Xantia is using up too much fuel

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 25 Mar 2006, 12:51

My 96 2.0L 16V manual gear xantia is 'drinking' fuel like if it was free.
It all started after i bought the car a few months ago, the consumption was 1L/11Km, and it was time for new plugs, oil and filters changed.

I did that myself making sure that all the parts and liquids are bought from the main dealer which uses original parts.

At that time i also replaced my Catal. converter.

Since then, i had the K warning light turned on a few times and so i checked and cleaned the lambda sensor's connector.

The problem is that now the car is using up 1L per 7Km (!!!) of fuel.
I took the car for an inpection and everything seemed normal, they told me to check the fuel consumption again and return to them.

I need help because the consumption is still very high.
Could it be that the cause for this high consumption is the Lambda sensor?
Can it be something else (like catal. converter that don't fit)?

Another q., is there only one Lambda sensor in my car and is it really supposed to be located right infront of the catal. converter?

Post by **Peter.N.** » 25 Mar 2006, 14:48

Have you checked the obvious things like binding brakes and low tyre pressures or an excessively heavy right foot. Failing those, get the emmisions tested, that should tell you if there is something wrong with the ECU system. Failing all that, get a diesel.

deian · Post by **deian** » 25 Mar 2006, 15:13

You say you got it checked, was it connected to a computer by citroen for diagnostic checks and reset?

Chances are maybe a sensor 'is' failing and the computer is sometimes in LIMP (safe), mode hence the high consumption, but Citroen would have noticed this, unless it's an intermittent fault. Try checking all the sensors wiring, a bit of WD40 here and there.

As far as i understand there is no need for more than one lamba sensor, also it's just there for cold starting. So maybe check the wiring for this especially, or to give peace of mind, replace it anyway, they are simple components and I would recommend not buying from Citroen where you maybe pay 5x as much. Up to you.

Also try checking the tracking (wheel alignment) too, that can help a lot in some cases.

Finally, check that there are no physical fuel leakage somewhere between the fuel tank to the injectors, check with the engine running as this runs the pump.

No lead or gold in the boot?

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 25 Mar 2006, 15:41

there is no problem with tyres (new), the old ones were even all around them, the pressure is good there.
Also there is no fuel leaking, i checked that.

the car was connected to a computer that showed a problem with the lambda sensor not working, but after cleaning the plug the computer showed it's ok, can a faulty sensor cause such an extreme fuel consumption?

When i installed the new (replacement) catal. converter, i found out that the old one's inside has been stripped and was empty, could it be that the ECU computer needs adjustment?
I was told i can reset it if i take out it's fuse and disconnect the battary for a few minutes, does anyone know something about it?

deian · Post by **deian** » 25 Mar 2006, 15:44

yes a faulty lambda sensor can indeed cause a lot of fuel to be used. you can also try resetting the ecu, but if there are any fault codes still in it, i don't think these will be erased, hopefully the dealer erased them for you upon diagnosing the lambda sensor.

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 25 Mar 2006, 15:54

is there a chance the new catal. converter is too small for my engine and that causes the sensor to read the data incorrectly and therefore the use of too much fuel?

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 25 Mar 2006, 19:01

Have you got any data on your cat ?

I'd say any cat suitable for 2.0-2.5 L engines should readily fit.
And no it would not be the Lambda sensor giving bad data because of this.
The Lambda sensor itself could of course be bad. You can only check if the preheater element in the Lambda sensor is working. The sensor element itself in the Lambda sensor can not be tested - other by substitution with a known good sensor.

Have you had the sensor out and tried cleaning it ? That will most sure damage the sensor as it relies on a thin layer of special bounded metals on the surface.

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 26 Mar 2006, 07:42

The cat. is BOSEL, don't have other data on it.

No, i did not try to clean the sensor, but when they replaced the cat., they moved the sensor about 10 cm towards the front of the car and located it on the pipe (originaly it was on the front of the cat.).

today i will replace the sensor and get back to you.
thank you so far.

Post by **Huskyxantia** » 16 Aug 2018, 15:27

wonderd wrote: ↑26 Mar 2006, 07:42 The cat. is BOSEL, don't have other data on it.

No, i did not try to clean the sensor, but when they replaced the cat., they moved the sensor about 10 cm towards the front of the car and located it on the pipe (originaly it was on the front of the cat.).

today i will replace the sensor and get back to you.
thank you so far.

So ........ Was reading with interest ....

What happened !

Post by **xantia_v6** » 16 Aug 2018, 16:59

wonderd has not logged into the forum since 2010, so I suppose he wandered off into the sunset.

Post by **Huskyxantia** » 18 Aug 2018, 21:48

Maybe ran out of fuel and got well lost lol

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Xantia is using up too much fuel

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