Vehicle
Citroën Xsara
The compact hatchback between the ZX and the C4, and the model that carried Citroën through the rally era. The Picasso is a separate body on the same platform and by far the more numerous survivor — an MPV where the hatchback was a hatchback, sharing engines and gearboxes. Its defining electrical fault is the BSI body-control unit, which is sensitive to low battery voltage and to water ingress at the scuttle, and which produces implausible multi-system code sets when it is unhappy rather than one honest fault.
Generations
-
N1 1997–2000
The original, on PSA's PF2 predecessor; simple engine management and few electronics to confuse a diagnosis.
- Body styles
- Hatchback · Estate · Coupé
- Platform
- PSA PF2
- Engines
-
- 1.4 petrol — petrol
- 1.6 petrol — petrol · 135 Nm (100 lb-ft)
- 1.8 16v — petrol · 155 Nm (114 lb-ft)
- 2.0 16v — petrol · 193 Nm (142 lb-ft) · VTS
- 1.9 D — diesel
- 2.0 HDi — diesel · 205 Nm (151 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 5-speed manual · 4-speed automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
-
N2 2000–2006
The facelift, and the era of the BSI body-control unit — sensitive to low voltage and scuttle water ingress, and it reports implausible multi-system faults when it is.
- Body styles
- Hatchback · Estate · MPV
- Platform
- PSA PF2
- Engines
-
- 1.4 petrol — petrol · 120 Nm (89 lb-ft)
- 1.6 16v — petrol · 147 Nm (108 lb-ft)
- 1.8 16v — petrol
- 2.0 16v — petrol · 193 Nm (142 lb-ft) · VTS
- 1.4 HDi — diesel · 160 Nm (118 lb-ft)
- 1.6 HDi — diesel
- 2.0 HDi — diesel · 205–250 Nm (151–184 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 5-speed manual · 6-speed manual · 4-speed automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Posted about the Citroën Xsara
Be the first to write this up
Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
Sign in or create an account to add what you found about Citroën Xsara.