C5 X7 heater blower/fan stopped working

[mikey1756]

Hi everyone

i'm mike and new to this forum.

i'm having a wee issue with my C5 as everything for fine up untill monday morning when i jumped in the car started it up and realised that the blower isnt running and therefore cannot demist the windscreen.
i have found loads of links regarding this issue on the older version of the C5 but not mines which is the 2010 model.

mines is the 2010 VTR+ Nav model so has the climate control and all the temp display etc lights up, but only seems like the fan isnt running.

Monday morning was minus 4 here and this shouldnt have affected the fan.

does anyone have any ideas or experience on this problem?

Thanks
Mike

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi Mike and welcome to the Forum.

As you can tell the X7 is still relatively new in terms of these issues as you can see by the number of replies. I am hesitant to suggest a new heater motor control module until you have at least tried a BSI reset. The C5s in particular are VERY sensitive to electrical fluctuations and weak batteries, which will affect the car's electrical systems more that you would imagine. There is a certain way you have to connect these up for jump starting so as to reduce any spikes / damage to the electrics. Try the following BSI reset procedure first to try and eliminate any electrical gremlins and pay particular attention to not opening doors or windows until mentioned.

Follow it without skipping any parts

Battery Disconnect / Reconnect Procedure

If this fails, I would suggest you try and find a member with a Lexia that can do a diagnostic on the car for you, which will help point to the problem. Here's the list of members who may be able to help:
https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... 19&t=56452

[mikey1756]

Hi marc
Thanks for the help.
For some weird reason this morning the blower started working Again, that's nearly 1 week it's not worked, it really can't be the cold weather I know it's been pretty cold all week and today been mild at 4oC.
Never experienced any problems like this in the last 23 Yrs of driving.

Thanks again
Mike

[myglaren]

Mine was a bit intermittent too.

Seemed to fail when fan was running high.

I think it is inadequate cooling - the heat sink gets exceptionally hot.

Failed eventually. Always seems worse in cold weather when the fans are called on to clear the screen and run at full pelt so transistors passing maximum current ant the air in the duct is hot too.

[mikey1756]

Hi

i could understand if the fan did work a full pelt to clear the windscreen on monday morning but it just didnt work at all, i know the car wasnt used for a few days but that shouldn't matter too much and the battery had plenty charge as engine started 1st time without any issue.
well its working now so fingers crossed that it stays this way for a while.
I've had the car for 3 months bought it privately and previous owner said its had a bit of work done under warranty cos he took out the extended warranty from Citroen.

Are these cars prone to problems?

Thanks
Mike

[myglaren]

They do have their problems, just like other cars.
I am on my second one - the first killed by a failed handbrake that let it run backwards into my daughters house - no, it wasn't me that left it on a 45˚ slope and not in gear.
The current one needed a bit of sorting out at first, all due to neglect.
I have had three blower modules. One in the first C5 and two in this one.
Handbrake cables and calipers cause problems.

Trailing arm bearings are said to but not experienced this, which I put down to frequent citroebics, but probably deluding myself there.

Suspension pumps - or at leas the motors - suffer corrosion and ultimately breakdown - again I like to believe that frequent citroebics wards against this.

Rear brake calipers corrode at the interface with the trailing arm and are pushed out of alignment, causing wedge shaped pads. I had this and when I got a puncture found that the spare would not fit as the caliper caught on the wheel.

Probably most common are spurious electrical problems caused by low battery voltage. I have had this on occasion, usually it clears itself at next start up but may need the battery recharging fully.

Note there is a sequence to disconnecting/removing/replacing the battery which if not adhered to can make the problem worse.

MAF sensors are another favourite, cause serious loss of power but rarely if ever throw up a fault warning.

[mikey1756]

OMG

i'd better start saving!!!

i used to have the 2004 C5 2.2hdi and the problems you mention sound just like what happened to mines before i sold it, the last straw was the suspension pump failed.
good job this current 1 have normal suspension.

[myglaren]

They don't all happen at the same time

I have had to have new brakes at the front recently - second time for this car, and a MAF, dual-mass crank pulley and an alternator clutch/freewheel but otherwise it just works and has only let me down once - the starter motor. I was very close to the guy who does the oily bits - could almost see his workshop, and he sorted that out in a trice.

This is spread over almost five years, car used every day - me in the daytime and my son at night. All short trips though so not kind to it.

Considering it is now nudging 214,000 miles it isn't too bad.

[BillM]

Hi, I am a newbie to the forum, but I may be able to offer some useful info on the fan blower fault.

I have a C5 2l exclusive tourer(2015), on coming back after 2 weeks in Canada, I jumped into my car for the 100 mile run home.
The heater fan did not work, Being under warranty, I took it straight into my local dealer whom after deciding it was the motor duely ordered one up from citroen, & called me back a few days later to repair.
I went to collect the car, which was now working perfectly, they discovered that it wasn't the motor but that the fan was sticking, they said this was due to lack of use of the heater fan during summer causing moisture build-up & light rusting.
A few weeks later after lying unused for a couple of days, I got into the car & had no heater fan again. After driving for around 10/15 miles it burst into life & has worked perfectly since.
At my visit to the dealer, I was told it was better to run the blower regularly to prevent the build-up of moisture.
Hope that this is of help to someone

BillM

[GiveMeABreak]

It's another good reason for leaving your climate control on as the Air con will eliminate most of the moisture in the car and the vents - especially in the winter months. I know a lot of people who turn it off, but the air con should be operated regularly to maintain the seals.

[Paul-R]

That's true Marc but I think that Bill is making the point that the car was laid up for a short time - and two weeks is most definitely short.

Under normal use the fan turns over very slowly even when run at minimum speed by the auto setting. You have to take control manually to stop it completely.

I agree completely about running the aircon/cc once a month at least to keep the seals lubricated. Hitting the demist button in the morning to clear the screen will do the job.

[GiveMeABreak]

I think that you can get a heck of a lot of water into the system in less than 2 weeks though Paul. We had a day last week where I went into the X7 and it was thick as pea soup with condensation and that was just overnight. It took ages to clear and I actually went and got some kitchen roll as I couldn't wait for the demisting. Never seen it this bad before after a particularly cold night and subsequent defrost in the morning.

I put this down to not using the car for 4 days and the excess condensation not having a chance to evaporate via the air con. Just imagine how bad this could potentially be if the water builds up - as BillM says. I think there's a lesson here for those that don't use their car every day me thinks... Now the question is whether to close the internal vents to prevent the moisture getting in from the vents and misting up the inside of the car, or leave them open so that any moisture can rise up through the vents with the aim of doing less damage than water sitting in the ventilation system rusting things !

[BillM]

Yes, Paul-R you are exactly right,
I run the a/c on auto all the time, the point that the dealer made was that to prevent moisture build-up, then the demister blower should be run for a few minutes at the start of any journey.
During summer months when the demister is not required then moisture can still build up, and so when required on colder mornings in autumn & winter it may not work.
The motto I think is give the fan a run each day.

BillM

[myglaren]

Now the question is whether to close the internal vents to prevent the moisture getting in from the vents and misting up the inside of the car, or leave them open so that any moisture can rise up through the vents with the aim of doing less damage than water sitting in the ventilation system rusting things !

Don't all the vent flaps close as the car shuts down though Marc?

[GiveMeABreak]

I was referring to the vent flaps on the dash Steve as closing them vastly reduces condensation on the inside of the windscreen - but as I guess you are referring to the internal ones - I'm not sure. My climate control stays on generally, and the only time I hear the motors kick in to change the air distribution is when I switch it to demist or when driving in bright sunlight and the system changes the air distribution to counter the extra heat from the direct sunlight (in summer). Other times are when going in reverse (switches to recycled mode) or when air quality dips (usually behind a lorry or a bus (or Beko's xantia as it currently is). I can't say I've ever heard the motors changing the vents when I switch off the engine though.