Xsara Vts - Hesitation And Erratic Revs

I own a 2002 Xsara VTS and have had continual problems with the car when in traffic and driving at slow speeds. If the car is driven with the revs between 1000 and 2000 (usually in traffic) the car either hesitates badly or stalls. Also, when sat motionless in traffic the revs often rise up to about 2000 of their own accord. The throttle response is also best described as woolly. When changing down from say fourth to third (or even second) coming up to an island, if the throttle is then pressed in the hope that the call will pull away reasonably its as if the car has lost about 50hp - that is until it clears it's throat once it gets above 2000rpm, then it pulls fine. Also when gently coming off the throttle and then easing it back on (at any revs) it again hesitates, clears itself, then again pulls fine.

The car has been into a Citroen main dealer three times, each time they've 'downloaded a software update' but the problems still remain. They've tried suggesting it could be my driving but I as I owned the previous version of Xsara VTS without a problem, I’m not sure it can be.

Sorry about the rant but I’m now getting a bit frustrated by all this. I wondered if any eon else had had the same problems and whether they managed to get them sorted.

Cheers.

Hi. Did you find out of the problem? I've got some of the same problems..

I have the same problem here in Aus

Stephen

Hi,

I Have a Xsara 2001 HDI and you are describing the same symptoms I'm facing.
Any progress

I have a 2002 Xsara 1.6 auto I bought 2nd hand with 60,00km after 3 years with its original owner which had similar problems the dealer couldn't identify. I managed to get the car running well by checking and adjusting the vacuum pipe fittings.

The dealer said they were ok but using ptfe plumbing tape and a heavy duty grease I got them to seal properly. Another problem was that the vacuum pipes were loose (flapping around in the breeze) and going round a sharp corner the automatic would go into limp-home mode. Using cable ties to keep the hose located across the top of the engine in position overcame that final problem.

Prior to that I had the dealer resetting software and saying everthing was ok but clearly the engine wasn't running properly and the gear-changes were not working smoothly either plus the kick-down was not functioning.

The Haynes manual gives passing mention to the vacuum hoses causing this trouble but no information on how to fix the problem. If genuine parts are available they should be the prefered option but for less than a dollar for plumbing tape and cable ties I have the car running perfectly for me.

I also installed a new set of spark plugs which Haynes said was the second most likely cause of problems after the vacuum hoses but I can't say if they made any significant difference while fixing the vacuum hoses made a huge improvement. Now I'm enjoying the car the way I expected to.

good luck you guys, lauriel