Sensodrive Auto popping out of gear when slowing down.

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Think: Auto not changing up or down, snowflake/sport flashing, flappy paddles, actuator fault and sensodrive not changing gear.
My Name: Popscore

Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:59 pm
Model: C3 2002-2005, Original shape model
Year: 2005 (55)
Engine Size: 1.6
Fuel Type: Petrol
Mileage: 26000
Trim Level: Exclusive
Gearbox: SensoDrive
DPF: No

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Hi, I have a Citroen C 3 Exclusive 1.6 petrol 55 reg, and it is a cracking little car but it has this major fault with the sensodrive gearbox which pops out of gear when slowing down say at a roundabout and wont engage the gears until you have waited for a few minutes and this causes real embarrasment at a busy roundabout. I took some valued advise about re-setting the ECU for the sensodrive auto gearbox by taking off the positive battery lead and waiting for 5 minutes while the ECU resets itself. I tried it and it worked really well for 2 weeks, but it decided to slip out of gear when my missus was driving it the other day. Fortunately we had talked through what to do if it happened again, but she has now lost confidence in the car as it could just go again at any time.
Surely Citroen know about this fault as I have read many posts from people with exactly the same problem. It must be happening worldwide. ( I was reading about people in Australia with the same problem) and by now Citroen should have issued new software or had a recall to put it right. If this is the case, does anyone know if they have fixed it yet. I am a bit reluctant to just turn up at the dealership and pay good money for just re-setting the sensodrive auto gearbox as I have just done.
Our car is Citroen C 3 Exclusive 1.6 petrol and it is a cracking little car but it has this major fault with sensodrive that it is making it dangerous if it konks out in traffic.
I would very much appreciate your and anyone else's advise about what to do about this sensodrive fault. Regards. Roy.
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My Name: Arfur Dent

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Model: C3 2002-2005, Original shape model
Year: 2002 (52)
Engine Size: 1.4 (16v)
Fuel Type: Diesel
Mileage: 100000
Trim Level: Exclusive
Gearbox: Manual 5 speed
DPF: No
LHD or RHD: RHD (UK)
Engine name: DV4 16-valve diesel (90 PS)
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Welcome to the forum Popscore,
has this major fault with the sensodrive gearbox which pops out of gear when slowing down say at a roundabout and wont engage the gears until you have waited for a few minutes
Do you get any warning lights while you are waiting for it to get back to normal?

I would very much appreciate your and anyone else's advise about what to do about this sensodrive fault
It could be something like an overheating clutch solenoid. But as with all the computer controlled equipment, my first check would be reading the fault codes stored in the auto-box ecu, use Lexia for this.

Surely Citroen know about this fault as I have read many posts from people with exactly the same problem.
Same symptoms, but they could be caused by different faults. You won't know until you start digging.
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