Xsara Picasso Central Locking Issue

[Liam Faulkner]

Hello all, and thanks for accepting my request to join this forum.

I have an issue with my Xsara Picasso (58 plate) in that the central locking has stopped working. To be fair it's a fairly old and a little tatty, but I got it about a year ago because it's so practical. There were a few things wrong with it which I've slowly been fixing, but in the last two weeks developed a bit of an electrical fault when it was very damp and cold ... which has been a lot over the last few weeks, in that the horn would occasionally go off on it's own when cold (somewhat embarrassing) but, as soon as there was some heat from the engine it would stop its little beeps (wouldn't do this when it was fine and dry).

This morning had to jump in the car to take our son to school and the car was fine. However about 2 or 3 hours later had to use the car again, pressed the central locking button on the fob and ... nothing. My first thought was that the battery in the fob was dead, although I was a tad dubious because I was expecting there to be a message on the display when the battery charge started to get low as it did in my old 307. I replaced the battery and still nothing. So I tried the key (and the spare) in the driver and passenger side, and couldn't get them to turn. Now I don't know if they've totally seized as I don't know when they've last been used and I've never used the barrel locks since I got the car. I suspect the locks haven't been changed by one of the previous owners, as the key will go all the way in, but it simply won't turn.

Out of desperation I rang a couple of auto lock-smiths, but none of them would come out to have a look because they say those Citroen locks are "unpickable" (something to do with the cross shape).

So ... any suggestions before I take to breaking a window? How do I get into the car so I can check there's power to the ignition or check the battery? Is it really true that auto locksmiths can't get access into a Picasso?

[wheeler]

Out of desperation I rang a couple of auto lock-smiths, but none of them would come out to have a look because they say those Citroen locks are "unpickable" (something to do with the cross shape).

So ... any suggestions before I take to breaking a window? How do I get into the car so I can check there's power to the ignition or check the battery? Is it really true that auto locksmiths can't get access into a Picasso?

The door locks (SX9 type) i imagine would be very difficult to pick however there are no deadlocks on a UK spec Xsara Picasso so the 'old fashioned' way, gaining access with an air bag & rod is easy on this car due to the lack of deadlocks.

[wheeler]

Another option is to get the bonnet up if you can access the catch from underneath & get power into the car via the jump point incase the battery is dead