It is never pleasurable to hear an injector noise on your Citroen C5. It is a noise that happens regularly, usually when you accelerate or your engine is idling. However, this indicator may be relating to several types of complications with your automobile injectors. It may not be anything serious, but when a continuing noise arises, you have to be sure. Especially since replacing your Citroen C5’s injectors can be costly. That’s why our team chose to produce this article in order to support you see more clearly, learn about the different possible failures and determine your issue. To do this, we will first look at the normal functioning and usefulness of the injectors in your Citroen C5, then at the possible causes from which an injector noise may come.injector-noise-citroen-c5

Functions of the injectors

Injectors are a very vital part of the operation of your engine unit. They were introduced to the modern vehicles about 20 years ago. Before their appearance, more conventional carburettor-type intake systems were used, which handled the intake of air and fuel into the engine cylinders. With the injectors, manufacturers now have the possibility, thanks to the injectors pump, to control electronically each stage of the intake process very precisely (quantity of fuel injected, air/fuel mixture) via the analysis of the data received from the various sensors equipping the automobile (engine temperature, acceleration level, engine speed, etc.). Their goal is therefore to inject under high pressure a precise quantity of an air/fuel mixture at a perfect timing to get the best possible combustion in the cylinders.

The different causes of a clicking or knocking noise caused by the injectors of your Citroen C5

Hearing injector noises on your Citroen C5 may come from different origins, we will now center on the potential triggers of these. Generally, the regular noise of a faulty injector is of the snap type. Here are the several sources of these noises and the solutions to be implemented to prevent them. If you hear another clicking noise but it is not from your injectors, we recommend you to browse this article about clicking noise on Citroen C5 to locate the reason.

The reasons for injector clicking or knocking noise Citroen C5

A clicking or knocking noise from your injectors can be justified by different reasons. In fact, the injectors of your Citroen C5 have three main tasks, to control the vaporisation of the fuel, i.e., to convert the liquid into “gas” during injection, to facilitate its combustion. Then, its task is to manage the air/fuel dosage and finally the homogeneity of the mixture, always with the goal of improving combustion. If one of these three characteristics is modified, the main functionality of the injectors will be disrupted and this will lead to poor combustion. This bad combustion will be a violent explosion in the cylinders because of bad timing, or a bad quantity of mixture or finally an inhomogeneous mixture and will induce thoses knocking or clicking noises on your Citroen C5. The main reason of these situations usually comes from a particle that gets into the injectors. The precision of the injector being in the nanometer range, any possible blockage will inevitably result in a malfunction of the injector. If after verifying, this noise comes from another part of the engine of your Citroen C5, browse this article for more infos.

The end result of injector noise on Citroen C5

Now that we have examined the different reasons for injector noise on your Citroen C5, we will end by stating the possible end result of malfunctioning one or more of your injectors. Whether only one is clogged, or damaged, or your entire fuel rail is involved, you cannot escape these side effects which can fairly quickly become considerable….
First, you risk destroying your exhaust system in the long run, because the unburned fuel residues that will end up in your exhaust system can corrode the metal in it.
One of the most common consequences experienced by drivers is a distinctive loss of power. In fact, if your engine is running on 3 out of 4 cylinders for example, you will inevitably have a loss of power
Finally, you risk degrading one of your pistons or your engine. Poor combustion will fairly quickly damage your cylinders or pistons and your engine may tighten.
Here are three little tips to limit the risks linked to your injectors and protect you from engine failure:

  • Do not drive at the bottom of the tank, as you may absorb impurities
  • Use quality fuel
  • Think of swapping your diesel fuel filter regularly>