Xantia temperature warning light

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weety
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Xantia temperature warning light

Post by weety »

Hi Guys
Last night driving down the motorway my xantia temperature warning light plus the stop light came on (but the temperature gauge still read normally) the fans also kicked in and stayed on for a long time after the engine was stopped.
I stopped and checked but the car didnt seem to be overheating it hadnt lost any coolant the top hose was warm the radiator was cold...what i would expect really driving down the motorway at 70.
is this the traditional citroen electrical failure giving me something to do with my multimeter on sunday [:)] or is this the sign of something much more sinister.....
the car is a R reg 1.9td with air con and the thermostat was changed in january
Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated
Cheers
Peter
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Post by Mandrake »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by weety</i>

Hi Guys
Last night driving down the motorway my xantia temperature warning light plus the stop light came on (but the temperature gauge still read normally) the fans also kicked in and stayed on for a long time after the engine was stopped.
I stopped and checked but the car didnt seem to be overheating it hadnt lost any coolant the top hose was warm the radiator was cold...what i would expect really driving down the motorway at 70.
is this the traditional citroen electrical failure giving me something to do with my multimeter on sunday [:)] or is this the sign of something much more sinister.....
the car is a R reg 1.9td with air con and the thermostat was changed in january
Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated
Cheers
Peter
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I've had this happen a few time as well, except on the 2 litre 8 valve petrol engine. After a brisk drive on the open road, then comming back into town and slowing down, the red light on the top of the temperature guage and the main STOP light came on for about 20 seconds despite the temperature guage reading 80 degrees.
According to some on this forum, the red light is activated by the ECU not the temperature reading, so it could be the ECU detecting a "fault" with one of the sensors...
So far it hasn't happened again and I'm pretty happy that the cooling system is working fine so I havn't done anything more about it...
If you find out what it is, I'd sure like to know.
By the way, the fans coming on for a long time after parking the car sometimes is semi-normal. It usually happens after a brisk drive, then stopping and turning off the engine while it is still quite hot, with the water no longer circulating the temperature in the engine water jackets will rise quite high - up to as much as 90 to 95 degrees which is enough to activate the fans with the key turned off.
Unfortunately since the water is not circulating the fans can't really cool the engine down where the sensor is, so they run for a long time achieving not much. If you start the engine when you see this happening you'll notice the temperature guage go up to 90 or 95 degrees, but after about 30 seconds of idling it will drop back to normal due to the water circulation, then if you turn off the key the fans will go off.
Allowing the fans to come on when the key is off seems like a mis-feature to me...
Regards,
Simon
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Post by Peter.N. »

My XM does the same, it even says 'slow down, excessive water temperature' when I am doing 20 mph round the lanes!. I put a new radiator in it when I did the head so I know that there is no way its overheating. Probably just a faulty sensor.
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Post by MW »

Disconnect the temperature sender and give it the connectors a good clean down. They get fouled and misbehave.
I had this a few years back on my 1.8 16v. Except that it was midnight in the pouring rain on the M4. As soon as I opened the bonnet I realised that it was a false alarm because there was no smell of burning antifreeze.
Mind you, I drove home at 50 just to be on the safe side! And I had just the faintest couple of flickers on the needle, which was what convinced me that it was 'just' electrical.
The next morning I cleaned up the contacts, and I never had the problem again.
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Post by Clogzz »

The main cause of indication of overheat and erratic operation of the fans is an intermittency in the wiring from the brown temperature sensor on the thermostat housing to the Bitron input, as per MW's post.
In France, this problem has been the object of a recall, but everywhere else, we're on our own: http://xu10j4r.free.fr/xantia/notexantia.pdf
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Post by Stempy »

When mine did this I replaced the brown temp sensor and it's been ok ever since.
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Post by wrinklet1 »

It may be as simple as an air lock in your system causing the 'over heating'
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Post by Gaskin »

I had this problem earlier this year. See http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... C_ID=15083
for further useful advice.
Just a thought, if the french have had a recall does that mean next time I'm in France I can call into the nearest Citroen dealer and get it sorted?
Cheers
Duncan
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Post by Clogzz »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Gaskin</i>
if the french have had a recall does that mean next time I'm in France I can call into the nearest Citroen dealer and get it sorted?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Possibly yes, but you would have to find out with certainty because it's an area covered by French law, and you can't go by the say-so of some grease monkey.
It's not something that can just be improvised.
There will be arrangements to make.
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Post by aljohnso »

I had this on my Xantia 1.9tD (p reg). I cured it by cleaning every electric connector on the engine that I could get to with contact cleaner, particularly the temp sensors around the front of the engine. I also cleaned the large connectors on all the ecus at the same time and not only did the temp thing go away but the car went better after! It seems that electrics and citroen don't go together very well. Having said that I'm about to buy a C5 so I guess I don't learn
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Post by Mandrake »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by MW</i>

Disconnect the temperature sender and give it the connectors a good clean down. They get fouled and misbehave.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Can someone tell me where the temperature sensor being discussed actually is ? Thanks.
Regards,
Simon
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Post by xantiav6 »

The .pdf linked above only refers to a design change made to the 2.1TD in February 1997. It does not indicate applicability to other engine models, and it can be presumed that cars produced after that date do not need that change. My French is not very good, but I think that it states that earlier cars cannot be retrofitted with the new design.
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Post by MW »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> Can someone tell me where the temperature sensor being discussed actually is ? Thanks.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
According to the Book Of Lies, petrol engines have it screwed into the back of the thermostat housing, located at the left-hand end of the cylinder head. From distant memory, that sounds about where I found it.
On diesels without air conditioning, it's at the right-hand front corner of the fuel filter/thermostat housing.
On diesels <b>with</b> air conditioning, it's at the <i>left-hand</i> front corner of the fuel filter/thermostat housing.
FWIW, the BOL cites sender troubles as the prime suspect for all temperature gauge woes. Definitely try cleaning them before you junk them, though.
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Post by Clogzz »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by xantiav6</i>

The .pdf linked above only refers to a design change made to the 2.1TD in February 1997. It does not indicate applicability to other engine models, and it can be presumed that cars produced after that date do not need that change. My French is not very good, but I think that it states that earlier cars cannot be retrofitted with the new design.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Only the 2.1TD is listed, but many models are affected and afflicted, as indicated by the many threads on the subject.
It does not say that it cannot be done on earlier cars.
It says not to improvise combinations or partial modifications.
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Post by Clogzz »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Mandrake</i>
Can someone tell me where the temperature sensor being discussed actually is ?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
It looks like all petrol engines have it at the back of the thermostat housing, where it's impossible to see and reach it.
On the diesels, it's at the front, in easy sight and reach.
My engine is a 2 litre 8 valve, and I can't reach or even see the sensors.
See second photograph on this thread:
http://www.planete-citroen.com/forum/sh ... php?t=8530
The site allows for translation.
Go to bottom of page >>> Traduire cette page >>> Français à Anglais >>> Traduire.
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