Knocking noise on start-up

Hi to you all.

I have recently bought a C3 1.4 diesel on a '54 plate. It has developed a knocking noise on starting and stopping the engine. It's not from the engine itself - sounds like the exhaust is banging against the body. The car has done 112,000 miles and I'm worried it could be that the engine mounts are worn out. Is this a common fault and if so are they difficult to replace?

Any thoughts on the matter would be great..........

Hi Doublehelix

Corkish has a solution to a very similar problem in this post:

Clunking noise from a Citroen C3 HDi engine area

Engine mount seems to be a common problem with 100k+ mile C3 HDi.

Hi,

Thanks C3driver52 - thats what you call a rapid response!

Many thanks for putting me on to this. I agree it looks like a common problem but does not look like its too difficult to repair. I will have a look at it tomorrow.

Brian.

I have finally gotten around to replacing the connecting link lower rear mount that connects between the transmission and sub frame. It looks a bit like a dog bone and stabilises the engine movement.

The one on my vehicle was perished and had actually seperated.

It was easy to replace and the whole job took 15 minutes once the car was securely and safely raised onto axle stands.

The engine does not need to be supported by a jack etc. in any way while your doing this job so this gives you a lot more room under the car while your working.

Please bare in mind that the two through-bolts that hold it in place are 16mm and locate into a threaded bracket at either end of the dog bone. A good spray of a penetrating oil such as WD40 10 mins or so before attempting to remove the through-bolts will also help to dislodge them. You will also need to hand a hammer and a pry or crow bar of some sort to help to get the new dog bone into place - so the two through-bolts can be relocated and re-tightened.

I replaced the two through-bolts and washers when I did mine (although they didn't really need to be replaced and could have been re-used). I ordered them from my local Citroen dealer and they were £6 or so for the pair.

The through-bolts need to be re-tightened to 60 Nm or 44 lbf ft of torque if you have access to a torque wrench. I didn't have access to one so I tightened them to what I thought was about right.

Sorry I have no photos to show the process - I didn't think of taking any at the time.

I hope this is of help because as already mentioned above this is apparently quite a common failure on +100K milage cars. (mine has 113k on the clock).

Thanks,

Doublehelix.