Any sensodrive experts? Mechanic recommendations??

Vespa_Girl

New member
Tadpole
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
1
Location
Brisbane
Hello.

I'm a fist time citroen owner, and this is my first car actually, so I am not very savvy with exactly how the sensordrive system works.

I have been doing as much research as I can using the c2club in the UK, however they seem to have a lot more mechanic support for the c2 over there - probably because of how popular they are/were.

I bought my little C2 about 2 years ago, have barely had many sensodrive issues, just one or two snowflakes every few months. I have had trouble free driving for at least the past 9 months, and then the snowflake came back.

Now, as you will see in this clip, the gearbox/clutch actuator is doing something very strange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ht8...ature=youtu.be


I have sprayed lube inside the actuator the best I can, thinking it might just need a bit of help with the movement.

I need to take it to a mechanic, but am hoping to find one in Brisbane with a bit of sensodrive experience.

I have had it serviced by euroserve here in Brisbane, however his theory for the snowflake was that the gearbox oil is getting too hot, and as a self-preservation method, forcing th car to stop.

Not sure how true this is, as I have had this happen in the dead of winter 5 mins after drving the car.
 
Have a chat with John Walton at DS Motors in Red Hill (3368 1533) for a second opinion. His knowledge is well worth tapping.

Best of luck!

Donat
 
Hello Vespa Girl,

Just watched your video reference your selection problems.

I'm not a Citroen expert, but I've been a mechanic for many years, and if I was going to start some where, I would be looking at how the switch information is sent to the E.C.M.

What I mean by this is that your paddles are mounted to the steering wheel right? Well As with SRS Airbags, and steering controls in general they use a rotary cassette behind the steering wheel which allows the rotary movement of the steering wheel whilst still allowing electrical signals from the switches without any wires becoming twisted with the turning motion of the steering wheel.

In most cases these Rotary Cassettes last a long time and rarely give any trouble. I don't know what your technical skills are like, but I would be starting my investigation there.
Be warned though, removing the steering wheel, adhere to SRS airbag removal guidelines, before removing the drivers bag.
Also do not turn the ignition on whilst the drivers bag is disconnected. It won't explode or any thing, but it will do a start up check of the system and detect the bag is not in the circuit and log a fault, then illuminate your SRS light which may not "self remove" after the bag is reconnected.
If you think back to the problem, you turn on the ignition, the ECM does a self check, which would probably include a circuit resistance check to your paddles. Once it has found a fault (possible incorrect voltage return or resistance) it will log the snowflake to indicate a fault in the system. Further add that to the fact that the ECM is unsure which gear is being selected when you apply the paddles, could indicate interruptions in the signals from your paddles.

If your are tech savvy, remove the bag, and check continuity from all your steering wheel switches to the back of the rotary cassette. If your not, take it to an Auto Sparky that should be able to find the problem quickly.

Hope this helps

Simon
 
If you're living in Brisbane; mad if you don't take this advice.

Probably not a bad idea to obtain an alternative view. I assume the problem shown in the clip is when cold, but there could be a few reasons for it. It is my understanding that paddle and gearstick problems do not cause a flashing snow light, so maybe the problem is not with them.

Spraying lubricant into the actuators (one for the clutch (one stepper motor) and one for the gearbox selection (two stepper motors)) isn't likely to do much as you can't really get inside them. The pinion and gear sector of the clutch actuator need proper greasing in any event and you would know that it is dry if it creaks as it operates the clutch. You can often hear it creaking when moving the car around at parking speeds.

There is a rivet on one of the selector forks that can let and make gear selection impossible, so that is one possibility. The gear actuator at least seems to be trying to select a gear, so it may be OK.

It's worth reading this thread, which may not be found very easily due to the title ...
http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/citro%EBn-forum/112479-ecu-rebuilding-australia.html
 
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Folks there cars are simple and the following can be checked for free and easy to do. First, both the engine crank sensor and gearbox sensodrive sensor checked and cleaned. Crank sensors either work or not and the gearbox one has a bad habit of fouling with metal particles and different rpm readings occur leading to the car thinking it has a clutch fault. Tolerance from memory was either 2 or 5 percent from memory. Ecu records the state at time of fault.

Next, I found by dismantling the clutch actuater which is easy to do but mechanics generally do not do this work is to clean out the auto adjuster which freezes up from rust on the four walls of the actuater nylon casing and the car has issues with the bite point programming and snowflake again. Finally, I remove the moter casing and blow air out the hall effect sensors as by design can foul as placed under the motor brushes.

if you take the bottom plate off you will see the nylon box the size of a thumb an I just dismantle this as is the suspect area you want to ensure working well.

from experience with owning a sensodrive I,m convinced the once only clean of the clutch actuator and followed by a physical check and clean the swarf off the gearbox sensor every 10k will see reliable operation well into the future. I forwarded my pictures on this to a uk friend who posted the images online for all, just cannot get the url at time of writing.

The only negative is the need for the interface to the ecu for a laptop to program up the actuator afer removal which can be purchased off ebay and is a great bit of kit if you own a citroen anyway. Hope this helps.

that creaking noise is the auto adjuster getting stuck at one point from debris rust and finally, these parts will not take kindly to any spray lube once you see how they are configured.

http://jimbutterworth.co.uk/5clutchactuator.htm where Jim posted my pics. You will see the peugeot 2-tronic actuater is our sensodrive actuater and will show you how to clean and test.
 
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