1st Dec 2005, 10:07
Hello All.
I have a Citroen Saxo VTR, 2000 X.
I absolutely love this car its brilliant, apart from:
Airbag Light staying on.
An annoying knocking at the front of the car
And a really annoying stalling problem, I don't even bother to switch the car off anymore I just leave it running and it does it itself.
Does anyone actually know what makes the car stall? if so can you post a message, cheers.
When its not stalling it is an amazing car to drive and corners really well.
14th Jan 2006, 10:14
I also own a 2000 VTS with 27,000 miles which is sat outside my house and won't start its been like this for 2 weeks. I had the same cutting out routine as others it then wouldn't start for 5-10mins. Driving back from Cardiff to mid wales it was hesitating very bad, parked it up outside my house went to go out later on and it wouldn't start. Was told it was the plugs so changed them, but no joy. Was then told it was coil pack changed that no joy again. I'm at my wits end with this car, next thing I will try is Crank position sensor. Anyone had this problem and solved it? as I can't get my car anywhere as its right outside my house and won't start.
14th Jan 2006, 20:05
Could be your map sensor mate. You will be able to get some good advice on www.saxosportsclub.com, as many people on there know everything about these engines.
19th Mar 2006, 05:48
I bought a 51 (Dec 01) reg saxo VTR early last year (after successfully killing my Rover Metro by blowing the head gaskets) and can't say I've had much problems, OK yes, there has been a couple of issues with a 2nd hand car. (had to replace locks as key I had didn't fit it, and get a 2nd set of keys, but this was all done under warranty free of charge)
I've used two citroen garages and I admit I wasn't impressed with one of them, the other was fantastic. The only little niggle I've had with this car was the ECU warning light came on and it juddered briefly, but disappeared as soon as the car was restarted. Since then its happened twice, but only in VERY (like -10) cold mornings. I know a lot of cars are tempramental with cold or really wet weather (for example the VW polo).
Looking back over the car's service history (which I managed to talk the citroen garage into giving me) its had a few things replaced over the last couple of years (coil pack, ignition switch, immobiliser) but everyone happened within the first year or so, which is to me the 'breaking in period'. You ain't gonna get all cars in perfect condition, hell it takes a few years of a design to start to show its faults.
One thing though.. a lot of Citroen's garages need some education in customer service.. 4 hours for a service... and that's a waiting appointment... i think i'll use the other citroen garage in future!
1st Apr 2006, 11:45
I own a 1999 vts saxo and had the same kind of problems. When I took the car to Citroen they told me I needed a new ECU. But the problem was only happening when it had less than half a tank of fuel in it. After a a bit of research I was advised by a mechanic in Citroen to change the fuel pump. I did this and have had no bother since. Its worth a try!
21st Apr 2006, 11:31
I have got an r reg sax Vt's and it also idles erratically, sometimes its like driving a kangaroo! Its like there is a block somewhere cause when I push the accelerator all the way down it does not move.
Can anyone help?
Could it be my idle valve?
Regarding the last post the knocking could be the front springs, or it could be the lower arm. I had this problem and it is easy to fix yourself cause I did and I'm a woman!
It could even be a wheel bearing.
4th May 2006, 15:32
The juddering is probably the coil pack. I have a saxo vts and my ABS light has just come on. I have cleaned all the sensors up back and front, but still no joy the light won't go out. I have been told to disconnect the battery for a while then reconnect it. does this cause any problems with the alarm and immobiliser.
8th Jun 2006, 16:11
I have a Saxo Furio and suffer the 'kangaroo' problem. Drives along fine for weeks or months then suddenly starts behaving erratically - accelerating and slowing without me doing anything to the pedals. I have been told its the computer playing up. I was advised to disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes then re-connecting it. I have to say this works great - you just have to reset the time on your clock which is annoying!
23rd Jun 2006, 11:42
Anyone help me??... I have a Saxo VTR H reg. My temp gauge keeps going well past half way, but not to the point of red. I have water in the raditor, and I'm also leaking a bit of oil, and sometimes white smoke will appear from the pipe??... Head gasket possibly??
11th Aug 2006, 19:18
I drive a Furio, but I am looking into buying a VTR. I have heard lots of bad things about saxo's. Mine is 6 years old and has never failed to start first time since I have had it (1 year). Have I just been lucky? Should I buy the VTR?
24th Nov 2006, 14:00
These are all horror stories on this website, which is very helpful. But if you think about it, the main reason people add comments on this site is not because their car is perfect... otherwise they would not bother complaining about a perfect car. Only the bad cars are written about. Read and understand the comments. But don't be off put by a couple of horror stories.
I wrote about mt Saxo T reg 99 1.1i a few months back. I'm hopefully selling it now for a VTR. There have been problems like I stated, but they have all been fixed now. The biggest problem was the erratic idling.
If you have this problem read carefully!
The problem is due to a valve somewhere. I'm not a mechanic, but my mechanics were extremely helpful and they found the problem easily and fixed the problem. Cost me rear enough 200 quid though. But if you desperate for this problem to be fixed and you can get down to Pencoed, South Wales check out Ralfs car garage. They should regonise the same problem.
15th Jun 2005, 02:44
Hi All.
I have a 97 1.4i Saxo, the problem with the erratic idling and the engine cutting out seems to be caused by a faulty sensor on the air intake manifold, basically the sensor is reporting to the throttle control that the car is getting air at a certain rate when it in fact is not, this is why the car closes the air intake, but then to cope with a stop at a traffic light for example the fuel is reduced, so what happens is the car stalls because of lack of oxygen.
I have found that just before a cut out what happens is that idle becomes erratic for about a second, if you tap the accelerator down, it will cause the air intake to open again and the engine should not cut out.
The car has had lots of problems, most of them caused by the previous driver, my brother in law, like damaged suspension arms, etc.
The latest thing is while changing the battery and starting the car, almost every fuse has blown. oh well.
Comparing this to my other car which is a Fiesta Zetec S, the Saxo has had more mechanical and electrical things go wrong with it than any other car I have owned. But still a nice car to drive, when it feels like moving.