Xantia MK2 Keys

[Rhothgar]

It shouldn't need reprogramming. Remove plastic trim from wheel and reseat the connector from pickup coil, or try with a new one.

Steering wheel?

I've not touched anything in that area though. Is this another issue that can occur then? I love coincidental faults that throw a kerf ball in.

[Hell Razor5543]

There is a shroud around the steering column. There is a lot under there (including the induction coil for the immobiliser equipment).

[Rhothgar]

My eyesight isn't what it used to be so I was unable to remove the shroud. Coupled with a bad shoulder I couldn't contort myself enough to see what the fixings are. I have a feeling they are Torx. I had a play around with a couple of sizes but couldn't get either to engage. Job for another day.

I don't particularly want to spend time deconstructing cowls as I never put them back together such is my lack of interest in tinkering with cars these days.

I plugged my mate's OBDStar in but didn't know what ECU the Xantia 110 has and cannot find Body Control Module reference on Service Citroen either as I was simply going to read the pin code and reprogramme the key to save further faffing. I just want to get the job done.

It communicates in certain modes but in others it says communication failed.

The pin code it gave was undecipherable to be honest. Something like a umlaut SPACE oe joined and a Euro sign.

Anyway, I'm a little further on. I vacuumed the water out of the rear footwell and the mouse droppings and nest out of the boot.

[xantia_v6]

You cannot read the key programming code from the car, nor is it available from service.citroen, you can only find it on the plastic card that was supplied with the car, or purchase it from a Citroen dealer.

Having the code will not help if the problem is really the antenna attached to the ignition switch.

I think that all of the cowling fasteners have T20 heads.

[Rhothgar]

You cannot read the key programming code from the car, nor is it available from service.citroen, you can only find it on the plastic card that was supplied with the car, or purchase it from a Citroen dealer.

Having the code will not help if the problem is really the antenna attached to the ignition switch.

I think that all of the cowling fasteners have T20 heads.

Thanks for the heads up on the T20.

I'm unclear why the antenna would be any different to when I left it. Is the code not readable with ANY diagnostic equipment for sure? This OBDStar isn't cheap kit. I just need to work out which ECU is in the car because once I know that it should read the code from that. Had a root around for the credit card but couldn't find that.

I thought also that Lexia could read the codes. Maybe I'm not reading things right.

[Rhothgar]

CONFIRMED!

Someone in Worcester is offering pin code extraction with OBDStar equipment for Citroen on Ebay so it can be extracted with that kit. I'll keep the forum updated.

[Rhothgar]

Went up to mate’s today and took the shroud off.

The connector has brown wires coming from it and connects to a Texton or Tektron module with a circular ring that goes around the ignition barrel.

I suppose this is the connector I had to reseat.

I did that but battery was dead so couldn’t
check. It was secure son i cannot see how that could cause the issue.

Need to get a battery installed and test if that has sorted it.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

[Rhothgar]

The good news is the reseat of the connector seems to have worked. Just can't get my head around how something so well shrouded could need this. The connector was so well clipped together with the tangs intact I'd have never have believed this would resolve it.

My mate's OBDStar was plugged in at the same time but again it reported the code as some highly bizarre characters. I just wonder if it somehow resynced in it in the background.

Next problem, the car won't start so I've got to investigate the fuel pump.

[Mandrake]

The good news is the reseat of the connector seems to have worked. Just can't get my head around how something so well shrouded could need this. The connector was so well clipped together with the tangs intact I'd have never have believed this would resolve it.

Contact oxidation. A bit of contact cleaner spray when reseating it would have been beneficial and helped prevent a reoccurance.

When connectors get to this age in a hostile environment (a car) they can start to give problems that a bit of contact cleaner and reseating can fix.