It is never pleasurable to acknowledge an injector noise on your Citroen Xsara. It is a noise that arises continually, usually when you accelerate or your engine is idling. However, this warning sign may be linked to multiple types of trouble with your car injectors. It may not be anything major, but when a recurrent noise arises, you have to be sure. Especially since fixing your Citroen Xsara’s injectors can be expensive. That’s why our team decided to produce this article content in order to help you see more clearly, learn about the different possible failures and identify your issue. To do this, we will first look at the normal functioning and usefulness of the injectors in your Citroen Xsara, then at the possible causes from which an injector noise may come.injector-noise-citroen-xsara

Benefits of the injectors

Injectors are a very useful component of the operation of your engine motor. They were released to the modern cars about 20 years ago. Before their arrival, 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 opportunity, 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 obtained from the various sensors equipping the car (engine temperature, acceleration level, engine speed, etc.). Their purpose 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 origins of a clicking or knocking noise coming from the injectors of your Citroen Xsara

Listening injector noises on your Citroen Xsara may come from different sources, we will now look into the potential causes of these. Generally, the typical noise of a faulty injector is of the snap type. Here are the different origins of these noises and the solutions to be applied to eliminate them. If you acknowledge another clicking noise but it is not from your injectors, we advise you to examine this article content about clicking noise on Citroen Xsara to discover the reason.

The explanations for injector clicking or knocking noise Citroen Xsara

A clicking or knocking noise from your injectors can be justified by different explanations. In fact, the injectors of your Citroen Xsara have three main tasks, to manage the vaporisation of the fuel, i.e., to transform the liquid into “gas” during injection, to ease its combustion. Then, its objective is to deal with the air/fuel dosage and finally the homogeneity of the mixture, always with the target of improving combustion. If one of these three functions is modified, the main functionality of the injectors will be disturbed and this will lead to poor combustion. This bad combustion will be a violent explosion in the cylinders as a consequence of bad timing, or a bad quantity of mixture or finally an inhomogeneous mixture and will trigger thoses knocking or clicking noises on your Citroen Xsara. The main reason of these situations usually originates from a particle that gets into the injectors. The accuracy of the injector being in the nanometer range, any possible blockage will inevitably lead to a malfunction of the injector. If after checking, this noise originates from another part of the engine of your Citroen Xsara, check this article content for more informations.

The consequences of injector noise on Citroen Xsara

Now that we have analyzed the diverse reasons for injector noise on your Citroen Xsara, we will end by stating the possible consequences of malfunctioning one or more of your injectors. Whether only one is blocked, or damaged, or your entire fuel rail is involved, you cannot escape these consequences which can fairly quickly become critical….
First, you risk destroying your exhaust unit 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 regular consequences noticed by drivers is a severe 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 deteriorating one of your pistons or your engine. Poor combustion will fairly quickly affect your cylinders or pistons and your engine may tighten.
Here are three little recommendations to limit the risks associated with 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>