Hi people, newbie with dead C5. Battery/immobiliser issue.

[Spiny Norman]

Hi all, Just bought myself a cheap old 2002 C5 HDi 110 last week and I'd joined up here yesterday hoping to ask some trivial questions about the radio and a floppy accelerator pedal, but this morning I had a dead car.

All through the week I felt the first start of the day was a bit sluggish although it always fired up. This morning though it was very slow to turn and just refused to fire up.
Fair enough I thought, I'll whip the battery out and stick it on charge for a few hours. This of course was before I read the elaborate sounding procedure for removing the battery, none of which I did.
I just made sure it was locked, flipped the terminals off, thinking 'what an easy car this is to change the battery on, you don't even need a spanner...' and carried it into the house, and stuck it on charge.

In the meantime I borrowd a battery off a neighbour and put it in the car so I could at least move it from the fairly awkward position it's in, but when I hooked it up and tried to start the car all the electrics seemed to work OK but the immobiliser light was on and it won't even turn over, presumably the immobiliser cuts power to the starter?

I'm a bit of a dunce, and I don't have access to any diagnostic gear, is there some way of resetting the immobiliser or have I killed it?

[citroenxm]

Leave it 2 mins... just connect the battery and leave it.. it takes a few mins to sort out immobilization and activate things..

Once its alive the central locking will work.. theres no codes or anything.. just wait.. thats all

[citroenxm]

As for flappy pedal it sounds like the throttle cable clip has moved or missing from its place..

The throttle sensor is under the air intake pipe above the gearbox.. theres a plastic outer with grooves on it.. slide it away from the throttle sensor untill it stops and there should be a kind of R clip to hold it there. This takes the slack up in the cable..

[Spiny Norman]

Cheers for the quick reply. Modern cars and their witchcraft scare me!!!
My last Diesel Citroen was a pre-turbo days CX.

So do I not need to do all the faffing about with switching on the lights and waiting, then switching on the ignition etc?

I did wait a minute or two after I'd connected up the battery but I'd opened the door and switched the ignition on to check the lights on the dash came on. So I should just reconnect the battery with the door closed and leave it a couple of minutes with the ignition off then?

Does it matter that I'd been doing this with the spare key? (IE the one that's just a key, with no buttons on it). Should I use the remote plipper for this?

[citroenxm]

No either key no matter.. no theres no need to worry. If its working all ok if you go out now it should work fine!

[RichardW]

Immobiliser doesn't stop it cranking though... I wonder if the starter is away, and the battery is in fact OK?

[Spiny Norman]

Immobiliser doesn't stop it cranking though... I wonder if the starter is away, and the battery is in fact OK?

Hmmm...that's encouraging.
Would a starter just seize up in a matter of days? I've never heard of such a thing to be honest.

[citroenxm]

I completely over looked your bit about the starter not spinning..

Yes they can if you say its gradually been getting slower and slower it can be a posibility. .

[Spiny Norman]

Freshly charged battery wouldn't start it this morning, not even with a Mercedes Sprinter van to help it along.

Cheers for the help guys but it's a scrapper now as far as I'm concerned.

[Northern_Mike]

Does it crank over? If not, try a suitable piece of cable as a direct connection between the battery and starter terminal. My 2001 C5 HDi had a similar sounding problem - it was just a bad connection on the starter. One day it worked.. next it was totally dead.

Vorsprung berk Technik

[citroenxm]

you give up that quickly!!?? One of the easiest starters to change and that's it??

Pleanty of starters on ebay and three bolts plus two wire connections to change it..

[wurlycorner]

Where are you, what spec is the car and how many miles has it done?

[cachaciero]

2002 ? probably got 120K plus on the clock which is about right for knackered starter motor brushes, easy job to do, also about right for alternator brushes too, not quite so easy All based upon my own experience.