Xantia blower problems

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johnh
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Xantia blower problems

Post by johnh »

Hello all- first post- sorry if it's all been discussed before- Hope you can help

My beloved Xantia is starting to play up. I have a 2001 1.8i Forte. The latest thing to go is the blower heater. It had shown no problems at all, just got in, started up... and no blower. The green lamp on the aircon button does not light either. I have checked F21. Seems ok? I don't know whether there are any clues in the fact it was running right up until I parked up and then did not come back on when I set off again?

So as you can imagine driving in this weather with no heater / demisting is not good.

My working knowledge of the car is very limited and I have taken it in to my local Citroen specialist to have a look. Any suggestions as to the likely problems or are there too many possibilities? I've a feeling it's the motor in the blower itself. I've had the car for nearly 6 years and without any major failures so I shouldn't grumble really! It just seems I'm going into the garage a lot these days! (last 6 months have had all spheres done & brake light switch- now this, its costing me a fortune!)

As an aside -I have scanned Autotrader for nearly 6 months looking for a silver 2001 Y (51) 2.0 HDi sx with low miles- Where are they all??

regards

John
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Try search for ignition switch problems.
To me it sounds like the standard Xantia syndrome : the ignition switch is burnt out on one contact set.
Your rear screen demister wont work either if it is the ignition switch at fault.

Try if the blower shortly springs into life if you give the ignition key a little play.
Anders (DK) - '90 BX16Image
johnh
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Post by johnh »

hi

I have read in other threads about this ignition switch etc and rear demisters. The rear demister works fine.
RichardW
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Post by RichardW »

Hi John,

The MK 2 is different in that it came with a relay fitted to avoid the problems with switch burning out. There are 2 (easy !) possibilities: 1 the power supply to the relay has failed 2: the contacts on the blower are burnt out. Dropping the blower out is easy (removed the carpet above the passenger foot well, then three screws and blower drops out) - and you can check whether the contacts are burnt and whether there is power onto the thick wires (note!! The fan will only run when the engine is running - bear this in mind when doing any testing!). If there is power on the thick wires, then the fault is either in the Climate system, or the blower itself - Jim has done some fault finding on this end somewhere on here. If there is no power on the wires, then the power supply to the relay may have failed (this happened to mine for no apparent reason). The relay is above the throttle pedal - the only 35A one in there (need to remove the lower carpet / trim panel to get to them). I found that the switching supply was only showing 3V, and bridging out the power contacts in the socket made the fan run. I put in a new fused supply to back of the socket (just enough room!) and all has been well since.
Richard W
johnh
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Post by johnh »

thanks for all your advice. All fixed now. To quote from my repair bill-

work carried out- "Carried out full check of heater system. Found live feed to heater resistor missing. Checked wiring back to relay and found relay not switching due to missing live. Traced to internal fault with vehicle fuse box. Replaced fuse box and confirmed operation of fans.

...it was dear!. Looks like you were just about getting there Richard. Thanks all. Lets hope my old Xant still has a long way to go yet.
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