engine and coolant

Hi there ive got a few probs with my c3 2002 petrol 1.4

1/ When starting up from cold the engine appears to be running on 3 cylinders and some grey smoke coming out of exhaust but after about a minute it ticks over fine Help???

2/When driving some days the colant warning lights up then after a minute it goes back to 3 bars i think there must be air in the system but where is the bleed screw to get rid of the air?

3/ What is the correct level of oil on the dipstick as mine only has the little bobble at the bottom of the dipstick and no markings Ive put oil in but after a few miles and on coming to a stop the oil light comes on Dont want to put too much oil in as ive heard this brings the oil light on also

4/ CWhen coming to a stop and depressing the clutch the engine often cuts out ??

Any help in these matters will be greatly appreciated

Hi legins

I would say 1 and 4 are probably due to the same fault. Could be injector, plug or coil pack.

There is a possible fault on your year that affects an injector, have a look at Leaking washer jets causes damage to fuel injector on the C3 (here), but also look at getting a cheap OBD2 reader (click here) from ebay to help identify the error code to the stalling and running on 3.

legins wrote:2/When driving some days the coolant warning lights up then after a minute it goes back to 3 bars i think there must be air in the system but where is the bleed screw to get rid of the air?

It could be due to an electrical fault, its quite common on the C3. If you want to try bleeding, then look where the coolant hoses enter the bulkhead for the heater matrix and look on the block that houses the thermostat.


Thermostat housing:

legins wrote:3/ What is the correct level of oil on the dipstick as mine only has the little bobble at the bottom of the dipstick and no markings Ive put oil in but after a few miles and on coming to a stop the oil light comes on Dont want to put too much oil in as ive heard this brings the oil light on also

Some models have an electronic measuring system and display the oil level on the dashboard:



Other dipsticks look like this:

https://citroenc3owners.com/questions-about-a-petrol-powered-citroen-c3-f10/oil-topped-up-but-warning-continues-t1118.html wrote: There are 2 marks on the dipstick:
- A = max; never exceed this level (risk of damage to the engine),
- B = min; top up the level via the oil filler cap, using the grade of oil suited to your engine.

Many thanks for your replies giving great detail Im going to replace all plugs this weekend and see what happens then.... i have located bleed valve and water comes from this when slightly twisted however when sat in the car i can hear what sounds like water rushing from engine on passenger side As for the dipstick i cannot see any markings on this just what i can only describe as a ball at bottom of dipstick

legins wrote:Many thanks for your replies giving great detail Im going to replace all plugs this weekend and see what happens then.... i have located bleed valve and water comes from this when slightly twisted however when sat in the car i can hear what sounds like water rushing from engine on passenger side As for the dipstick i cannot see any markings on this just what i can only describe as a ball at bottom of dipstick

If you are changing the plugs, consider the coil pack too, try euro car parts for both. The OBD reader will help identify if it's an ignition problem or a fuel problem.

If you don't have the dashboard display for oil, you may have the wrong dipstick fitted....

To make sure you have the right quantity of oil in the engine, at the next oil change add the correct quantity of oil after draining (measure it out and pour it in). Then you can compare a known good level with your dipstick level in the future.

I fixed the link to the common injector problem above