Problem, Please Help :(

21st February 2012, 16:58

Not long ago i had the clutch replaced on my car (I have a 1998 1.0L citroen saxo open scandal). After it was all done my car was fine for about a month or so, now i'm starting to have a few problems, from time to time in the morning my car won't be running smoothly at all, hardly makes it up hills and smells really bad ( must be burning something other than fuel) and sometimes when I put the clutch down my lights dim, heaters get weaker for a second as if its losing power. Got my uncle to have a look at my car and he says there is some water getting into the engine and he's recommended using rad weld to seal any leaks that might be in radiator, is this good advice and will it stop water from getting in the engine. Its also burning fuel at an alarming rate (for a 1 litre engine) i've replaced the lambda sensor but apparently the cat has gone on it now, will this effect fuel usage/performance at all.

Please help, Thank you.

21st February 2012, 18:56

What is the burning smell? what does it smell like? describe it the best you can and then someone will be able to tell you what it is

as it could be anything xD

could be brakes burning - oil burning - and the cat! - and a lot more!

with your MPG it sounds like your over fueling which could also be the lack of power you are experiencing... when was the car last serviced?

the cat being faulty would cause all these problems too! so i would get that changed asap

with your water leaking, top up the water + coolant to the max level and then see if the level goes down at all. go for a long drive (long enough for the thermostat to open and the fan to kick in) so that the water goes throughout the engine and rad

essay = over

21st February 2012, 18:58

oooh, how could i forget, also pop it to a garage and get a diagnostic test done

see if it has any errors

21st February 2012, 19:33

thank you very much for your help. erm the smell is like real strong fume but it can vary sometimes and when its struggling to get up hills a lot comes out of the exhaust as i can see it in my rear view mirror. hopefully get it all sorted soon. really hope the water going in the engine isn't the head gasket

23rd February 2012, 08:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andysaxy1992

thank you very much for your help. erm the smell is like real strong fume but it can vary sometimes and when its struggling to get up hills a lot comes out of the exhaust as i can see it in my rear view mirror. hopefully get it all sorted soon. really hope the water going in the engine isn't the head gasket

do you have mayo stuff in your oil? or oil in your coolant?

23rd February 2012, 10:19

take radiator cap of with engine cold. start it up and watch inside the radiator whilst its warming up, if it bubbles then you have water going into your engine and im afraid it will be the head gasket. as said check for mayo colour stuff under the oil filler cap and in the cam casing. only thing is with that you cant 100% say its the head gasket gone with that as short journeys in this cold weather will cause condensation and moisture in there which in turn goes like mayo and some people panic thing the heads gone when it hasnt. if theres a lot of it then maybe with the symptoms your getting you can say yes its the head.
how much smoke is blowing out the exhaust? are you loosing a lot of coolant? also is the temp gauge playing up and heater blowers blowing cold air most of the time?

it sounds like its also over fuelling. get spark plugs changed and get fuel injectors cleaned or changed. change fuel filter and then get a new cat. if you get a new cat 1st then that could easy be damaged from the over fueling.

23rd February 2012, 22:19

right, just washed the radiator out and put the rad weld in and at the moment fingers crossed my car is going okay at the moment. from what my uncle said he thinks it might be a slow leak from the radiator. there is a slight build up of mayo, mostly on the oil cap. i've ordered a new radiator cap as the seal has gone on that so that'll be here shortly, didn't look like there was any bubbles coming through the water when the engine was on. only now and again the smoke comes out, when it struggles to get up hills, which it hasn't done for a few days now thankfully, it would produce quite a bit, now there is just a strong fume smell, maybe cause the cat has gone?? the temp gauge is fine and the heaters seem to be okay, don't take long for them too heat up. i'll get my uncle to take a look at the fuel injectors and spark plugs when hes next free. where you fill the radiator with water it looked like someone had poured oil in there as it was very stained (brown colour) and you can't see the level of the water through the plastic but now its all been cleaned out, gonna check my water level tomorrow before i set off for work. thank you for your help guys, much appreciated!

23rd February 2012, 23:30

Id be more worried about the state of the head gasket than the bad mpg if you are getting water loss, mayo build up and oil in the coolant. Sounds to me like its failed

23rd February 2012, 23:44

it does sound like a head gasket mate. could be a very slow leak from the gasket. the cat going would cause bad mpg yes.