New Shape C3 Automatic - Temperature issue?

Hi everyone,


Very long post so apologies in advance!

My fiancée has had her automatic 60 plate new shape C3 for just over a year now and we're currently having a big, expensive, issue with it!

It was called in for a recall in November 2015 to fix something around the temperature sensor. It was only in at the dealers for an hour and once it was finished the mechanic said the car was fine and didn't need fixing in the recall. [ He did give us some paperwork but we unfortunately cannot find it ]

Now to the issue at hand. About two weeks ago my fiancée started up her car to drive to work, she drove around a quarter of a mile when suddenly the dashboard told her to stop the car due to a fault and the temperature display spiked - She instantly spun around and came home. When she pulled onto the drive and turned off the engine the fan was still running VERY, VERY loudly! We had a few friends who are mechanics look at it and they all said that they reckon it would be a temperature sensor issue as there was no way that it could've overheated over such a short distance.
One of the friends did try to change the sensor for us but after a look hard look he couldn't find it where it was supposed to be!

In the end the dealers took it away on a transporter and worked on it. We obviously raised about the recall but they said it was completely separate from that and that they had fitted the part they needed to [despite three of us being sat there when the mechanic came out to tell us nothing had been done].
Today we got the car back (still haven't paid due to issues with the dealers not keeping to their word and trying to overcharge us - Waiting for a call on Monday) and got our mechanic friend to check it straight away - He had a look under the bonnet and instantly found the temperature sensor where he was looking before!

So we've been looking around all over the Internet for information on the recall as the dealers are denying that that it was related to the fault that has cause this but we remember very clearly that it was something to do with the temperature sensor. They're trying to charge us over £500 for three expensive parts when all of the other opinions we had said all it needed was the temp sensor being replaced which the have done, but not told us.

Has anyone got any advice on what we can do here as we’re at a loss? Did anyone else receive notification of the same recall or got any ideas at all?!


Sorry for the super long first post! And thank you in advance for any responses!

Zander

Hi Zander

Zander wrote:It was called in for a recall in November 2015 to fix something around the temperature sensor. It was only in at the dealers for an hour and once it was finished the mechanic said the car was fine and didn't need fixing in the recall. [ He did give us some paperwork but we unfortunately cannot find it ]

Contact the dealer for a copy of the report if you think it may help.

Zander wrote:One of the friends did try to change the sensor for us but after a look hard look he couldn't find it where it was supposed to be!

Where did you look and what engine do you have fitted?

If it is the 2010 A51 1.6 16v then its at the gear box end of the engine, over the back. I would imagine you have to remove a few bits of air intake to get a good view of it.

If its not that engine, then it would be on the gear box end, at the front of the engine.

To compound the problem, some engines have a second water temperature sensor attached to the thermostat housing.

One is for the engine ECU and the other for the dashboard display.

Citroen UK can tell you if your car has had, has been issued or has no recall notices over its lifetime.

and there is the DVLA list available here (click here).

C3CAR wrote:Hi Zander

Zander wrote:It was called in for a recall in November 2015 to fix something around the temperature sensor. It was only in at the dealers for an hour and once it was finished the mechanic said the car was fine and didn't need fixing in the recall. [ He did give us some paperwork but we unfortunately cannot find it ]

Contact the dealer for a copy of the report if you think it may help.

Zander wrote:One of the friends did try to change the sensor for us but after a look hard look he couldn't find it where it was supposed to be!

Where did you look and what engine do you have fitted?

If it is the 2010 A51 1.6 16v then its at the gear box end of the engine, over the back. I would imagine you have to remove a few bits of air intake to get a good view of it.

If its not that engine, then it would be on the gear box end, at the front of the engine.

To compound the problem, some engines have a second water temperature sensor attached to the thermostat housing.

One is for the engine ECU and the other for the dashboard display.

Citroen UK can tell you if your car has had, has been issued or has no recall notices over its lifetime.

and there is the DVLA list available here (click here).

Hi C3CAR,

Thank you so much for the response

Unfortunately the dealer we bought it from are the ones we're having the issue with and they're not playing ball! But that's a very good point so I've got in contact with another dealer for a response

Unfortunately I'm not great with cars, my friend looked but I couldn't say where. What I can say is that when we got it back he checked again and he found it exactly where he looked before which surely means that there wasn't one fitted at all before?
It is a 1.6 and the car was manufactured in 2010 but I'm not 100% on the engine (sorry!) - It's good to hear from someone who knows the cars though our friend my understand what you mean with regards to the sensors!

We took a look on the DVLA site but nothing around the time of the recall which is very odd! :S

Thank you again,

Zander

Zander wrote:hank you so much for the response

No problem, I hope you get it sorted out. It would be nice to hear how you get on

Zander wrote:We took a look on the DVLA site but nothing around the time of the recall which is very odd

Not all recalls are on the DVLA website, generally the ones listed are safety related. Just because a recall isn't listed doesn't mean there wasn't one.

Missing Lincs wrote:Not all recalls are on the DVLA website, generally the ones listed are safety related. Just because a recall isn't listed doesn't mean there wasn't one.

Absolutely, as I mentioned earlier, its Citroen UK that will have the full story for their recalls and they will know if any are outstanding for your C3.

Thank you C3CAR - As soon as I get this sorted I will let you know!

Missing Lincs - That is a really good thing to know, I was worried that it may not have been an official recall or something! So thank you very much for that information, it's much appreciated! (Didn't realise that's what you meant by your comment about Citroen being able to tell me C3CAR! )

Just waiting on a response from Citroen on the recall so will try to keep you updated!

Thanks again!

Zander