2003 Y-reg C-15 1.9 Diesel Van died?!!! NOW SOLVED!!!

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falling-out-with-my-car
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My Cars: Citroen C5 Aircross 8 speed Automatic, Flair Model with far to many toys and nice comfy armchair like leather seats. ha ha Ive just had a conversation with the car. setting everything up verbally
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2003 Y-reg C-15 1.9 Diesel Van died?!!! NOW SOLVED!!!

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

Hi,

About a month ago we purchased a C-15 van for my son and did a lot of repairs that needed doing to get it road worthy.

front springs and shocks were replaced amongst other bits and bobs like the rear lights. we didnt replace anthing electrical other than a couple of bulbs.

Up until now the engine has been very relaible.

tonight my son on the way home from work says the engine just died transversing a mni-roundabout.

The battery is ok, plenty of diesel in the tank, the car is just absolutely dead No lights, no horn Nothing putting the key in the ignition solves nothing the starter motor doesnt even turn.

I am not very clever with diesel engines has anyone got any experience of such symptoms please and any useful suggestions as to where we can start to look for a fault that would cause such catasroophic breakdown?

Many thanks in advance Nigel.
Last edited by falling-out-with-my-car on 26 Nov 2012, 17:02, edited 2 times in total.
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
New addition Citroen C5 2.0 HDi Exclusive Hatch purchased 09/12/2016 with 83K on the clock.
Hell Razor5543
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Re: 2003 Y-reg C-15 1.9 Diesel Van died?

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

I would guess that what you have got is an electrical failure. No lights, horn, or starter motor are what lead me to believe this. Does anything happen on the dashboard when you turn on the ignition?
James
ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR

C5 2.2HDi VTX+
Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
User avatar
falling-out-with-my-car
Posts: 1928
Joined: 06 Apr 2008, 15:26
Location: Northamptonshire
My Cars: Citroen C5 Aircross 8 speed Automatic, Flair Model with far to many toys and nice comfy armchair like leather seats. ha ha Ive just had a conversation with the car. setting everything up verbally
x 24

Re: 2003 Y-reg C-15 1.9 Diesel Van died?

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

everything is dead.

very odd.
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
New addition Citroen C5 2.0 HDi Exclusive Hatch purchased 09/12/2016 with 83K on the clock.
Hell Razor5543
Donor 2023
Posts: 13726
Joined: 01 Apr 2012, 09:47
Location: Reading
My Cars: C5 Mk2 VTX+ estate.
x 2993

Re: 2003 Y-reg C-15 1.9 Diesel Van died?

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Then I would guess a cable came loose when cornering. Start checking the ones from the battery first.
James
ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR

C5 2.2HDi VTX+
Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
User avatar
falling-out-with-my-car
Posts: 1928
Joined: 06 Apr 2008, 15:26
Location: Northamptonshire
My Cars: Citroen C5 Aircross 8 speed Automatic, Flair Model with far to many toys and nice comfy armchair like leather seats. ha ha Ive just had a conversation with the car. setting everything up verbally
x 24

Re: 2003 Y-reg C-15 1.9 Diesel Van died?

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

will do cheers, I'll let you know what we find tomorrow. I will check the fuses to.
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
New addition Citroen C5 2.0 HDi Exclusive Hatch purchased 09/12/2016 with 83K on the clock.
User avatar
falling-out-with-my-car
Posts: 1928
Joined: 06 Apr 2008, 15:26
Location: Northamptonshire
My Cars: Citroen C5 Aircross 8 speed Automatic, Flair Model with far to many toys and nice comfy armchair like leather seats. ha ha Ive just had a conversation with the car. setting everything up verbally
x 24

Re: 2003 Y-reg C-15 1.9 Diesel Van died? SOLVED

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

Hi,

I spent until 3am last night reading posts from all over the web where people had the same issue with a dead C-15 van a common problem but no-one seemed to know the answer.

I did read somewhere that someone checked the 20 amp fuses located in the fuse box beneath the passenger side dashboard
a visual check seemed ok but testing them on a meter revealed a blown fuse.

So I checked all of the blade fuses including the two 50amp shunts with a meter and they all checked out ok.

then onto the battery which also checked out ok except to say for the battery clamp being missing allowing the battery to
move forward on its tray.

on the passenger side wing there is a length of plastic trunking that runs over the edge of the battery tray at the bottom of the batterry between the battery and the inner wing, the wiring inside this plastic trunking was wrapped very tightly around the headlamp end of the battery putting quite a bit of tension on the wires.

I checked the earth lead connected to the gearbox and this seemed fine, so I started checking out the posative leads.

The posative leads of which ther are 3 altogether have a thick 8mm lead comming from the posative battery connection and then there are two other small guage 5mm thick leads these go to two plastic connection blocks just below the nearside headlamp to distribute posative connections around the car.

being as the battery clamp was missing the battery had been shunted forward seperating one of the connections comming out of the bottom of these two plastic connection blocks. there was a single 5mm cable sticking out of the trunking along side the battery just waving in the breeze.

hell I just plugged it into the plastic connector block and hey presto the car sprang back to life again. the clip holding the connections had been broken by the force of the battery weight braking the connection as it was shunted forward on the tray.

Unfortunately that was not the end of it my tootsies are now frozen solid as I had to spend the rest of the daylight hours cleanning the connections and removing the airfilter housing to get access to fit a battery clamp.
I think the airfilter housing was designed by proffesseor rubik or a office geek that never leaves the office to see the damage he has done. #-o #-o #-o it would seem that he also applied a stingey attitude to the amount of wire to be used on the car some leads would appear to be slightly to short not allowing enough flexibility.

I have had to fashion a piece of soft insulated wire to wrap around one of the other plugs to secure the one with a broken clip in place.
the car now has a battery clamp so that the battery doesnt go walkies again.

I hope that this helps out all of those other very confused people who also like me cannot seem to find an answer to there
C-15 just going completely dead for no apparent reason, it would appear that this disconnected lead also runs up to the computer panel on the bulkhead and disconnects everything that requires battery power no wonder the engine just shut down when the plug was pulled.

if your offspring owns the car like mine remember to teach them what went wrong and how to fix it again if it does the same thing and hopefully you tootsies won't end up as cold as mine are. :roll: :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Regards Nigel.
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
New addition Citroen C5 2.0 HDi Exclusive Hatch purchased 09/12/2016 with 83K on the clock.
Hell Razor5543
Donor 2023
Posts: 13726
Joined: 01 Apr 2012, 09:47
Location: Reading
My Cars: C5 Mk2 VTX+ estate.
x 2993

Re: 2003 Y-reg C-15 1.9 Diesel Van died?!!! NOW SOLVED!!!

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Hello Nigel,

Great!! I am glad that my guess was right. Your description of the fault is what guided me. Sorry about the frozen tootsies, a bowl of warm water helps here.

James

PS. Aldi on 2nd Dec are doing winter boots for £16. I got some last winter, and even though they didn't get much usage, they are worth the money I paid.
James
ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR

C5 2.2HDi VTX+
Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
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