Economy mode activated??

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Estate87
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Economy mode activated??

Post by Estate87 »

Morning all

I'm sure this has been a largely discussed topic before but I'm going to ask anyways.

I have a 2009 2.0 HDi C5 that I brought about 2 months ago. It's has a Lion brand battery fitted to it but I'm not sure how old it is.

As I'm sure you're all aware that if these cars are left for any period of time they come up with Economy Mode Activated once they're re opened, even after say a 45min journey.

Why does it do this? As I understand it it's to preserve the battery life but it's bloody annoying. Are there any other reasons for the car doing this?

Cheers
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Ah, well, Lion brand batteries are not exactly the best (they are actually considered to be of a very poor quality). They are Euro Car Parts own brand of battery, and ECP has the (deserved) nickname of Euro Crap Parts.
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by GiveMeABreak »

The C5 has a lot of electrical systems and ECUs and some of these are active when the vehicle is not running or locked. The fan on the head unit / telematics system to stop it overheating, EGR self check/ clean, RCD circuit to monitor for locking or unlocking the vehicle, ultrasonic sensors for volumetric protection, tyre pressure monitoring polling at certain intervals, etc., etc.

All these take a drain so economy mode kicks in to ensure you can start the vehicle.

The energy management system is monitored by a device on the battery negative that checks battery temp and health and this informs the BSI when to knock consumer power devices off.
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Estate87
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by Estate87 »

GiveMeABreak wrote: 23 Mar 2021, 10:13 The C5 has a lot of electrical systems and ECUs and some of these are active when the vehicle is not running or locked. The fan on the head unit / telematics system to stop it overheating, EGR self check/ clean, RCD circuit to monitor for locking or unlocking the vehicle, ultrasonic sensors for volumetric protection, tyre pressure monitoring polling at certain intervals, etc., etc.

All these take a drain so economy mode kicks in to ensure you can start the vehicle.

The energy management system is monitored by a device on the battery negative that checks battery temp and health and this informs the BSI when to knock consumer power devices off.
So potentially if the battery isn't good enough quality could that cause the function to come on quicker than usual or it that I'm just not driving the car enough. I travel 45mins to work every day and within an hour of me being there if I have to go back to my car the economy mode is active. Doesn't seem like a very long time for it to kick in?

Is it something I should just get used to because I'm chasing a problem that doesn't exist or is there a potential fault there?

Cheers
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by myglaren »

The battery is the primary suspect when this happens and is the easiest one to eliminate.
Try removing the battery and giving it a full charge - at least 24 hours trickle charge and if possible borrow a known good battery to replace it with while yours charges.
If it shows improvement that then declines it is almost certainly the battery.
Varta, Bosch and Yuasa batteries seem to be the ones to get currently. If replacing yours there are better sources than ECP although they do sometimes have suitable 'name' batteries at reasonable prices - they often offer very tempting discounts.

Among others, Tayna and The Battery Guys can come up with some very good prices and deliver quickly.
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Estate87 wrote: 23 Mar 2021, 11:13
So potentially if the battery isn't good enough quality could that cause the function to come on quicker than usual or it that I'm just not driving the car enough. I travel 45mins to work every day and within an hour of me being there if I have to go back to my car the economy mode is active. Doesn't seem like a very long time for it to kick in?

Is it something I should just get used to because I'm chasing a problem that doesn't exist or is there a potential fault there?

Cheers
Do you have the Tourer version with motorised tailgate? If so, this is a widely acknowledged issue and I have written a procedure for this, but if it is a saloon, then as Steve and I have both mentioned, battery is a likely cause. Having said that, I also had issues with never getting anything more than 2 minutes out of the head unit before economy mode kicked in regardless of battery condition. I put this down to the BCSU (Battery Charge Status Unit) that may of been faulty, but I couldn't be bothered to change it. Instead, I changed the configuration to hand control of the energy management back to the BSI. That cured the problem, but you just need to make sure you don't go mad and run equipment all the time with the engine off or you may have starting issues.
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Estate87
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by Estate87 »

Yes it is a Tourer with an electric tailgate. Did you say there was a procedure?

I honestly don't use anything on the car without the engine running. The gent I brought the car from told me it kept doing it to him because he didn't drive it enough. A 2009 car with 66k miles on it. I think he did 1300 miles in it last year.

Is it something that could be cured it I took the car for a decent run, say over an hour of continuous driving?

Cheers
Last edited by GiveMeABreak on 23 Mar 2021, 18:44, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by GiveMeABreak »

You will need to configure the BSI, so will need somebody with a Lexia kit and Diagbox to do it. Procedure is here in the Resources for members who have made a min £10 donation within the last 2 years:

C5 X7 Economy Mode Fix

A donation will also mean we can provide you with live parts data from Citroen for up to 2 years, so if that may be of interest, details below:
A response to your question by a Forum Admin will require detailed vehicle information that requires you to have made a current contribution to the Forum.
Donate

Further Information
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Marc
Estate87
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by Estate87 »

GiveMeABreak wrote: 23 Mar 2021, 18:50 You will need to configure the BSI, so will need somebody with a Lexia kit and Diagbox to do it. Procedure is here in the Resources for members who have made a min £10 donation within the last 2 years:

C5 X7 Economy Mode Fix

A donation will also mean we can provide you with live parts data from Citroen for up to 2 years, so if that may be of interest, details below:
A response to your question by a Forum Admin will require detailed vehicle information that requires you to have made a current contribution to the Forum.
Donate

Further Information
What does configuring it actually do?

Cheers
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Re: Economy mode activated??

Post by GiveMeABreak »

It removes the energy management from the BCSU device and reverts back to a timed maximum 30 minutes of battery power on a good battery when the engine is off. More than enough to resolve the motorised tailgate problem that most have when trying to open the tailgate with a load of shopping.

If you have used 10 minutes of battery power time with the engine not running, you will normally need to have driven the car for double that time - so 20 minutes in this case to return that amount up to the 30 minute maximum. Many with the Tourer have undertaken this mod and it has cured the problem.

The explanation is in the link I posted.
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