Citroën C5 Aircross 2019 – Black Multimedia Screen After Battery Discharge

[Rundanis1]

Hello everyone,

I need your advice. My car is a 2019 Citroën C5 Aircross diesel. After a deep battery discharge, the central multimedia screen went completely black and has not turned on since.

What happened and what I tried:
• The battery was fully discharged (car wouldn’t even close). I recharged it using an AEG LT120 charger until it reached 12.7 V at rest.
• The car now starts and runs fine; all lights and instruments work, but the multimedia screen stays black.
• No reaction to any media buttons or the power button. Only the seat heating buttons work under the screen.
• The main instrument panel works, but the multimedia unit is dead.
• I have read that removing the negative battery terminal can reset the system, but the clamp is very hard to access.
• Checking the fuses is also very difficult – they are blocked by wiring, and I can’t safely pull them out.
• I tried leaving the car locked and waiting, but the screen didn’t wake up.

Kindly requesting answers to:
• Is there any way to do a soft reset (button combination) without disconnecting power?
• Could this be caused by a fuse or software issue?
• Is it possible that the unit needs a reflash or service?

I would be very grateful for any advice, especially if someone has had the same problem and solved it.

Thank you in advance!

[Paul-R]

First thing to try is a BSI reset It's zero cost which, if it works, makes it a bargain!

viewtopic.php?p=601679#p601679

[Rundanis1]

Hello,

Thanks a lot for the BSI reset advice and for the guide you shared, really helpful!

The issue I’m facing now is that the battery is very difficult to remove because of this plastic bracket (photo attached, not mine but all permissions to share were granted). It blocks access, and in order to disconnect the negative terminal I need to get it out of the way. I don’t want to touch the positive terminal because of the risk.

Could you please tell me if this bracket can be removed, and if yes how to do it safely?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[xantia_v6]

If you are performing a BSI reset, it is acceptable to remove only the positive terminal if the negative terminal is difficult to access (from the official instructions).

[wurlycorner]

I'd hope (perhaps foolishly) that the owners manual would tell you how to remove the battery - worth checking.

My (somewhat limited!) experience with modern Citroens has been that they do sometimes design them so that batteries are able to be changed without resorting to any tools - it's like that on both my C5 Mk1's and on the C2 I had (though not the X7 where the battery is in the boot...).

With that in mind and looking at the photo you've helpfully provided, it looks like the bracket runs over to a fastener on the right hand side (where the bolt has a blue surround - seems to also double as the 'negative' stud).
One of the black parts there looks like it *might* be a quick release 'wing nut'? So worth checking if the black part there can be rotated by 90 degrees or something - and that releases the bracket?

[Rundanis1]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Paul-R, Givemeabreak, xantia_v6 and wurlycorner for the advice. I did the BSI reset exactly as you described. I was really nervous about touching the positive terminal, but it all went absolutely fine in the end! Everything works perfectly by now.

The only thing that reset was the clock, but that took just a couple of minutes to set again. No problems at all.

Really grateful for the help - big thanks to the forum!

Cheers,
Rundanis1

[PaulC5]

Good to see you have fixed this and also at no cost.

I think the reason for usually not removing the positive terminal until after the negative is in case the spanner being used to slacken the nut touches a metal part of the car at the same time as the positive terminal which can cause a spark. Hiding the negative terminal on cars leaves you no choice but to do the positive first so a bit of care has to be taken.

[Rundanis1]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the detailed explanation, makes perfect sense. In my case, to remove the positive terminal I only needed to lift the small cover and the terminal came away together with it.

To make sure the terminal didn’t touch the car body or any ground points, I put a pair of synthetic winter gloves over it (but non-conductive material should work) and actually used two gloves just to be extra safe.

Best,
Rundanis1

[wurlycorner]

Glad you’ve got it sorted.

Yes those ‘quick release’ terminals where you lift a lever to release the clamping force are what is on the three modern Citroens I mention above. I really like them, compared to the bolt/nut to tighten type.
That’s part of the ‘no tools required’ to change battery design.