen dealer so they can run a diagnostic on it (for £112!) and they have just got back to me saying it also says ‘gearbox fault’ but can’t see anything physically wrong with it. I am at a bit of a loss now as I’m not sure anyone will ever be able to help as a Citroen dealer can’t even find the problem!

Would greatly appreciate it if anyone be able to offer any advice as to what I should do next or have had themselves in a similar situation and got it fixed?
Don’t want to drive away from the garage knowing it was something they could have helped with.

Many thanks

Hi rvdh93

rvdh93 wrote:Also for the last couple of days the ‘snow’ and ‘sport’ icons now flash simultaneously when the engine is jolting.

A fault is detected with the gearbox system

rvdh93 wrote:Have taken it to a Citroen dealer so they can run a diagnostic on it (for £112!) and they have just got back to me saying it also says ‘gearbox fault’ but can’t see anything physically wrong with it.

You should get a full report of all the errors found and any dealer should be able to quote you for a repair. Please name the Citroen dealer that proved to be so useful.

rvdh93 wrote:I am at a bit of a loss now as I’m not sure anyone will ever be able to help as a Citroen dealer can’t even find the problem!

I don't believe 'Citroen' looked properly. For £112 they should have given you a better idea of fault report.

To diagnose this, I would do what Citroen should have done and connected Citroen lexia tool (look here) to read the gearbox (and all the other system fault codes) and get the description that accompanies the fault codes. From these you can decide what to do next.

Lexia/Diagbox is the Citroen diagnostic tool, you can find out about it here.

Hi,

Thank you for your response.

The dealership is Wilmoths in Crayford, Kent and was listed on their website as one of the options, so I had faith they could help me more than a general garage and find something more than ‘gearbox fault’ when completing a diagnostic. I will mention the use of the lexia, thank you.


I have called them again and asked them if there is anything else they can do (eg check transmission oil again? - just guessing) and all they say is they will take it for a test drive again to see if it plays up.
They seem to think there is nothing wrong physically which I find hard to believe.
I will have to wait and see.

Thank you for your response!

rvdh93 wrote:(eg check transmission oil again? - just guessing)

Snowflake flashing is not an oil issue on a semi-automatic sensodrive.

Its going to be clutch actuator, gear selector/solenoid or ECU fault.

Do you also have flappy paddles?

rvdh93 wrote:Wilmoths in Crayford, Kent

https://www.wilmoths.co.uk/about-us/

One of the big names in the game. I don't know why they failed you so badly

Mine done this new years eve... turns out it was the clutch actuator

Thank you everyone for your responses,

The pedals are quite stiff when I accelerate and quite often get stuck when the gearbox is changing gear. Say going from 10mph to 20mph.

I will definitely be asking them to check the clutch actuator as I have read in a few other places that people also had a similar problem with my cars symptoms

I am now having this same problem, did u get a fix for it, I had put it in to a garage and was told he didn't have the right equipment to test it, I'm getting the snowflake and flashing auto sign. Car is starting up but not moving at all.

michellexgray wrote: ↑Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:09 am I am now having this same problem, did u get a fix for it, I had put it in to a garage and was told he didn't have the right equipment to test it, I'm getting the snowflake and flashing auto sign. Car is starting up but not moving at all.

Hi michellexgray

To diagnose a flashing snow and sport or snow and auto on a C3, you need to use a lexia tool (also known as Diagbox).

You can buy a clone version of this tool on Amazon here.

The flashing symbols translate to 'gearbox fault, needs further investigation'..