Stop light and temp light Xsara mk1

howiedean · Post by **howiedean** » 15 Jun 2008, 15:21

Hi,
I have a problem with the Stop light and temp light illuminating intermittently when driving around town. All the fluid levels are fine, the temp gauge is working fine and the engine isn't overheating.
Does anyone know the operation of the temp circuit as to what might be causing my problems?

I've had a look at the blue connector located on the right hand side of the engine just below the air filter, when this is disconnected the temp and stop lights flash continuously. I've tried to clean up the connector as much as possible however the fault still remains. I think that it could be a sensor fault.

Any advice welcome

Regards

Howie

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 15 Jun 2008, 16:23

Hi Howie

The Xantia has got a different level sensor alarm circuit from earlier models (BX, CX ...) in that the sensor is located in the thermostat housing. This means an airlock could set off the alarm, as then the sensor pins gets dry.

Try bleed the cooling system using a homemade header tank.

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 15 Jun 2008, 16:31

I've had this problem - although it was on an HDI Xsara. A new sender cured the trouble.

howiedean · Post by **howiedean** » 15 Jun 2008, 20:30

Thanks for the quick reply guys. The HDI is the one giving problems, as soon as I get rid of one dash light another pops up.

The 1.4 touch wood seems a much better wired car even though it is the same year as the HDI.

I'm going to change the coolant so I'll bleed the system which will hopefully get rid of any airlocks. Incidently John can you remember how much it cost for a sender unit?

Cheers

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 16 Jun 2008, 08:52

howiedean wrote: Incidently John can you remember how much it cost for a sender unit?

Cheers

The sender was less than 10quid. I expected it to screw into the block but it doesn't. It just pushes into a hole with a rubber ring under it and the unit is held in place with a spring clip.

howiedean · Post by **howiedean** » 17 Jun 2008, 18:29

JohnD wrote:
howiedean wrote: Incidently John can you remember how much it cost for a sender unit?

Cheers
The sender was less than 10quid. I expected it to screw into the block but it doesn't. It just pushes into a hole with a rubber ring under it and the unit is held in place with a spring clip.

Where is the sender that you changed located, as I've just replaced the one that fits into the engine (right hand side looking from the front of the car behined the air filter)? It screwed in however, which sounds to be different to the one you replaced.
This item hasnt cured the fault, although it should be noted that once driving over say 35mph the light does not illuminate.

Help!!!

Regards

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 17 Jun 2008, 18:57

The sender was in the end of the head. To reach it I needed to take the top off the air cleaner and hold up the trunking. That was on a 2002 engine, an earlier or later model could indeed have a different sender.

johninderbyshire · Post by **johninderbyshire** » 17 Jun 2008, 20:39

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=23877

have a look at this, it may be of help.

John

howiedean · Post by **howiedean** » 17 Jun 2008, 21:47

johninderbyshire wrote:http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=23877

have a look at this, it may be of help.

John

Cheers John, just had a look at the diagrams.

I've just been having a look at my car:

1. The rad fans are not switching on when the coolant temp increases beyond
100 deg C (Aircon switched off and blower not switched to demist).

2. When demist/Aircon switched on the fans run to slow speed with the Left hand fan running intermittently (hence the stop/temp light).

3. At no time at all did the fan run at max speed even with the Temp in very high levels.

Any ideas?

I'm not sure of the circuit operation regarding the fans, as John's reference seems to display a single fan design with two resistor packs.

Regards

******* All sorted now, I unplugged all the connectors and relays in the circuit and reconnected them all. The the fans are working correctly*******