sensodrive shakes when taking off in 1st gear

Hi all I am new to this forum, I recently bought a 2004 (53 reg) C3 Pluriel with sonsodrive gearbox, the car has done 49000 miles since new, the car is in for a full service at my local garage but, while its there I thought I might ask now while the car is still on the ramp: I have recently noticed that especially now that its cold when taking off in the morning the car sort off judders/shakes in 1st gear for at least a good 2-3 mile or until the car has warmed up or like the temperature is showing normal on the instrument cluster, when I say normal is it has at least 3 bars on display. Also today while taking the car to garage I noticed I could not select neutral or reverse I just couldn't get to select the "N" or "R" until a minute or two while still trying to select the reverse gear. While the car is in the garage with full service....I have also decided to get the timing belt changed. On this gearbox issue I really don't want to take the car to dealer, could it be that the clutch needs replacing as well at 49K or is it just a fluid change that it needs? Please help as I the car is already on the ramp and it could be a good idea to look at gearbox if its not anything serious then I can get it done tomorrow while its being serviced.

Welcome to the forum Clio1210

when taking off in the morning the car sort off judders/shakes in 1st gear for at least a good 2-3 mile or until the car has warmed up

It may not be the gearbox/clutch, but rather more like the engine?

A full service should sort that out.

could it be that the clutch needs replacing as well at 49K or is it just a fluid change that it needs?

That's quite a range, I would get it looked at, inspect the clutch and check the levels before speculating too much

I agree with C3driver52. Had a similar prob with my C3 manual, slow to get away when cold fine when warmed up. realised the engine was dropping off as the cluch engaged. Solved this by flexing wiring harness near BSI/ fusebox which i assume disturbed the plugins to BSI. Have done this twice now with equal success. It sounds daft but worked for me and just shows how the source of a prob can be hard to find. So many items if not all are controled by electrics these days, its one of the first places to look.Should say engine drop off was so slight as to be not considered at first.

C3driver52 wrote:Welcome to the forum Clio1210

when taking off in the morning the car sort off judders/shakes in 1st gear for at least a good 2-3 mile or until the car has warmed up

It may not be the gearbox/clutch, but rather more like the engine?

A full service should sort that out.

Did a full service of the following, Oil Change, Oil filter, Spark plugs, Air filter, Pollen Filter, alternator belt and anti freeze change. But the car was still the same when taking off for the first mile or so a bit of shuddering I would say. Checked if the timing belt needed changing by opening the belt cover and having a look at the belt it self and all seemed ok, so didn't bother.

could it be that the clutch needs replacing as well at 49K or is it just a fluid change that it needs?

That's quite a range, I would get it looked at, inspect the clutch and check the levels before speculating too much

After the service I took the car for road test and it still shudder for the first few stops or until like a mile range then it was fine or until when I wanted to reverse in parking slot and the bloody gear would not go into reverse nor could it go into neutral. At one point I saw an Auto* displayed on the display but was like there for just 3 quick beeps. I don't know...I have now booked the car to go to dealer on Monday and do a diagnostic on it.

I have now booked the car to go to dealer on Monday and do a diagnostic on it.

Good idea, there will hopefully be some codes stored for the message on the display and the beeps. I will be good to hear what the dealer finds with the diagnostic. Ask for as much information (paperwork/printouts) as you can get, seeing as you paid for it.

Will definitely ask for print outs and also update you guys on Monday after the diagnostics are done. Am just puzzled as to why a 49K cars gearbox will behave this way. The roof doesn't leak at all and that was my only worry other than mechanical let alone engine or gearbox.

So only picked up my car yesterday, Citroen Dealer here in Coventry on Herald Avenue are C**p they did the work supposedly and refused to give me a print out of their findings
All it said on the invoice was: it could be flywheel + clutch assembly, they never gave me any documents regarding my car apart from the receipt of my money paid. Their customer service at service counter is also s**t they have a Leia who knows nothing and speaks to you like she cant be asked or get over and done with. After a days work and payment of £54.74 only to be given an invoice and nothing else is rubbish, I have other cars when you take them to dealers they will give you the faults codes, more detailed information on what they have found, a report of a visual health check and other helpful suggestion to help fix the poorly car. With this dealer I got nothing other than words with NO we don't give you that information because you did not ask as to carry out the work
Anyway I took the car into my friends garage...who plugged in his snap on tool, I now wish I had gone to him in the first place as he showed the codes in the engine ECU and the transmission ECU without a charge.

Here are the engine fault codes:
P0501 Vehicle speed signal
P0562 Battery Voltage Low
P1327 Cylinder 1 Reference Sensor

Transmission fault codes:
P1719 Gear lever signal fault: Coherence
P1718 Gear lever signal fault: Value Incorrect
P1717 Gear lever signal fault (CAN 250): Open circuit
P0560 ECU Supply Fault: Not Characterized
U1000 Undocumented Code
P1702 ECU Switch to dormant Mode Phase (Power latch) not carried out completed fault: Not Characterized
P0750 Gearbox fault: the gear does not engage: Not characterized
U1208 Information fault emitted by the engine ECU: Not Characterized

So that's what came up on the car. Any one know what these are?? Please

Anyway I took the car into my friends garage...who plugged in his snap on tool, I now wish I had gone to him in the first place as he showed the codes in the engine ECU and the transmission ECU without a charge.

The failings in the snap-on tool show up as:

U1000 Undocumented Code
U1208 Information fault emitted by the engine ECU: Not Characterized
P0560 ECU Supply Fault: Not Characterized

This is where lexia would have given you all the information.

P0501 Vehicle speed signal

This come from the ABS if you have it, otherwise the its from the gearbox.

P0562 Battery Voltage Low

Self explanatory, best to get his fixed FIRST, no point going too deep until the battery and the charging system has been checked fully.

P1719 Gear lever signal fault: Coherence
P1718 Gear lever signal fault: Value Incorrect
P1717 Gear lever signal fault (CAN 250): Open circuit

Sounds like problems with the gear selector lever.


What you can do is clear all the codes out as they could be old ones and not relevant to the current problem. Drive around until the problem occurs and read the codes again. Using the proper citroen lexia tool will give you much more information (unless the Citroen dealer in Coventry on Herald Avenue does it )

C3driver52 wrote:

Anyway I took the car into my friends garage...who plugged in his snap on tool, I now wish I had gone to him in the first place as he showed the codes in the engine ECU and the transmission ECU without a charge.

The failings in the snap-on tool show up as:

U1000 Undocumented Code
U1208 Information fault emitted by the engine ECU: Not Characterized
P0560 ECU Supply Fault: Not Characterized

This is where lexia would have given you all the information.
I now don't have anyone with the lexia tool.

P0501 Vehicle speed signal

This come from the ABS if you have it, otherwise the its from the gearbox.

P0562 Battery Voltage Low

Self explanatory, best to get his fixed FIRST, no point going too deep until the battery and the charging system has been checked fully.
This will be sorted out tomorrow. Is there anything I should watch out for when I replace the battery e.g. radio code or any other unexpected surprises? I don't have radio code by the way nor do I have an Owners manual or service book. I asked dealer for owners manual and they said they have one but its for newer models only, like 06-07 something like that (wish I could get a downloadable pdf file of owners manual on-line but I have looked and no luck.

P1719 Gear lever signal fault: Coherence
P1718 Gear lever signal fault: Value Incorrect
P1717 Gear lever signal fault (CAN 250): Open circuit

Sounds like problems with the gear selector lever.


What you can do is clear all the codes out as they could be old ones and not relevant to the current problem. Drive around until the problem occurs and read the codes again. Using the proper citroen lexia tool will give you much more information (unless the Citroen dealer in Coventry on Herald Avenue does it )

I will take my car back to my friend and plug it to his snap on tool again and see if same codes still exist.
My car will not go to "Citroen dealer in Coventry on Herald Avenue " ever again!!

Cleared all the fault codes and only one came straight back: P1717 Gear Lever Signal Fault (CAN 250) Open Circuit
Anyone know what this is or how to fix this pls.