Synergie electrical woes

Telbert · Post by **Telbert** » 03 Sep 2006, 16:57

We`ve owned a 1999 Synergie 1.9 sx diesel for almost a year now and after a few months sorting out a black smoke/poor acceleration problem she`s going like a guddun now. However, the electrics are playing up now.
The rev counter only seems to work every other day which is annoying but not as annoying as the climate control which keeps blowing its 10 amp fuse. At first the climate control would work for a few hours before the fuse would blow, then it became minutes and now the fuse blows straight away. This wasnt too much of a problem in summer but now its getting colder and wetter we need a heater to demist the windows. The other annoying thing is when we go camping for a weekend the battery is always flat by the time we need to set off home. We think this is caused by the interior lights coming on when someone gets something out of the car. Sureley opening the doors a dozen times wouldnt flatten the battery that much. We dived into kwik-fit to get things checked out and according to them them battery was ok and the car was charging ok ( which suprized me as i thought they would try and sell me a new battery anyway

).
Are all Citroen electrics like this or just ours ?

Post by **Peter.N.** » 03 Sep 2006, 21:28

I am afraid I am not familier with the Synergie but I can probably give you some general advice.

The climate control problem. Does the fan run when you turn it on until the fuse went, or perhaps I should say, did it? The fan motor is the heaviest consumer of power so I should check that first. If the 10 fuse amp is running the fan, it doesn't sound big enough.

Battery problem : Is it the original battery? if so its probably lost a lot of capacity and needs changing. The way car batteries are constructed with a many thin plates means that they will supply enough power to start the car, providing it starts first time, but will have very little in reserve as they get older, so could be causing your flat battery problem.

You can check if anything is running the battery down by disconnecting one terminal and connecting a ammeter between the battery and the disconnected terminal. With nothing switched it should ony read a few milliamps, anything more than 1/2 amp indicates a problem.

Telbert · Post by **Telbert** » 05 Sep 2006, 19:17

Thanks for the suggestions Peter. The battery is a 2005 so you would think it had a bit of life left in it. I`ll scrounge an ammeter from work and test it out as you suggested. The 10 amp fuse that keeps blowing is labelled in the handbook as "heater fan relay control-a/c switch-pressostat-electric windows". The strange thing is the electric windows are still working even tho the fuse has blown.

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 06 Sep 2006, 14:30

The interior fan of air-conditioned cars has to blow through a pollen filter that gets dirty and restricts the air flow to the extent that the fuse may blow, especially if it’s 10 Amps.
The Xantia has a 30A fuse for that.
Check that the fuse is the correct rating, and if the pollen filter is black, you can wash it or put a new one in.
Picture from the Xantia; the pollen filter above the passenger floor:

sub42 · Post by **sub42** » 09 Sep 2006, 20:21

Hmm, sounds like a leaky alternator diode to me. if it is going short, then it could drain the battery. Anyway, the blower motor is very accessible on the Synergie, its down infront of the passenger footwell area. You can remove the cover easily. The new blower motor is around £150, and they are renowned for blowing. Just think yourself lucky, the non-aircon version blower motor can be £200!

The Blower pollen filters are accessible from under the bonnet. They are behind the three covers below the window wipers. Yep thats right three/four of them as I remember. It could also be the aircon pump thats kicking out the fuse. Is the little dot inbetween the temperature digits flashing? That would indicate a fault, maybe high/low gas pressure.

The other thing to check is that the scuttle panel drain is functioning, as if it is blocked, the blower motor fan will fill up with water and cause all sorts of funny faults, including seizing up your blower motor. The drain exits under the front wheel arch, near the suspension strut. It looks like a pinched hose end. Make sure this is clear.

The rev counter could be either the crank sensor, or the clocks themselves. Hard to tell unless you can get a meter on the crank sensor.

Telbert · Post by **Telbert** » 10 Sep 2006, 10:27

Thanks for the help folks. I was just going to ask where the pollen filters were because i couldnt see them in the passenger footwell. Off to have another rummage around now
cheers........Terry