Problems when starting my car

Hi guys,

For the past 2/3 month my 2003 C3 has been not starting properly.

When I turn the key the car starts then immediately dies.
If I rev it it will go to 2000 rmp and still die.
I'll turn the key, wait for the heating plug lights to go off, and try starting the car, the engine will turn over until the engine management light comes on and I have to turn the ignition off.

The car starts normally after the 3rd attempt most days, but it's best if I rev the car a little to keep it going.

Also if I'm going up a hill and don't change to a lower gear fast enough the engine management light comes on then goes off and the car goes into limp mode.

I've had it to numerous garages, and after them looking over it they said I needed 3 of the 4 injectors replaced, I've got the injectors replaced but the car is no different, it still does the exact same thing.
The mechanics have no idea what is causing it now that the injectors have been replaced.

Any help would be really appreciated!
Thank you.

Hi MelHasACar

MelHasACar wrote:When I turn the key the car starts then immediately dies.
If I rev it it will go to 2000 rmp and still die.
I'll turn the key, wait for the heating plug lights to go off, and try starting the car, the engine will turn over until the engine management light comes on and I have to turn the ignition off.

Connecting up a lexia tool (like this one) and a laptop will tell you what has triggered the engine management light and this in turn can help you fix the fault that brings on the light.

It can also read codes that are stored that don't bring up the engine management light, but are still a problem and the codes can help you determine the fault (or, quite possibly - faults)

MelHasACar wrote:Also if I'm going up a hill and don't change to a lower gear fast enough the engine management light comes on then goes off and the car goes into limp mode.

This will have a code in lexia and I would image its going to be a turbo code....

MelHasACar wrote:I've had it to numerous garages, and after them looking over it they said I needed 3 of the 4 injectors replaced, I've got the injectors replaced but the car is no different, it still does the exact same thing.

With all this attention I would hope things like air filter and fuel filter servicing are all up-to-date.


If you want to find out about the lexia tool, there is a topic here.