While Citroen Relay vans offer great value for money, along with a decent standard specification and a large rear load area, they do suffer from a range of common problems. This article will summarise issues with the 2.0L Citroen Relay engine and gearbox.
If you own a 2.0 litre Peugeot Boxer van, the common problems listed in this article will also apply to your vehicle as they have the same engine and gearbox.
Here at Sell the Van, we have lots of experience with these diesel engines and have found one of the main problems with the 2.0L Citroen engine is turbo failure.
Turbos often fail around 100,000 miles on these vehicles. Symptoms include excessive shaft play resulting in a whistling noise when the engine is revved and the turbo oil seals failing resulting in excessive oil consumption.
If you own one of these vehicles with over 80,000 miles, it is paramount to regularly check your oil level to ensure your turbocharger is not consuming oil. It is also very important not to drive a vehicle that is consuming oil through the turbo, because this can cause serious engine damage if not repaired.
Other symptoms include an illuminated engine light on your dashboard alongside a general lack of power. If your turbo has failed and you have had this diagnosed by a garage, reconditioned turbos are around £500-£600 and the labour should be around £500.
For buying parts, we highly recommend Turbo Developments based in Uxbridge. Most competent garages should be able to replace your turbo for you.
Another common issue with these engines is injector problems.
We have seen injectors fail as early as 60,000 miles and unfortunately, just like the turbo issues listed above, the cost to repair faulty injectors are quite expensive. Injectors push fuel into the engine as part of the combustion process from the fuel tank via a high-pressure fuel pump in the engine and a low-pressure fuel pump in the fuel tank.
When one or more of the injectors fail, your symptoms could range from a fuel leak from one of the injectors, your vehicle misfiring resulting in your steering wheel shaking and an engine light on your dashboard.
When you have your vehicle diagnosed, while the garage may tell you only one injector is faulty, it is very important to replace all 4 injectors at once. Although ultimately more expensive, here at Sell the Van, we have learned the hard way from trying only to replace one injector. The vehicle will run fine for a short period and then another injector will break.
Another important aspect of changing injectors is to make sure they are properly coded to your vehicle using a diagnostic machine. If they are not properly coded the new injectors will not work properly. To buy a set of injectors will cost around £150-£250 each and the labour time should be around £500.
Alongside turbo and injector problems, Citroen Relay vans also suffer from gearbox issues. Symptoms will include strange crunching noises when shifting between gears alongside whining noises when the vehicle is in a particular gear. In some cases, there may be a total loss of a certain gear (for instance, 4th gear).
A good way to check your gearbox is take it for a drive with the radio off and the windows up and drive it very fast and accelerate hard. Do you hear any crunches when changing gear? Gearbox whines often happen in 5th and 6th gear where vans sit on the motorway at 70mph in 6th gear up and down the motorway.
If you hear even just a faint whine noise coming from your gearbox when you engage a certain gear that disappears when the gearbox is in neutral, this could be a sign of a worn-out gearbox. Unfortunately the cost to repair these gearboxes are quite expensive, ranging from £1250-£1750. We would highly recommend Planet Gears in Peterborough who we have used on a number of occasions.
A final problem that we often find with these vehicles is linked to the outside temperature sensor on the underside of the driver’s wing mirror.
This sensor is important as the DPF regeneration process will only occur correctly when the outside temperature is known. The most common issues develop when the driver’s wing mirror gets damaged and the owner replaces the mirror with a cheap, aftermarket mirror that doesn’t have the temperature sensor fitted.
When the sensor is missing, the DPF regeneration doesn’t occur correctly and this results in a build-up of soot in the exhaust. This in turn causes strain on the engine by creating back pressure from the DPF, which forces the turbo to work harder. If this is left for long enough periods then the blocked DPF can cause excessive wear in the turbo.
An easy way to check that the temperature sensor is working properly is by making sure the outside temperature is displayed on the dashboard. If it isn’t, there will be two dashes in the place where the temperature will be displayed. Click this link to purchase a standard short arm drivers wing mirror for a Citroen Relay (2014-onwards). The mirror can also easily be changed in around 30 mins with some basic DIY tools. Please click this link for a Youtube tutorial on how to change it.
Hopefully this article has been informative for all Citroen Relay and Peugeot Boxer van owners.
If your van has one or more of these problems, have you considered getting a free valuation from Sell the Van? We will buy your Citroen Relay / Peugeot Boxer van if it has turbo, injector, gearbox or other engine problems. We offer free collection and instant payment.