Xantia ii - electrical went dead

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atr
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Xantia ii - electrical went dead

Post by atr »

Hi
Today, in the middle of driving, my Xantia mk2 (petrol, 2lit, 16v) went dead.all of a sudden the hands of the speedometer and the rpm gauge ran from side to side once or twice, landing in full scale position and all the electricity went off. I've tried to tighten the battery leads but to no avail. any clues?
Thanx.
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VertVega
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Re: Xantia ii - electrical went dead

Post by VertVega »

Hi atr, Same car, same engine, same problems ... :)

My Xantia had exactly the same problem and I've even asked from the forum for a solution. It was cured on its own after about 3-4 hours. Later on it made it again but this time it lasted for some days. Finally I changed the air condition ECU. I'm not sure if it was the cause of the problem but it didn't have the same problem. Later on I sold my Xantia and no idea if the owner had the same problem, I had no complaining calls. The car is still on the road with the new owner.

It happened during summer and when I was in abroad. I noticed it when the air condition stopped working. The button was pressed on but no green light was gone. The cabin blower was dead. All the gauges were dead, no speed, revs, ,fuel level, temp and etc. but the engine was working, the car moving just as normally, headlights were on, indicators working, brakes lights working ... this case was a real mystery for me.
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Re: Xantia ii - electrical went dead

Post by Peter.N. »

Did you clean the battery connections? If they are corroded tightening them won't help, it could also be that you have a poor connection on the earth lead from the battery where its bolted to the engine/gearbox - all this is assuming that the engine is dead as well.

Peter
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Re: Xantia ii - electrical went dead

Post by atr »

VV- thanx for your reply. in my case, everything went dead, the engine stopped running, etc. like as somebody turned a switch "off" and nothing is working.
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Re: Xantia ii - electrical went dead

Post by VertVega »

I see, in mine engine was still running. A bit different case then.

Check these:
- As PeterN said the battery terminals, grounding point on top of gearbox.
- fuel pump condition, working or dead?

Mine had developed minor fuel pump symptoms around 350 k km. I replaced it before it was totally gone.
It is located under the RIGHT rear seat. If you lift the seat you can hear the pump sound (buzzing) better.

- check also the red button (inertia switch) in the engine bay, right side where the orga number and paint code is located. That should be pressed down. Inertia switch cuts off the fuel supply in case of a traffic accident.

Edit: Just remembered another case. In mine the ignition coil caused problems around 270 k km. Is yours still the original? It's worth checking that also. It can go dead totally or running on two like mine.
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Re: Xantia ii - electrical went dead

Post by Stempy »

Dry solder joints in the fuse box?
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Re: Xantia ii - electrical went dead

Post by Triton18 »

Hello!

I had the same trouble, while in highway..:-(((

At the Citroen officine they told me it was overheating into the key block under the steering wheel. Fixed it, no more troubles.

Gianfranco
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Re: Xantia ii - electrical went dead

Post by CitroJim »

Yes indeed. Ignition switch or the feed to it is the favourite cause.

There are splices (joints) in the wiring harness that passes under the radiator that carry the main feeds to the ignition switch and in the presence of damp these splices fail.

The best initial test is to measure for the presence of voltage at the ignition switch connectors under the steering wheel cowl. You may see 12v initially that drops to zero when the ignition is turned on. If so then this is a bad splice in the wiring harness presenting a high resistance.
Jim

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