Like many PSA group cars, the Citroen DS3 was fitted with a variety of petrol and diesel engines. While the diesels tend to be more reliable than the petrols, the Puretech and VTi petrol engines fitted to the Citroen DS3 are fairly reliable units providing they are looked after properly from a servicing perspective, and preventative maintenance is performed on-time.
In this article we’re going to specifically look at the Puretech 1.2L engine fitted to the Citroen DS3 and the problems you may experience with it. It’s worth noting that this engine is the same engine fitted to the Peugeot 208, and after 2019, the Vauxhall Corsa.
The point of this article isn’t to scare you off buying a Citroen DS3 – I personally think they’re great cars. However, the below issues are all something you need to watch out for, particularly if you’re looking at buying a DS3 with the 1.2L Puretech petrol engine, but also if you already own one and you’re looking to ensure it lasts as long as possible and you avoid major engine issues.
There are four main issues I’d suggest you watch out for on this engine.
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Timing belt disintegrating and causing oil starvation
This is something I’ve written about extensively on this site and it’s because it is such a widespread problem, specifically with the 1.2L PureTech engine. Bear in mind that this engine has been fitted to a significant number of PSA vehicles as we mentioned, so as a mechanic it wasn’t uncommon for me to see several of these engines in a week.
This is an issue that affects multiple generations of the 1.2L PureTech engine fitted to the Citroen DS3, but was particularly bad on the first generation roughly from around 2009 – 2016 before the facelift version of the DS3 was released. The PureTech engine used to be called the VTi engine and as far as I can tell there aren’t any major differences between the two – just that the VTi is an older engine.
What happens on the 1.2L PureTech is that the timing belt runs in the engine oil. You can actually see it if you take the oil filler cap off. Putting the timing belt in oil is something that other manufacturers have experimented with in the past – I personally can’t see any particular benefit to doing it. The problem this causes on this particular engine is that the engine oil causes some kind of chemical reaction with the rubber and causes bits of the rubber to break off. You’ll see this on older belts where the belt itself almost looks like the surface of the moon with how much material has broken off.
What happens to the little bits of rubber that break off is that they contaminate the engine oil, and make their way down to the sump. They then get picked up by the oil pump and pumped into the innards of the engine. This causes massive problems over time, as the bits of rubber clog up the innards of the engine and prevent oil flowing through it – which eventually leads to oil starvation and the engine seizes up.
As we discussed this was a significant problem on older models of the 1.2L PureTech engine, to the point where Citroen revised the timing belt interval down to 6 years and 60,000 miles, from the original interval of 10 years and 112,500 miles. It was improved slightly with the facelift model from 2016 and you see far less of these going wrong. Additionally Citroen re-formulated the chemical compound used to make the rubber in the timing belt after identifying this as an issue, and therefore even if you have a first generation DS3, if you get a replacement timing belt this issue is largely resolved.
If you are looking at buying a DS3 you must make sure that the belt was changed at the specified, revised interval. If it hasn’t been, you can actually inspect the timing belt yourself by removing the oil filler cap and looking inside the engine – which should give you a pretty good idea of how worn the belt is. If there are any signs of wear, walk away.
It’s worth noting that in my experience Citroen and Peugeot have been fairly generous with this issue and as long as there has been a history of servicing at the main dealer with the correct oil, they will generally at least part fund any repairs resulting in a snapped timing belt caused by this issue. Don’t buy a new car banking on them helping you out if it all goes wrong, however – make sure you inspect the belt yourself and check that it has been changed at the correct interval.
Heavy oil consumption
I see a lot of PSA group cars, particularly DS3s, with this engine in for repair for this issue. Most owners report varying degrees of oil consumption but the common complaint is that engine is an oil burner – sometimes to a significant degree. I’ve had people complain that the PureTech engine on their DS3 burns a little bit of oil between regular services – around 750ml (which I would not consider an issue) right to the point where people are reporting the dipstick dry after around 5000 miles.
I believe this is actually related to another problem with the PureTech engines that we’ll get onto later on in the article, and that’s related to carbon build up. What appears to be the reason these engines burn oil, especially as the mileage climbs past the 75,000 mile mark, is that the oil control ring on the pistons gets stuck with carbon which allows excess oil through.
Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do about this – the only cure for this issue seems to be overly diligent servicing of the engine right from the start of your ownership – to the point where you might be doing a service every 7500 miles which consists of a full oil and filter change. It’s widely accepted that these engines will start burning oil as they get to a higher mileage and your only solution is either to fit a new engine or just keep checking the dipstick every two weeks or so to ensure you have enough oil.
There are products on the market (specifically one by a German company that I can’t remember the name of) that claim to be able to perform an engine flush that will clear out all the carbon deposits and stop this oil burning issue but I don’t have any experience with how well this might work and therefore I wouldn’t recommend it.
I would say that to avoid this issue, you need to not buy a PureTech engine – they all burn oil. However, what you should do if you are in the market for a DS3 with a 1.2L PureTech engine is ensure you get one with low enough mileage, preferably dealer-serviced and change the oil diligently every 5000 – 7500 miles. If you do this, carbon deposits should be minimised and therefore your engine shouldn’t burn quite so much oil as if you stick to the specified service intervals.
This isn’t something you can really avoid, and I would urge you to give specific consideration to this issue if you are considering buying a DS3 with this engine. If you run your engine short of oil, it’s highly likely you will need your engine rebuilt.
Carbon buildup
Carbon buildup is inevitable in direct injection engines such as the 1.2 PureTech. It seems to be exacerbated a little bit in these engines and I’ve heard of carbon issues as early on as 30,000 miles.
Without getting overly technical, this seems to often be to do with a faulty PCV valve, which allows blow-by gases to recirculate into the manifold. If this valve were to become blocked or faulty, it can allow oil to be forced past the compression rings. If this happens the oil becomes hot and burns off, leading to carbon deposits.
This is also, I believe, the main cause of excessive oil consumption in these engines – so these two issues are intrinsically related and if your PureTech engine is burning oil, it’s also experiencing carbon buildup inside the engine.
I would say again that there’s not really a lot you can do about this other than diligent servicing, which should mitigate the oil consumption issue as well as the carbon build-up problem. However, as mentioned this is one of the common problems that plagues the 1.2L PureTech engine fitted to the Citroen DS3 and is one you will need to be aware of before you buy one.
Sensitivity to poor servicing
We’ve kind of already touched upon this in the previous points but it is worth mentioning on its own seeing as it’s such an issue with Citroen DS3s fitted with this engine. Whether it’s due to the timing belt breaking up, carbon deposits in the engine or excessive oil consumption, you should be aware that these issues can be not only mitigated somewhat by more frequent servicing (including more frequent oil and filter changes as well as preventative maintenance, e.g. changing the timing belt) but they can be exacerbated by poor servicing.
I would usually describe poor servicing as anything that takes you beyond the manufacturer’s recommended servicing schedule. In this case Citroen recommend a service every 12,500 miles – but I would say even that is too long for these engines particularly their vulnerability with carbon build up as well as excessive oil consumption.
To have a chance of avoiding these issues, get your car serviced every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. You don’t need to take your car into a garage for this – anyone can do an oil, filter and spark plug change on your driveway. With this you stand the best chance of avoiding or mitigating some of the more common issues that plague the 1.2L PureTech engine in the DS3.
Or, you could just buy a diesel – the 1.4L and 1.6L HDi engines are bomb-proof as long as you look after them and are far better engines than any of the PureTech/VTi engines.
We’ve written extensively about the DS3 – so if you’re looking for more buyer’s guides, maintenance tips and more, check out some of our other articles.
A guide to the best engine oil for your Citroen DS3
Citroen DS3 Timing Belt Change Interval
Citroen DS3 – Engine Fault, Repair Needed
Citroen DS3 Heater Blower not Working
Citroen DS3 Clutch Replacement Cost
Common Faults with the Citroen DS3
Citroen DS3 vs Peugeot 208 – Used Car Buying Guide
Citroen C1 Life Expectancy – How long will it last?
How much is a clutch for a Citroen C1?
About the author
Marcus Brown is editor-in-chief of The FatMech and is a mechanic with ten years' experience based in London, UK. Having worked for major dealerships for many years, Marcus now works for a local independent garage and has experience working on nearly every make and model of car. Marcus also has a passion for writing and teaching, which is where the idea for The FatMech came from. In his spare time, Marcus enjoys playing golf, doing home renovations and gardening. He lives just outside London with his wife and son.
We bought a 65 plate DS3 in September 2022. The car is now not in use due the timing belt and oil pump issue. Citroën are refusing to help, despite the fact that this is a well known fault, as the car is over 6 years old doesn’t have a full Citroën dealership service history even though car has been serviced elsewhere. I have been quoted £2700 to repair the car.