central locking, immobilizer, lights, indicators, wipers fault 67 dispatch

[nevil]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help. I Get this fault on the van. Sometimes I get electronic immobilizer fault on the display. When that happens I can crank the van over but it won't start. This happens with both keys. Then sometimes I get a load of extra stuff too. Wipers won't come or indicators wipers and sidelights on. In fact I think the lights and wipers go into auto mode. But I'm not certain.

Then Sometimes I just get the lights wipers an indicators problem when I'm driving. When this happen I know once I get where I'm going the Central locking won't lock the van.

Driving me mental. Can anyone help.
It a 67 plate 2.0 dispatch blue hdi

Thank you Nevil

[wheeler]

The lights & wipers coming on by them selves normally means the BSI has lost communication with the com2000 module (lights & wiper stalk assembly) the pickup for the immobiliser also goes through this. Being so intermittent this could be a pain to pinpoint without swapping parts.
How long has this been happening for?

[nevil]

It's been a few months. Started as just an imobilizer fault with no other issues. At that point I tried the spare key and changing the battery. The only way I can get going again is disconnecting the battery. But even that takes quite a few trys. Did get the fault codes read. Can't remember bthe code now but it was relating to low battery voltage. Hence the new battery.

When you say 'the pick up for the imobilizer goes through there' do you mean goes through the comm 2000 module?

[nevil]

I forgot to say. Thank you for the reply.

Where would be a good place to start swapping parts? What would be the most likely suspects.

A couple of weeks ago when it was playing up on a daily basis, I charged the new battery overnight and it did seem to make a difference. But of course it could be purely coincidental. I have also started switching off the eco mode to concerve battery life. But Im most likely looking in the wrong direction.

[wheeler]

The 2 common denominators to all these faults are the BSI & the com2000 unit. BSI i would say is less likely to be the issue. If i was to have a guess at this it would be the com2000 unit. I wouldnt normally think its a good idea to just start swapping parts however in this case with it being an intermittent issue like this it may be an option. My first stab would be the com2000 unit. It doesent need coding (unless it has ESP then the steering angle sensor will need calibrated)

[nevil]

Thanks again. I'll start looking into that and try to figure out if my van has ESP, would it be obvious?
Supposing it does have ESP, is that a main dealer job to get the calibration done.

[wheeler]

If the van has ESP there will be a button on the dash to switch it off, if you are unsure i can check by your reg or VIN.
Any garage with half decent diagnostics should be able to calibrate the steering angle sensor. It only means the ESP light would be on & the system inactive, the van would still start & run so you could drive it to a garage to get this done.

[nevil]

I think I do have ESP. from what I can see, it's the button that shows a symbol of a vehicle with snaking tyre tracks.

After an awful day on Thursday with the van miss behaving all day, I charged the battery over night and today it didn't miss a beat. The battery wasn't flat but could it be that just a slight drop in battery voltage is enough to cause problems. I think I going to hang fire on swapping parts and see if this is definitely a the case. It could be coincidental.

Do you know how the DC from the battery is distributed? Where do the comm 2000 and the bsi take power from. What I was wondering was. Can I check the supply voltage to the bsi & the comm 2000 units to see if they are not getting what the need to work properly. I guess it will be tough to diagnose like this. But if there really is something in the low battery voltage, it could be a starting point.

[picassodad]

Just a thought, how are main earth's, and, leads from battery...

How is charging system, voltage across battery at idle and say 2k revs, with and without main beam on ?

The lad got a cheapo gizzmo that plugs into fag lighter and displays battery voltage...it can be left in and monitor read out from time to time.....that's all I can suggest, sorry...

[nevil]

Thanks for your reply. I've ordered a voltage meter now. When you say main earth's, how many are there? I guess one from the battery and one from the engine.

I've been trying to look for replacement comm unit, it seems there's a million different types. Do you know if you have to match the numbers. I'm assuming you do. I can't seem to find any two with the same numbers. I'm really loathed to go to Citroen, they'll charge a fortune and considering I don't even know if this is the problem. I'd rather try a used one if I can.

[wheeler]

The numbers don't necessarily need to match, just match the equipment
ESP: yes/no
Auto lights: yes/no
Auto wipers: yes/no
Front fog lamps: yes/no

The cruise control stalk (if fitted) & radio controls can be swapped onto the new unit as they are separate items.

[nevil]

Thank you. I have one one its way. Hopefully this will sort out the problems.

I'll post on here what the outcome is as I know it can be really useful for other folks reading the message boards who have similar problems.

[nevil]

Hi again. An early update. I fitted a new comm unit to the van. It wasn't a match in terms of the part numbers. In fact it wasn't even a perfect match of functions. The new module has an extra rotating switch for rear wipers on the stalk. But everything works perfectly and so far, three days in there has been no repeat of the problems I was having. It's still early days and I'm not ready call it fixed. But considering that before I changed the part, I rarely had a trouble free day. I think I have reason to be optimistic.

Thanks for your help wheeler

[wheeler]

Great news, as for the comms units, there can be loads of different part numbers for these for a particular model but sometimes the only differences are cosmetic.
For example models with & without front fog lamps are electrically identical, the only difference is one has a little front fog lamp symbol printed on the unit. Same applies to models with & without automatic front wipers, the only difference is the printing on the unit.
Glad to hear it seems sorted anyway.