Xantia 'temptation' heater

Mr Matthews · Post by **Mr Matthews** » 05 Dec 2008, 18:27

Hello and thanks for your help in advance:

I bought a Citroen Xantia 'temptation' from Ebay last November and the heater/rear window heater/intermittent front wipers were great untill this year.... first the rear heater and wipers started to go, then the heater/blower at first started to only operate every so often. Where the air vents are in the middle of the consol comes a noise which I can only describe as a buzzing like electricity, the heater has since packed up but every now and again the buzzing can still be heard... sometimes quietly, but sometimes it goes loud like it wants to push the power to somewhere.

I have read several topics about the blowers packing up and seen replies about fitting switches and ignitions, but I was wondering what else could be the cause as if I can hear a buzzing sound then the electricity must still be active.... I cannot find a heater motor in any scrap dealer yards near me (Aston being the closest in Birmingham), the Citroen dealer wanted £227 excluding labour to fit a new motor without checking elsewhere on the car and another place wanted £70 just to find the source before ordering parts. I am unemployed and as you can imagine finding such money out of the blue is not easy, especially with this recession.
The Citroen Haynes Manual does not have such problem solving issues for this so I am blind, it does have a wiring diagram but I do not have a clue as to which way round it is let alone how to read one!!

Any layman tips/suggestions please?

Post by **KennyW** » 06 Dec 2008, 11:02

Welcome to the forum Mr Mathews,

To assist others on the forum, can you tell us what type of Xantia you have.

Depending on model etc will decide what you should do.

But the ignition switch problem is probably one and the transistors on the heater blower is the other fix both and your problem will probably be cured.

Follow the threads in the handy tips section and you will be motoring happily again

Kenny

Mr Matthews · Post by **Mr Matthews** » 06 Dec 2008, 12:07

Thank you Kenny,

Right first of all it is a Citroen Xantia estate 'temptation II', it is a 1.8i 16v.

The thing is, every now and again, I get a buzzing noise coming through the central air vents (obviously echoed from wherever the source is), I read that you could access a green relay box from under the pedals via removing the carpet... I have tried to remove the carpet but it is fastened with the manufacturers gromet plugs, I will however keep trying untill I succeed in removing them but was ideally wondering what other avenues should try aswell as the worst thing to do is drive in freezing conditions with the windows open.

In the meantime, I will be purchasing an in-car ceramic heater which by the way, do not buy from Ebay as they are only £7.79 (half price) in Maplins.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 06 Dec 2008, 13:46

the buzzing could be the wash wipe switch/relay, the front blower and rear screan heater could be ignition switch related, and or you heater fan could also be the speed resistor, dose your car have air con if it dose your fan resistor is atatched to the fan motor houseing, if not it is a seperate unit fitted by a bayonet type fitting into the heater air in duckting

regards malcolm

Post by **KennyW** » 06 Dec 2008, 14:30

When you say yours is a Temptation II, do you mean the facelift model which came in Jan 98.

Also as malcolm asks has it air con which I presume is Yes.

If it is the mark 2 models had the relay fitted as standard stopping the ignition problem, therefore your heater problem will be the resisitors as described in the Handy hints and tips section.

As Malcolm suggests the buzzing sound could be the relay.

Kenny

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 06 Dec 2008, 15:17

Welcome, Mr Matthews

The relays can be accessed by prising out the grommet plugs with one or two opposing wide-bladed screwdrivers.
The blower relay is item 10 in the picture.
If the rear window demister works when the heater is actually switched off, rather than having stopped by itself, then it may still be an intermittent ignition switch.
A loose heater motor plug often causes the motor to stop too.

Sticky topic here:
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=24786

The wiper fault is totally unrelated.

If the car has air conditioning, it then has a small fan motor behind a grille to the left of the clock; and it turns all the time that the key is set to the ignition position.
The buzzing is very likely to come from there, rather than from the vents.

Mr Matthews · Post by **Mr Matthews** » 06 Dec 2008, 15:48

KennyW wrote:When you say yours is a Temptation II, do you mean the facelift model which came in Jan 98.

Also as malcolm asks has it air con which I presume is Yes.

If it is the mark 2 models had the relay fitted as standard stopping the ignition problem, therefore your heater problem will be the resisitors as described in the Handy hints and tips section.

As Malcolm suggests the buzzing sound could be the relay.

Kenny

Yes Kenny, its the 1998 r-reg model.

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 06 Dec 2008, 16:40

Hi Mr Matthews!
Welcome to the forum!
I thought I'd better ask this as the Mk1 was sold well into 1998 so does the front of your car look like this, which is the Series 1 (Notice the straight edges of the bonnet and lights)

or like this, which is the Series 2 (notice that the front of the bonnet curls down between the lights)

I reckon the buzzing is the little fan for the Air Con behind the central blower vents, mine sounds like that for a second or 2 every so often.
The dodgey blower/Rear window heater, like the others have said is likely to be the ignition switch, wires to the blower needing wiggling/cleaning due to slight corrosion or failing that, the transistors.

Not sure on the wiper front though

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 06 Dec 2008, 17:46

Hi and welcome Mr Matthews.
The buzzing is more likely the climate control stepper motor, altering something to maintain the selected temperature. There is also a small fan as said above but I wouldn't say it "buzzes" when it's noisy, more a light squealing.

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 06 Dec 2008, 18:58

MikeT wrote:Hi and welcome Mr Matthews.
The buzzing is more likely the climate control stepper motor, altering something to maintain the selected temperature. There is also a small fan as said above but I wouldn't say it "buzzes" when it's noisy, more a light squealing.

Ah, yes Mike my noise does sound like a stepper motor!

I thought it was a bit of a strange nose for a fan to make

Mr Matthews · Post by **Mr Matthews** » 06 Dec 2008, 22:30

[quote="red_dwarfers"]Hi Mr Matthews!
Welcome to the forum!
I thought I'd better ask this as the Mk1 was sold well into 1998 so does the front of your car look like this, which is the Series 1 (Notice the straight edges of the bonnet and lights)

or like this, which is the Series 2 (notice that the front of the bonnet curls down between the lights)

quote]

Thank you red_dwarfers, nice to see somewhere that is buzzing with citroen fanatics, My citroen is like the front of the first picture but its an estate called 'temptation II', being r- reg, I would say the first half of 1998 (I think s-reg was the later '98 year).

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 06 Dec 2008, 22:40

No worries Mr Matthews we're all here to help

Yours being the Series 1 will probably have the common blower problems, just unlucky that it happened at the same time as the wiper!
Take a look at the 'Sticky' regarding the blower motor and see what you make of it!
Any questions, no matter how simple, just ask!

Mr Matthews · Post by **Mr Matthews** » 07 Dec 2008, 13:06

Clogzz wrote:Welcome, Mr Matthews

The relays can be accessed by prising out the grommet plugs with one or two opposing wide-bladed screwdrivers.
The blower relay is item 10 in the picture.
If the rear window demister works when the heater is actually switched off, rather than having stopped by itself, then it may still be an intermittent ignition switch.
A loose heater motor plug often causes the motor to stop too.

Sticky topic here:
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=24786

The wiper fault is totally unrelated.

If the car has air conditioning, it then has a small fan motor behind a grille to the left of the clock; and it turns all the time that the key is set to the ignition position.
The buzzing is very likely to come from there, rather than from the vents.

Ok, thank for that Clogzz, but in saying that, does that mean that its not an electrical problem but a mechanical problem, I have checked the green relay under the acc' pedal and the contact plugs to the motor and non of these are blackened or show signs of electrical surges?

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 07 Dec 2008, 14:30

The heater fan motor fault is electrical, it’s loss of supply to the motor.
The only part common to the heater motor and rear demister is the ignition switch.
If you have the heater relay, then the car has been modified to take the motor current off the switch.

There are still cases of the switch failing on modified cars, possibly caused by a heavy bunch of keys hanging off the ignition lock barrel ... maybe not now, but the car may have been used by a jail warden.

To test for that, make silence around you, and listen for the relay clicking when you turn the key to the ignition position.
You can also hold the relay to feel if it clicks.
If it does click, then the switch is good.
If it doesn’t click, try wriggling the key to check for an intermittent switch.

If the car has air conditioning, it has a small fan to the left of the clock.
The loom is short and pulls the flimsy assembly out of line, making the vane touch the casing, and causing a buzzing sound.
Fans aren’t in the habit of buzzing, but this one feels like it has a low-frequency pulsating supply.
Seeing is doing, and gluing and pushing the fan casing back together will quieten it.
Dust in the fan also causes noise.
I have squirted blue window cleaner into it through the grille while it was turning, and that’s fixed it too.

Enjoy a few good fiddles.

Mr Matthews · Post by **Mr Matthews** » 07 Dec 2008, 16:41

Well I've done all humanly possible for a novice, checked relays/fuses/connectors & earthing wires but its still dead, perhaps I'd better cut my losses and ask santa for a new blower unit altogether, I'm not selling the car for all its faults as it's kinda nice to know it can beat BMW's and Audis from the lights