TU3-JP C3 problem starting the car when cold

Greeting, my 1st post here and glad I found this place. You see I fell in love with this C3 , I don't know why I just liked it when I test drove it and I think it looks great.

Citroen C3 desire 06 TU3 JP 64K on the dash.

So had it a few months now and when It started to get real cold I had a little trouble starting the car, it would start ok and idle fine till I hit the gas and there was a little hesitation and the revs would climb ok. If I took my foot off the gas the revs would fall to idle and hesitate and settle down tho wander +- 200 rpm for a few seconds then ok for a few seconds then back to hesitation and so on. 2nd to 3rd gear was an issue if I hit the gas immediately after changing with random misfires till 4.5K. Not driving hard at all. OK when warm.

So I take it to Citroen and they cant find any fault codes of any kind nor can they offer a solution other than update the firmware. OK go ahead I say and do the download.

Now I have the latest firmware

Now Starts ok and will idle but revs go up and down +- 200, cutting out when taking foot of the gas at 2K rpm after cold morning start 4c or below. All other times revs going up and down when 1st starting at idle by +-200 revs. If I drive it a mile it will be perfect, All is fine when warm. Can leave it for several hours and it starts fine and runs perfect. Left for 5/6 hours at 2 degC or lower, problems creep back in. Also the 2nd to 3rd gear problem is still there. No dash lights come on indicating a problem. I can force the service light to come on so the lamp is ok.

Back to Citroen and had the coolant temp sensor changed, they found coolant bleed nipple corroded so changed that. Checked all injector seals and manifold gasket. Not sure where to look from here.

After 8, YES EIGHT days at Citroen they suggested a swap out starting with the coil pack. Where does it go from here I wonder. Should I just bite the bullet and have it changed ? Just sounds like a gamble to me that might end up compounding to a lot of money if it's not that part. .

Any thoughts appreciated.

Matchsticks.

Hello Matchsticks.

Starting from the basics, has the car had a proper service recently including air filter and plugs?

Missing Lincs wrote:Hello Matchsticks.

Starting from the basics, has the car had a proper service recently including air filter and plugs?

Hi Missing Lincs, thanks for jumping in.

Yes the car has a full Citroen service history and I insisted on a service before I purchased it.

Main dealer also checked the plugs, I was charged for 2 and a half hours labour and they were not able to pinpoint the nature of the fault. They even took the car to another Citroen dealer to let them have a look and they were also baffled. I asked if the service history was legit and they checked, all was fine with the service history.

I don't mind changing out parts on the car. Worked on many aircraft engines and not afraid to get my hands dirty. Just don't know where to start on the damn thing.

Hi matchsticks

When I read your first post my initial thoughts were coil pack and the question of servicing.

You say the servicing is up to date, which is very nice to hear.

Coil Packs don't last for ever and are known to give problems. A new TU3 JP Coil Pack will cost you about £75 to buy and if you fit it yourself nothing more. Its not a difficult job and its cheaper to change the coil pack than the throttle body idle stepper motor.

If you are interested in fixing problems yourself, an OBD2 Reader (click here) is a very useful tool paired with the haynes manual (here) you can cover most of the basic faults.

Arfur Dent wrote:Hi matchsticks

When I read your first post my initial thoughts were coil pack and the question of servicing.

You say the servicing is up to date, which is very nice to hear.

Coil Packs don't last for ever and are known to give problems. A new TU3 JP Coil Pack will cost you about £75 to buy and if you fit it yourself nothing more. Its not a difficult job and its cheaper to change the coil pack than the throttle body idle stepper motor.

If you are interested in fixing problems yourself, an OBD2 Reader (click here) is a very useful tool paired with the haynes manual (here) you can cover most of the basic faults.

Hi Missing Lincs : Arfur Dent

Yes the 1st thing I did after purchasing the car was to order the haynes manual.

As it's been warm the car has the odd misfire and rough idle at times, holding back when changing from 2nd to 3rd so it's no big deal. I've been researching the great advice given and the car has undergone a cylinder pressure test, all was fine.

So I was talking to an automotive diagnostic engineer about the car as we were repairing his laptop, replacing his screen, I noticed Lexia on it and got talking. Lucky really as he offered to take a look.

Results are an intermittent short / diss on a common wire that feeds the throttle body and 2 sensors. He also noticed the occasional misfire and hunting at idle. So said I should change the coil pack, plugs and have the intermittent short circuit sorted out ASAP.

I offered him the job and he will sort the job some time this week when he has the time. Meantime I have the replacement coil pack and a set of plugs that I'll change in the morning before driving to breakfast with my dad.

Will repost back with results after all work completed.

Matchsticks

Thanks for the update, its looking positive. Access to lexia is a money saving bonus (cheaper than dealer diagnostic prices).

If you would like to take some photos, or write some notes or a step by step on changing the parts, its all welcome here

OK update after some time. I thought I'd fixed the issue with the cold starts but this December it came back leaving me in the lurch so I decided to get rid of the car in favour of a 58 plate C3 exclusive model. Only 9514 miles and is an ex mobility car. Great bargain I must say.

Shame to see the wicked red go in favour of a nice silver metallic but enough was enough.

The car drives like new and am very happy with it.

Thanks to the board I was better prepared this time I made my purchase.

Yes it all comes down to what i bang on about to the point of boredem Check all wiring before anything else or going to a dealer. Amazed you bought another C3.

alsie2 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:26 am Yes it all comes down to what i bang on about to the point of boredem Check all wiring before anything else or going to a dealer. Amazed you bought another C3.

Absolutely, go for the easy stuff first

Apologies for the boredom