Bodged Xantia Blower (slightly different, honest)

[Nitrosurf]

Hi all, just like to say this appears to be a very friendly site from the reading I've done so far so I hope you can help.
I very recently acquired myself an 'R' registered 1998 Xantia Turbo-D estate. I've wanted a hydraneumatic Citroen for a while and managed to get this one at a most reasonable price...The car has a few niggles but as it was less than cheap and is sixteen years old I expected this. However, one very annoying problem is the heater/air con blower control. I know that this problem has been covered already many times and I will take the advice given on the forum on board prior to my expedition with the soldering iron, drill, Thor mallet and duct tape (the last two were a joke. Maybe). But...the problem has been 'fixed' by one of the previous owners. Apparently the blower setting control packed up altogether, it wouldn't turn on the blower so obviously wouldn't adjust the setting either. Somehow a household switch (lightswitch or socket control switch) has been wired into the blower circuit and attached to the plastics near where my left knee is when sat in the car. Flicking this switch either turns the blower off or turns it to full on. Not only does this look crap and smack of extreme silliness (if the effort has been put into fitting this why not just fix it...?) it is rather annoying. I would like to benefit from warmth that isn't thrown at me at gale force nine.
If the bodge can turn the blower on does that mean its the transistor problem as identified in one of the sticky posts, or could it be some other problem with the switch itself? I am no electrician but can follow instruction and put together/dismantle basic circuitry without (much) issue, but didn't want to go pulling things apart unnecessarily...

I also have the 'stiff clutch pedal despite having a nearly new clutch' problem but I'll post about that in good time, I don't want to create a confusing thread...

Thanks in advance!

Liam

[Xaccers]

Pull down the carpet under the glove box and see what the wires look like there.

The way it originally works is the ignition switch feeds 12V via the two thicker wires in the brown plug that goes into the blower. The two thinner wires come from the slider control. Through magic (or transistors, but I reckon it's magic) the silver transistor board adjusts the 12V from the ignition switch and supplies the resultant voltage to the blower motor via the short thick black/red wires.

The motor can pull 30-40A which burns out the ignition switch reducing the voltage and preventing the motor spinning. Wiggling the key can sometimes get a better connection and increasing the voltage to get the blower going. The fix for this is to take a new 12V feed off before the ignition switch via a relay, and use the old 12V feed to switch the relay.
Sometimes due to the high current the contacts in the brown plug burn.

The other issue that occurs is when the magic fails and releases the mighty hurricane (blower either runs at full speed no matter the setting), and when this happens you must call upon Thor, god of thunder, and request he wields the mighty Mjölnir to control the eternal wind and restore the magic. Or replace the transistors, the choice is really up to you.

Now, if the bodge switch has been put in to bypass the tired old ignition switch, you should still have control over speed, so I would suspect that the magic has gone from the control board on the blower and they've just inserted the switch into the 12V feed from the ignition switch.

An alternate and somewhat mind boggling potential bodge would be that they've taken a new 12V feed, via the light switch, and connected to the 2 pin socket on the blower, thus bypassing both the ignition switch and the control board.

[Nitrosurf]

Thanks Xac, some food for thought there then...I think best place to start will be to trace where the supply to that switch is coming from, and extrapolate from there. If it's from the ignition supply, I'll purchase replacement transistors and put it back how Citroen intended. If it's from somewhere else entirely I guess I'll have to perform the bypass surgery with the relay. I'll knuckle down to this Monday when no one else is around to hear me swearing...
Can't wait to get this done, as I'm fed up of the "oh, the interior's in really good nick...but what the hell is that for?" as they point derisively at my light switch...Telling them it primes the flux capacitor doesn't get the laugh you'd expect...

Bon!

Liam

[Xaccers]

Just imagine the looks they'd give you if they saw you pouring vegetable oil into the fuel tank

At least your bodger put the switch by your left knee. Cassy had a switch in the middle of the blank panel to the right of the steering column, although her problem was the ignition switch so this new switch didn't work all the time. Replaced the panel with one from a scrapper and wired in the relay one winter day in the snow. I did have a LX that I scrapped which had a massive clunky switch, in the PASSENGER foot well. So really safe and easy to get to whilst driving, not!

[Nitrosurf]

Hmmm, seems to be a pattern emerging here with Xantias (Xantiae???) and dicky switch arrangements! Is it the nicer the car, the more industrious the bodger?

I will post my findings (or further winging) as soon as I've had a goose at it...

[Xaccers]

Citroen finally heard about the relay mod by the time they gave the Xantia a face lift (or Leslie Ash bumpers if you ask me) and started fitting it as standard, so S2 cars tend to only suffer the hurricane of doooooom

The plethora of bodges we've seen is testament to the skill and knowledge (or rather lack of) that many "mechanics" possess.

[aneesh84]

I ordered one of these and placed it inside the ash tray.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-9v-60V-Wid ... 2ec1c531bc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It controls the fan speed very well, and is easy to install. The black and red thick wires form the blower need to be wired here.

Since it modulates the pulse width, it is not wasting energy or producing heat unlike a rheostat.

[isisalar]

Speaking of found bodges, I once had through my hands a Datsun cherry which had a doorbell switch taped to the dashboard to operate the horn! LOL.
Cheers
Paul

[Nitrosurf]

I like the doorbell horn idea, maybe amplify a old fashioned "Avon calling!" noise to go with it...Well, as is usual with these things I have yet to tackle the blower issue as the clutch cable has taken precedent. Who replaces a clutch but uses the old knackered cable...? I digress...Aneesh thanks for the advice regarding the aftermarket controller, it may be an option but I was rather hoping to utilise the 'auto' function of the factory setup, and keep it all 'standard' looking. Got another issue with the ol' gal in the shape of the front suspension too, but I'll make up a new topic for that...

[Hell Razor5543]

If you have to replace the clutch cable it could be worth getting it from GSF. When I had to replace the one on Gracie, Citroen wanted about £43, while GSF charged me about £22. This was for a cable with auto adjust.

I will make a recommendation (based on experience). If you do need to fit an auto adjust cable, wrap the whole auto adjust bellows and securing clip in a good quality packing tape. You do NOT want the clip coming off until you are ready to remove it; trust me on this! I would much rather mutter about how long it takes to remove that tape than to swear at the clip for coming loose!

[Nitrosurf]

Oh that clutch cable job was by far the worst thing I have ever had to do on a car. The stupid fiddly pedal attach to nipple bit, the infuriating 'routed around the back of the motor' bit, the getting oily wet and mad on my folks drive in January bit (I taught the dogs some new profanity)...I once changed the cylinder head on a Volvo 440 in a hospital car park (I worked there, just told the boss I was "doing a quick job on the car") in a couple of hours, that was fun compared to that bloody clutch cable...Also it was manually adjusted one, so had a plethora of plastic nonsense slipping up and down the cable getting caught on all sorts...
So that's clutch cable done, heater motor problem identified...Left to do; fix the heater, replace the accumulator sphere and all the flex hydraulic pipe and fit a battery of the correct size. My 'no rust at all' bodywork has also developed a rust bubble near the rear arch, lets hope it's small...

[Xaccers]

Inventing new and interesting swear words is all part of Citroen ownership