c5 let me down

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andpand
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c5 let me down

Post by andpand »

i cant belive it my c5 let me down this morning i had to walk to work i was not a happy bunny first bit of snow and it let me down :? :? :? :?
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by jgra1 »

what happened And?
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by myglaren »

You're not alone, mine did too :(


No snow but -6°C.
It has been increasingly reluctant to start this week and I had planned to swap batteries tomorrow.
However, refused to fire, strange messages onscreen and TrafficMaster yelling.

Battery died.
Pulled it out and put the new one* in.
Starter spun over nicely but the doors locked, lights came on and then I got an "Engine Immobiliser Fault" on the screen so gave up on it and took my son's 306.

After a bit of messing around it did fire up this evening and I took it for a 0-mile run.
Fingers crossed it still works tomorrow.

*bought last summer as it appeared to be a battery fault but the original battery (02-07-02) is still as good as the new one.
Can't decide if it is a high resistance in the wiring or a dying starter motor.
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by andpand »

same and the battery is near dead now mine kept saying check oil level but its ok so not sure whats wrong there lol im sure the rac will tell me when they turn up lol
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by myglaren »

andpand wrote:same and the battery is near dead now mine kept saying check oil level but its ok so not sure whats wrong there lol im sure the rac will tell me when they turn up lol
When the battery voltage drops it generates loads of nonsense warnings.

Just needs a freshly charged battery and the proper initiation, which I didn't do this morning hence the immobiliser fault, cleared now.

There are a couple of steps you won't be able to take but if the battery is still connected it should be disconnected (and charged).
The leads should be shorted via a resistance - a light bulb is ideal - for a minute, then pushed together in a dead short for a minute.

Before reconnecting the driver's window should be open and the door closed.

After connecting, wait two minutes then reach into the car and turn the sidelights on.

After another two minutes reach in and turn the key to ignition but don't start it for another minute.

Only then start it and let it run for five minutes before doing anything else with it.

You will need to reset autolights and wipers, window anti-pinch, time/date, radio stations.
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by andpand »

myglaren wrote:
andpand wrote:same and the battery is near dead now mine kept saying check oil level but its ok so not sure whats wrong there lol im sure the rac will tell me when they turn up lol
When the battery voltage drops it generates loads of nonsense warnings.

Just needs a freshly charged battery and the proper initiation, which I didn't do this morning hence the immobiliser fault, cleared now.

There are a couple of steps you won't be able to take but if the battery is still connected it should be disconnected (and charged).
The leads should be shorted via a resistance - a light bulb is ideal - for a minute, then pushed together in a dead short for a minute.
im really sorry but could you explain these steps as if your telling a 5 year old resistance light bulb dead short :oops: :oops: i really dont no alot about cars and but i want to learn :cry:
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by myglaren »

OK, sorry, taking too much for granted there.
Take the two battery leads and a light bulb - a festoon bulb is probably easiest but a brake light bulb (single filament)would be fine, just as long as the terminals are not too close.

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Press the battery connectors to the bulb terminals.
This allows the system components - mainly capacitors - to discharge in a controlled fashion - you don't want a sudden rush of current from them and also to avoid sparks. The circuits will discharge quite quickly. A minute is being on the safe side.
Then push the battery lead terminals together (dead short) to dissipate any residual charge.

The idea is to reboot the system from scratch (like a Windows computer :twisted: ) and not have any stored nonsense that can interfere with the operation of the car once it is running again.

The slow steps on reconnecting the battery are to give the various ECUs time to reboot and communicate with one another.

One thing I neglected to mention was that if you have the inbuilt satnav then the battery should not be disconnected before the red indicator light goes out as otherwise the satnav can sustain irreparable damage - so I am told anyway.
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by andpand »

myglaren wrote:OK, sorry, taking too much for granted there.
Take the two battery leads and a light bulb - a festoon bulb is probably easiest but a brake light bulb (single filament)would be fine, just as long as the terminals are not too close.

Image Image

Press the battery connectors to the bulb terminals.
This allows the system components - mainly capacitors - to discharge in a controlled fashion - you don't want a sudden rush of current from them and also to avoid sparks. The circuits will discharge quite quickly. A minute is being on the safe side.
Then push the battery lead terminals together (dead short) to dissipate any residual charge.

The idea is to reboot the system from scratch (like a Windows computer :twisted: ) and not have any stored nonsense that can interfere with the operation of the car once it is running again.

The slow steps on reconnecting the battery are to give the various ECUs time to reboot and communicate with one another.

One thing I neglected to mention was that if you have the inbuilt satnav then the battery should not be disconnected before the red indicator light goes out as otherwise the satnav can sustain irreparable damage - so I am told anyway.
i understand all that thanks alot for the addvice il get straght on that il let you no how i get on tommorow thanks again myglaren
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by zipdip »

I have been reading this post and wondering what else the C5 has up its sleeve the sheer wonder of what you have to do when the battery go's flat is amazing I was half expecting it to be a wind up I expected something along the line of only do this on Sunday and make sure you where a tie,if no tie sing a song while you do it :-D
I wonder who worked all this out,I have only come across something like this with a Vectra one of the few electrical faults you can get is that you start the car but dash will not work no speed ,revs,fuel water nothing but you can drive the car,it's very weird driving a car like that,all you have to do is disconnect the battery and put the terminals together have a cup of tea reconnect and it will be okay,if you take it to a main dealer they will tell you that you need a complete dash ain't they grand :P
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by myglaren »

zipdip wrote:I have been reading this post and wondering what else the C5 has up its sleeve the sheer wonder of what you have to do when the battery go's flat is amazing I was half expecting it to be a wind up I expected something along the line of only do this on Sunday and make sure you where a tie,if no tie sing a song while you do it :-D
it does sound rather like an April 1st wind-up.
Having first-hand experience gives the lie to that :(
I wonder who worked all this out,I have only come across something like this with a Vectra one of the few electrical faults you can get is that you start the car but dash will not work no speed ,revs,fuel water nothing but you can drive the car,it's very weird driving a car like that,all you have to do is disconnect the battery and put the terminals together have a cup of tea reconnect and it will be okay,if you take it to a main dealer they will tell you that you need a complete dash ain't they grand :P
That's interesting!*

My daughter has a Nastra with similar problems.
Sometimes the lights work, sometimes not.
Same with the indicators, wipers and washers.
Can be individual or any combination.
Also all the interior lights including instrument illumination flash at about 1Hz.

I took it for new tyres this morning and things worked, or not, completely at random.

Will try the battery trick on it. A relay under the dash (above the pedals was indicated but I couldn't get the damned thing out for love nor money and was leery of damaging the circuit board (masses of fuses and relays).

*sound like my namesake there :shock:
andpand
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by andpand »

well RAC chap came out turns out i had the wrong battery on it was only giving out 100amps when it should be 600 amps so £110 lighter and it starts no problem now thank goodnes [-o<
its up for sale now i really dont have the time to keep tinkering with odds and ends shame i love the car but no time and no money
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by Citroenmad »

A battery can make a cars electrics do strange things if its getting a bit on the dead side of life.

Our C5 estate would be fine for ages, then occasionally when trying to start it would just click and do nothing else. A charge up of the battery had it going again. Though oddly the powersteering would not function at first, drivign a C5 with no power steering is not fun! However stopping and starting it had the steering back on form.

The battery was replaced and its been fine ever since, for over a year now.

I hope that £110 was not just for the battery? :shock: Yes they are pretty heavy duty batter due to the suspension being electrically pump operated, however I bought the correct Varta battery for around £60.

Its a shame your selling your C5 now, what other niggles does it have?
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by andpand »

Citroenmad wrote:A battery can make a cars electrics do strange things if its getting a bit on the dead side of life.

Our C5 estate would be fine for ages, then occasionally when trying to start it would just click and do nothing else. A charge up of the battery had it going again. Though oddly the powersteering would not function at first, drivign a C5 with no power steering is not fun! However stopping and starting it had the steering back on form.

The battery was replaced and its been fine ever since, for over a year now.

I hope that £110 was not just for the battery? :shock: Yes they are pretty heavy duty batter due to the suspension being electrically pump operated, however I bought the correct Varta battery for around £60.

Its a shame your selling your C5 now, what other niggles does it have?
well not alot now like you said they do strange things when the battery has had it the suspention is spot on now it feels like a normal car again. it starts straght away now as i didnt really notice how much it was struggling before the new battery. just bumps and scrapes really and the warning light about flat tyres and yes £110 for the battery off the rac i was at work with a dead phone (silly me) and the wife thought she was doing the right thing by just getting the car fixed no big deal at least its ok and i no what the problem was :roll:
im not in a rush to sell it as i really like it but it only goes 3 miles a day at most and the rest of the time its parked its a bit like my mums car 09 kia cee,d it spends its life in the garage till i need it lol then i us it for a day or so wash it and put it back
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by Citroenmad »

Are you just planning on swapping it for a smaller car to run around in?

If I didn't do many miles I would no doubt have a much smaller car and most likely a petrol too. Though probably a little hot hatch to dart about in.

I like the Kia Cee'd, an inoffensive looking, well made car which is quite cheap to buy, reasonable engines and has 7 years warranty. A very good car for someone who isn’t really interested in the car they drive but need it to be reliable and plan to keep it a long time. Which, when buying a new car, is the thing to do as they lose most of their value in the first 3 years.
Last edited by Citroenmad on 05 Feb 2012, 22:48, edited 1 time in total.
Chris
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andpand
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Re: c5 let me down

Post by andpand »

i need a car i can get 3 kids seats in the back so i need 3 proper seat belts too so as much as id love a nipper it really woundnt be any use as my wife uses the car about 2 days a week to go shopping and collect bits shes bought of flebay lol and petrol is a must as im using about the same as my old 2.0 volvo v40 used doing the same job
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