Xantia 93TDsx electrical fault

mpr1956 · Post by **mpr1956** » 22 Feb 2006, 22:26

Hi all, I went to start the car yesterday... turned on the ignition, dash lights came on as normal.. then as I turned the key everything electrical stopped working.. horn, dashlights, all other lights including headlights went out. I popped the bonnet and wiggled the battery leads a bit and everything has worked ok since. I fitted the ignition switch relay mod to cure the rear screen and blower problem a few months ago, and up to now all has been ok. Could it be the ignition switch again do you think? All suggestions welcome ( apart from a ritual burning as I am quite fond of this car!) Martin

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 22 Feb 2006, 22:32

When you wiggled the battery connection you found your problem. Look at it very carefully - is the terminal and post really clean (the most likely), has someone cut off the manufacturers terminal and fitted a bolt on one - if so remove it and make sure the cable is really clean or ideally replace the whole lead with a properly fixed one. Is there a connection in one of the heavy leads that you may have moved - some Citroens have a connector block under the battery tray and this is known to corrode.

mpr1956 · Post by **mpr1956** » 22 Feb 2006, 22:42

Hi Jeremy, thanks for the quick reply... your suggestion makes perfect sense as I fitted one of those replacement screw-in type battery lead connectors just after I bought the car.. those screws securing the lead were so tight it didn't occur to me that the connection could be less than ideal. I'll also have a look under the battery tray for a connector block and check the condition of that. Hopefully this will be a nice straightforward fix ! Best wishes, Martin

Post by **Peter.N.** » 22 Feb 2006, 23:14

Give the battery connections a good clean, a scrape with a Stanley knife will get them nice and bright, before refitting, apply a film of grease to both surfaces. That should prevent further problems.

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 22 Feb 2006, 23:27

Another trick with battery terminals is to fit them properly - some types have a tapered post, and if you just undo it, remove it and put it back on and tighten it, the two sides of the terminal will often clamp together (at the bolt) without applying any (or enough) pressure on the post.

The cure for this is to unwind the nut a few millimetres, spread the gap in the end of terminal with a flat bladed screw driver, wriggle the terminal down lower on the tapered post, then retighten, and this time it should clamp on the post without the gap closing right up.

Regards,
Simon

BonceChops · Post by **BonceChops** » 23 Feb 2006, 09:19

If you find the clamp is right at the bottom of the post and still won't tight then it is time for a new one. A quick and simple tempory fix until you can replace, it is too turn the clamp upside so the narrow part goes on the battery terminal post first. That got me out of trouble once before. I don't remember actually replacing it with a new one come to think of it.