Citroen C5 2.0i 16v auto al4 handbrake problem

[thundermaster]

The strange thing is that when switching off the engine, I hear the mechanism and the message 'handbrake on' appears in the dash. After 2 sevonds I hear again the mechanism for about half a second and 'parking brake faulty' appears.

[KennyW]

Marc,

When I do anything with the rear brakes I used Diagbox to release mechanism and again use Diagbox to reset the mechnism.

Thundermaster, I would recheck the fitting of the mechanism because if it is applying the brakes and then releasing them 2 seconds later suggests there is a problem, possibly when fitted.

Kenny

[GiveMeABreak]

Indeed Kenny ^

[thundermaster]

I will do recheck, but it doesn't release them, the second sound is very very short. I thing that something has to do with electric line (grounding maybe???)

The other strange is that if I leave the car locked for about ten minutes, and after that I unlock and get on it, the Citroen welcome logo is there and EVERYTHING OF THE WARNINGS HAS GONE. I switch on the engine, start and during the ride, everything is OK, the handbrake locks and unlocks normally, max tightening and hill assist also work perfectly. When I stop the car and switch off the engine, everything works also ok but two with three seconds after removing the key and engine is off, I hear again the handbrake for just half a second, the exclamation mark flashes momentarily (for one time) inside the dash (I don't know if the handbrake tightens more or what it does, sometimes I think I don't hear it at all for second time) and 'Parking brake faulty' appear in the dash, together with the triangle and auto off. I noticed that if I switch off the engine and immediately give again on the ignition, the problem doesn't appear. It appears when I cut the power from the battery, in the complete OFF of the car. After this, if I start the car in the next three minutes, I will have the warnings on the dash, but sometimes the handbrake is still functioning. When I stop the car and leave it with ignition off for about ten (?) minutes, everything is working fine for the next ride, with no warnings in the dash (they disappear).

How could it have been misplaced when it works fine for the car's first ride after a long stop?

Surely is there no any other configuration in terms of electrical currents (maybe eg the part is for some vehicle start/stop and does these)?, or maybe my esp ecu needs some upgrade to see it correctly, as a newer part than the previous?

Sorry for all this, but I am trying to understand,

It's a little crazy what's going on.

[thundermaster]

Does it need any special tele-coding? (this is the greek terminology)

[thundermaster]

Or does this thing have a relay inside?

[GiveMeABreak]

Before carrying out the handbrake calibration procedure, ensure that the ferrules of the hand brake cables are correctly positioned in the caliper levers.

• Carry out the electric parking brake calibration procedure using the diagnostic tool.
• Activate the electric handbrake control.
• Check the immobilisation of the wheels.

There are no user serviceable parts inside the handbrake unit and there is no configuration apart from the points above.

[thundermaster]

Marc I will take a video and I will send it to you to see this ridiculous thing.....

The question is why, when all warnings are disappeared, during driving, the handbrake works on and off without any warning, and this happens after turning off the engine. This also happens if you turn on and off the ignition without switching on the engine.

What is meaning 'activate the handbrake'?

[GiveMeABreak]

'Activate the Handbrake' in my point above means after the operation to refit the handbrake is completed, the handbrake first needs calibrating and then the handbrake manual electronic control in the vehicle (the handbrake switch) is manually applied.

[thundermaster]

Ok, this is what the car actually does. I filmed it with my phone:


You can notice that when I close the door the first time, The exclamation mark blinks.
After ten minutes with ignition off, errors disappear.

I also found an old topic from here with a guy that had the same problem,
viewtopic.php?t=53941&start=15

I forgot to tell that my car HAS an aftermarket chinese audio and multimedia system installed, which replaced the factory small screen and factory audio system.
Does this playing any role in the situation?

[GiveMeABreak]

Unfortunately that is a possibility as the factory head units are integrated into the vehicle's systems and aftermarket kit can cause issues - specifically as they will operate on the CAN network - but I can't say this is having a direct effect obviously as there's not way for me to know.

As you probably saw in the thread you linked to where I've provided all that info, the OP also had the issue with the original unit - so wasn't relevant with his X7 with this problem.

I can only suggest that you check all your electrical connections (specifically the electric plug connections to the ESP ECU as if there is a communication fault then it may not be able to calibrate it properly if it cant communicate with the ESP ECU which is the controlling computer in the relationship.

You could temporarily disconnect the quadlock from your head unit and see if the problem still exists.....

Remember to do the BSI Reset / Battery Disconnect / Reconnect Procedure afterwards too.

[thundermaster]

Many thanks Marc, where is the esp Ecu unit?
I will also check the connector of the handbrake.

[GiveMeABreak]

You'll need to remove the engine fusebox first to get to it!

[thundermaster]

I just thought of something.
Before I take off the fuse box at night...
A small stupid detail but maybe not so stupid.
As I told you, when the previous mechanism broke, I pulled the emergency lever under the armrest.
In the Citroen we put the new mechanism in, the guys thought it unnecessary to remove the emergency lever cable, and simply broke the old mechanism to get the cable out and secured the cable with a tiewrap to the body... Is this lever cable emergency has some kind of sensor, possibly making the car think it's still pulled, because I see that when I pull it and now that it's not connected, it doesn't pull anymore.

Does this have anything to do with it?

[GiveMeABreak]

Hard to say, but the new official replacement modules are not supplied with the emergency manual release any more. However if you have replaced it with an older version WITH the emergency release then I would expect it to be refitted properly in case it is interfering with the correct operation.