Wipers have stopped working

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Tucker9037
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Wipers have stopped working

Post by Tucker9037 »

hi guys.

Hi my wipers have stopped working on my 2008 citroen c5 tourer. I have checked all fuses but they are all fine. If I remove the fuse for the wipers and replace it the wipers will start working and as long as the engine is running the wipers will operate fine. When I switch the engine off and leave the car for 10 min the wipers will stop working again. What could this
Be? I'm at my whits end with it.
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by vborovic »

If you don't know anyone who can hook up a Lexia/Diagbox to your car to run tests and see whether any errors are visible, it will be hard to tell from this ... what happens if you leave the car for 2-3 minutes? Maybe there's an intermittent fault in the wires, or the wheel stalk is playing you around?

Not impossible to be due to low battery (all kinds of electrical glitches are known to occur then), do you get Economy Mode often?
Tucker9037
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by Tucker9037 »

Hi. Yes I had it on a computer today and it brought up a fault that the bsi could not detect the master wiper motor?
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by vborovic »

But from your description in the first post, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't ... so, I'd say check the wires/connectors, they're the only thing that could do intermittent faults like this ... not entirely impossible that there is a problem with the wiper motor(s), but unless you have spare ones to test, you won't know for sure ...
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by qprdude »

Might be worth checking the battery. Mine gave up last year on the same age car as yours. I started getting electrical faults from time to time, and economy mode kicking in immediately after the engine was stopped.
A proper BSI reset wouldn't do any harm either, if there is a communication problem to it.
I tend to check the free stuff first.
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by Stickyfinger »

There was a number of recalls for failed wiper motors, worth a check ....also check water is not dripping down onto the motors ( a wet control board can breakdown in strange ways) another known problem.

Have you had the top fuse box off to check for corrosion ?

NippyTip.....Get some spray electrical contact cleaner/protector (Maplins) and use it as you go thru your wires, your not rooting around in there often and anything to help Citroen electrics in the long run is a good thing.
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by Tucker9037 »

Thanks for the replys guys. The had been a Eco mode displayed a few times soon after I switch the car off so I may try a battery and see how that goes. I was speaking to a diagnostics specialist on a question site and he was almost certain that the bsi needed replacing. What's your thoughts?
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by RichardW »

Faults with the wiper motors on these are not unknown. Also, the underbonnet fuse box if the signals for the wipers go there. The BSI seems to get blamed for a lot of things, but I'm not sure I've actually heard of one being replaced. Ideally you could do with borrowing a car off some one and swapping the bits over to see if the fault goes away. Neither the wiper motors or the BSI are cheap.... :?
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by qprdude »

I've not heard of a BSI being replaced either, certainly not on the evidence of a single component failure.

Seems like a strange (and expensive) piece of advice to change the BSI without investigating further. I would question the "diagnostic expert" as to how he can advise such a radical procedure on such meagre facts. I would imagine the first bit of advice from a diagnostic expert would be to have the fault diagnosed! (Maybe he sells BSI units as a sideline?) :wink: :roll:
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by Stickyfinger »

That Sir is a disgraceful thing to say, it is impossible for him to know this....based on that alone I would NOT return to that garage.
I will say as strongly as I can, he is trying to CON YOU !

1st...NEW or known fully charged battery
2nd..Attached a Lexia, general garage code readers cannot (mostly) do anything accurately with a C5.
3rd..Tell the truth
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by Tucker9037 »

This was the response the mechanic gave me

"The fuse box is a computerized one and when you removed the fuse and replace it again it reset the system and start working first you need to check the computerized fuse control box via a scan tool and reprogram the box and if this process did not work sorry you need to replace the control fuse box .Feel free to ask any related questions"
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by RichardW »

Is this fuse under the bonnet? See my earlier comment about the under bonnet fuse box..... :lol:
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by Tucker9037 »

Yeah it is Richard. Is that a easy enough job to replace the fuse box?
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Post by addo »

The under bonnet fuse box is not "coded in", it is a simple enough job to remove and replace.

Be wary of getting the correct one, there are some slight variations, also remember used parts may not be perfect, or even if they work they may not last.
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Re: Wipers have stopped working

Post by old-un77 »

Maybe he thinks the customer is a dibbo, and is describing the BSI which has fuses all over it?
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