Seeking advice: Unexplained problems with Citroen Berlingo - Lambda sensor defective?

Hey, I went through the same situation with my 2011 Citroen C3! I am not an expert in car mechanics, but have some experience. In my case, the exhaust was actually leaking. At my garage they did an overall check and all they had to do was replace it. It cost 265 euros, which was pretty fair in my opinion. Maybe your Berlingo has a similar exhaust problem? Can you give more details about your car, for example the mileage and if there have been any recent repairs? That might help us narrow down the problem further.

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Hi, thanks for your quick reply. My Berlingo has now done just under 84000 km. So, the last inspection was at 80000 km and apart from some normal maintenance work like oil change and brake fluid, there would be nothing serious. Do you think I should have the exhaust checked? Thanks for your tip, I'll definitely have that checked.

(Translated from German)

Great that you wrote back so quickly. With the mileage and the recent inspection, I would personally say that there is probably no problem with the general maintenance of your car. It's clear that the maintenance has been done regularly and properly. You ask if you should have the exhaust checked. Sure, it couldn't hurt in any case! Maybe it really is just an exhaust problem, as was the case with my C3. Also, the symptoms sound very similar, especially the black smoke and the engine light. But I have to add that it could really be the lambda sensor, because that's also there to regulate the mixture of air and gasoline in the engine. If it's broken, it can certainly lead to symptoms like this. If it is the lambda sensor, that would of course be stupid, because they are often expensive to replace in the workshop. It would be cheaper with an exhaust. I would definitely advise you to have it checked at a garage. Another thing you can do yourself is to have your fault memory read out if you have such a device. Sometimes the answer is already there. And another thing, take good care of your Berlingo - they're great cars!

(Translated from German)

Hello everyone, thank you very much for your input. It's great that you are so helpful. I will take your advice to heart and have my exhaust and lambda sensor checked in a workshop. I will also try reading out the fault memory - I haven't actually tried that yet. So if the symptoms improve after the repairs, that would be a big sigh of relief on my part. And yes, I love my Berlingo too and really want to drive it for longer. I will keep you posted on the diagnosis and the repairs. Thanks again for your help!

(Translated from German)