xsara intermittent electrical faults

[dei9]

Hi all,

I have a slight problem with the electrics of my xsara which disables the gearbox and the speedo and rev counter, it happened to me before whilst driving (I stopped and restarted the engine and it worked fine again), but today I disconnected the battery to do some work on the seat and now it's having none of it, i've checked all the fuses, all is well, is this a common issue in some way?

The funny thing is Fuse22 (in the engine bay) is a 15A one, not 20A as it should be, this is for the BSI (battery+).... it says next to it it's FLA 15A?? what does that mean?

Also the negative clamp of the battery only has a bolt on it, not sure if the clamp has a thread on it or whether it needs a nut on the other side? (maybe bad current)

Another clue could be that the dashboard beeps when the ignition is on and it doesn't get started? What's going on there?

But it's definately an electrical fault in some way. Any ideas?

Thanks

[dei9]

It came back to life, why I don't know, but it seems to work or not work along with the state of the speedo and rev counter (and also the temp gauge, the fuel gauge shows half when the others aren't working). Like what the hell?

[Xantidote]

Also the negative clamp of the battery only has a bolt on it, not sure if the clamp has a thread on it or whether it needs a nut on the other side?

Why not undo the bolt, all electrics off of course, plus anything else you'd do when disconnecting the battery. Inspection will reveal whether the clamp is threaded or you've lost a nut. Alternatively, "to get you running" just add a nut to the projecting thread. If the battery connection is questionable, then best to remove the clamp and make sure all surfaces are nice and clean

[dei9]

It was a thread on the other side (no bolt needed).
I wonder if a dying battery can cause these problems, I have a A missing starter too so they could be related.
There is also an alternator fault acording to Lexia.

[dei9]

but I do still wonder whether the faults can be caused by a dodgy battery, would swapping the battery help? I have a smaller capacity battery in the xantia for some reason 65Ah as opposed to the 75Ah in this one. The alternator is supposedly faulty on this xsara too, maybe that doesn't help either, is that a direct swap too?

[Xantidote]

I'd make sure that the battery is good to start with, and that all the battery connections and earths are good.

Not sure what you mean by "a missing starter"

[chinkostu]

Sounds like a loose earth to me, or the start of a dying battery. If you have a spare battery to hand give it a whirl

[dei9]

I'd make sure that the battery is good to start with, and that all the battery connections and earths are good.

Not sure what you mean by "a missing starter"

Turns without catching kind of thing, but it does catch and then it starts after a few turns. Where would the earths be located? randomly within the engine bay or behind the dash?

[chinkostu]

I'd make sure that the battery is good to start with, and that all the battery connections and earths are good.

Not sure what you mean by "a missing starter"

Turns without catching kind of thing, but it does catch and then it starts after a few turns. Where would the earths be located? randomly within the engine bay or behind the dash?

Thats either the solenoid not extending or its stuck on a part of the flywheel it cant engage with. If it were a low battery it would struggle to even turn over


Earths are on the gearbox and inner wing leading to the battery

[dei9]

cheers, i'll swap the battery as a precaution anyway, I'll look at swapping the starter too. Would a dodgy alternator cause electronic weirdness too? I'll compare the battery output with and without the alternator working too

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

[dei9]

Well I think it's SOLVED, battery and alternator checked out OK (didn't to a load test of course).

What I think it was, there's this big relay box connected to the side of the battery holder, it had a multipin plug, and two beefy power posts + and -, leading to it. The posts coming from the positive lead of the battery was hanging out from underneath it. I took the relay off, cleaned the hole, resat and glued the electrode so the relay connects to it inside, then put it all back together and all seems well and stable so far. Didn't really bother to follow the cable to where it was leading to but I presume it fed into the auto box?

The starter still needs swapping over though.

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

[dei9]

Well it wasn't that! It just went again. Any ideas?

[chinkostu]

Has it worked loose again? Had an issue with a saxo once where the live feed that led from the battery to the fusebox had snapped but you could only see it on close inspection.

Ill get on servicebox and see what it looks like

[dei9]

maybe it has, it was only superglued, it was fine until I went over some speed bumps, I'd have to remove it and check it again, but it wasn't completely off like last time. So it may not even be that. Can anyone confirm what that relay is for? It seems to fail with the instrument dials, it's very weird tbh.

[chinkostu]

maybe it has, it was only superglued, it was fine until I went over some speed bumps, I'd have to remove it and check it again, but it wasn't completely off like last time. So it may not even be that. Can anyone confirm what that relay is for? It seems to fail with the instrument dials, it's very weird tbh.

It does sound like the live feed to the fusebox thats loose. the aformentioned saxo only lost PAS and the rad fan when the feed came out, even though the under bonnet fusebox covers much more than that!

any chance you can snap a few pictures as looking on servicebox doesn't really show me much