Citroen Picasso - Instantaneous combustion

...glad to see they are all okay. Does us all a favour and tell her & the kids to stay in bed this Friday...

Yes.

Except I was driving at the time.

About 11 years ago in a '83 Polo Formel E. Started to lose power and stopped in the middle of the road. Got out, lifted the bonnet to see if I could spot anything wrong and then suggested to SWMBO that she may wish to evacuate the car fairly pronto....

Was this an HDI (diesel) Pic? If so, there have been numous CAN wiring faults with them- this is almost exactly the same as what we first saw with the Pug 406 using CAN and soon after the 206 (though not as serious with the

206). This is a most dangerous fault with the cooling fan relay / control which can / does result in a big short and fire can result. This may have been the cause...?

PSA at the moment will not recognise there is a fault, although they will repair problem cars FOC even if they are out of warranty- says something doesnt it.

Tim..

Yes. I was in the petrol station filling up my Talbot Solara (anyone remember them? yeuch!!) when the starter motor started spinning and smoke poured out of the front. Gave my fellow customers a bit of a fright.

Tim, was that the one that featured on Watch Dog a while back? Might be worth the OP digging around on their site if it is.Asuuming the garage doesn't take care of it properly.

The one on watchdog was lock barrells getting sticky so that the starter motor was being run all the time.

Ahhh, that was it - I couldn't quite remember. Apparently, one of the victims was a Traffic Cop, who was a bit miffed to be told it was his driving style or something like that.

I don't really see how you don't notice something like the starter motor still running. In my car if I hold the starter on it sounds bloody unhealthy.

LOL, yeah, sounds like and feels like someone is drilling your teeth, only cheaper LOL.

Could be an engine misfire allowing petrol to enter the catalyst and burn there. This raises the temperature of the exhaust to a point where the underseal applied to the underside of the body can melt/catch alight. Had a similar problem on a Mk3 Astra. The exhaust was virtually glowing, and the floorpan got so hot that the centre console and carpets melted to the floor!

A misfire would also cause the lack of power you describe. To make speed drop as low as 10mph, at least two cylinders must be dropping out.

HTH

Anthony Remove eight from email to reply.

As I recall the Watchdog programme related tothe 406- yes this is the same problem.

Tim..

Oh in that case it wasnt then. (see above post)

Tim..

Bearing in mind the fact that more people die in bed than anywhere else, are you sure staying bed is a sensible option?