Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would start...

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jlktiling
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Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would start...

Post by jlktiling »

Hello guys.

Fitted a Sony head unit into tank yesterday (citroen c5 2.0 hdi estate) , and this morning tank wouldnt start.
Had to jump start it with leads.

Related or not?

It has been having trouble starting before but always would after about 5-7 seconds.
So I expect the battery is a little old anyway.

But the head unit is wired in permanent live, but last night I held down the off so it turned off completely.

Would the two be related, or do I just need a new battery or is it worse?!

Thanks in advance.
2001 citroen C5 2.0 Hdi aka "TANK"
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by Welshy_Pete »

Hello if the car been struggling to start before all this you need a new battery for sure.

The radio will just add more strain to the battery problem.

When knowing a battery on the way out best to change it. They wont last for ever like any battery.
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by jlktiling »

Is there a procedure to changing the battery , or is it pop in or pop out?
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by Welshy_Pete »

jlktiling wrote:Is there a procedure to changing the battery , or is it pop in or pop out?
When changing the battery if the radio has codes make sure you have them ready.

Also make sure you take the keys out of the car. Because sometimes the doors will lock when you put the new battery back on.

But you should be fine changing the battery over.
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by Ben82 »

jlktiling wrote:Is there a procedure to changing the battery , or is it pop in or pop out?
Take a look here for the safest process.
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by jlktiling »

Ben82 wrote:
jlktiling wrote:Is there a procedure to changing the battery , or is it pop in or pop out?
Take a look here for the safest process.

Long winded process or what!!!
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by Ben82 »

jlktiling wrote:
Ben82 wrote:
jlktiling wrote:Is there a procedure to changing the battery , or is it pop in or pop out?
Take a look here for the safest process.

Long winded process or what!!!
Yup, know what you mean, when Citroen did mine over here they didn't follow any process, haven't had anything go wrong with it from them not doing so, but your mileage may vary.
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by den169 »

Iv'e taken the battery off many times never done all that lower suspension crap etc,Not had a problem when iv'e put the battery back on just lock and unlock doors with the key a couple of times and its been fine.As ben says above Citroen didn't do it on his and they should know.
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by spider »

As a note: I've seen some techs just disconnect the battery without the usual safe BSi procedure, and I'll admit I've done it myself a few times like that (and the proper way too)

Without any disrespect to the PSA group, I do think its a cause for concern that you can potentially corrupt the unit by not doing the procedure, imo that should not be possible.
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

The battery procedure is a bit like shutting down a Windows PC. By letting it complete its shut down procedure, it clears down any temporary variables. However, if you just kill the power, these don't get cleaned up, and might get in the way at a later date. Worse, if it was running a critical routine at that point, it might fail to start up cleanly next time, or maybe not start at all.

Yes, the battery routine takes time, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. 9 times out of 10 you won't have a problem (probably better than that), but the 10th time it goes wrong, usually when you REALLY need the car!
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by myglaren »

I'll second that. Wouldn't start, l flattened the battery, did a quick swap and the immobiliser locked out the ignition, had to take the bus and do it right that evening.
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by CitroJim »

spider wrote: Without any disrespect to the PSA group, I do think its a cause for concern that you can potentially corrupt the unit by not doing the procedure, imo that should not be possible.
Absolutely yes!

All this faffing around really puts me off ever owning a C5 or C anything for that matter...
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by Chris570 »

Might I also suggest double checking that the radio is off and not drawing any current as it seems a bit of a co-incidence that changing the radio and now you have a flat battery
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by jlktiling »

Chris570 wrote:Might I also suggest double checking that the radio is off and not drawing any current as it seems a bit of a co-incidence that changing the radio and now you have a flat battery
The radio was completely off.

No problems this morning. But the memory on the radio hasn't worked. So I guess I'll need to swop the permanent live & switch cable around.
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Re: Fitted a new head unit yesterday, and the car would star

Post by jlktiling »

So I've got a new battery.
How in earth do you get the terminals off the battery?!!
No bolt, no screw!
Give us a clue please!
2001 citroen C5 2.0 Hdi aka "TANK"
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