Citroen C5Hdi Estate Engine Immobiliser fault

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CitroenJohn
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Citroen C5Hdi Estate Engine Immobiliser fault

Post by CitroenJohn »

Hi all, following my earlier post from November last year, thanks for all your advice on my antipollution warning light problem. After cleaning the EGR and the Air Flow Sensor the car continued to run with the fault occurring intermittently for a while. Also, when the warnings came on the car would refuse to accelerate from cold, until the car had gone about a while and then it seemed to run ok.

About five weeks ago I fitted a new EGR valve and a new Mass Air Flow sensor and the car has been ok since then - no occurrence of the warning lights coming on or the sluggishness from cold and so I am confident that I cured the fault(s). I don't use the car every day and have usually charged the battery up once a week over winter, since it has been going flat in the cold weather whilst just sitting around for up to a week at a time. I suppose it could do with a new battery but I have been trying to avoid spending more money on it and starting hasn't really been a problem, especially as the weather has been warming up.

I have done a couple of longer trips in the car and was just beginning to get some confidence in it (i.e. hate the thing a bit less) when last night, on trying to start the car to come home from a long day working on the local preserved steam railway where I volunteer, this happened:-
1. Turned the key to start the engine - engine turned over normally but wouldn't start.
2. Tried again and repeatedly got engine immobiliser fault message and the same loud "bong" noise it makes when you put it into reverse gear.
3. Looked in the owners handbook for the message which said "engine locked or key not recognised" - very helpful, thanks a lot!
4. I messed about with the door locking buttons on the key fob for a while and then tried again, whereupon the engine started and I drove home.
5. At home I stopped the engine and it restarted again ok. Later on I went out to the car and it started ok but I noticed that the time and calendar had reverted to zero and so I reset them. to the current time and date. the car still started ok.
6. A cold, wet morning today (4.5degrees C) and I went out to try again. The engine refused to start, but I didn't get a warning message until I had tried a few times; but now the "engine immobiliser fault" message comes on again and one time it said "Automatic Mode" for a second. The starter seemed to be turning the engine over ok but was getting a bit sluggish by the time I gave up. I have now put the battery on trickle charge and will try again tonight or tomorrow when it has a good charge in it.

So here I have a car which owes me a thousand quid, sitting outside my house. Even if it started I wouldn't even want to risk going to the shops in it, in case it refused to start again. The only place I would dare stop the engine is outside my own house and so the car is useless until I sort this out.
This problem is a new one on me. I have repaired other things like the antipollution fault and rebuilding a broken speedo stepper motor. I can fix mechanical things but these computer related electronic problems drive me to despair! I only wish I had taken the trouble to weld up my old ZX Estate last year and I would still have it now.

You guys and other leads on the Internet have helped me out so much in the past - can anyone please suggest what is going on now and how to fix it? Could it be something simple like the battery in the remote control key fob? A fuse or bad connection? I look forward to your replies. Thanks, John.
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Re: Citroen C5Hdi Estate Engine Immobiliser fault

Post by myglaren »

Topic locked, please reply to the other one here.
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