dgeezer

Further to my original thread in this forum 'Bsi Replacement' ..... Two years on and last week I jumped in the car and discovered the instrument cluster lights, indicators, rear defrost, and blower were not functioning. Oh oh !! I thought, here we go again ... The running lights, radio, hazard warning switch and airbag dash light seemed to work OK. Drove back from work that day and part way home I heard a click, accompanied by a brief flash of the dash lights, and everything was back to normal for the rest of the journey. Shut the engine down on arrival at home but, trying an immediate restart (which the car performs without apparent issue), found the problem was back. Took it to the local dealer today for a diagnostic check. Have been advised I need a new alternator (currently has a re-con unit fitted 2 years previously when I had the BSI replaced). Apparently, it is only giving out 10.4V with the engine running against an ideal 14+V. Questions I would appreciate help with : (a) if the alternator is faulty why is it not a simple case of the battery light illuminating to highlight this ? (:rolleyes: why would a low voltage from the alternator trigger loss of said instruments ? © could it be something else causing the problem (BSI included) ? When I had very similar problems previously, the dealer recommended a new alternator but went on to replace the dash cluster, BSI and battery aswell (see previous thread), so I am wary that the same might happen here. I propose to challenge the dealer's diagnostic finding and get a sensible explanation as to why the car responds to a faulty alternator in this peculiar way. Given no further findings or potential solutions I will probably change the alternator and see of it solves the problem. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Haven't looked at the forum since my original posting on the subject ... thanks for the replies. To update the story (memory a bit hazy in places) it took 3 months for the dealer to sort out the problem. Having had the BSI, instrument cluster, battery and alternator replaced, the car kept reverting to a 'safety' mode when left standing. The dealer was baffled and I am not sure the bods back at Citroen in France were much help, but it turned out the car would 'trip out' into this mode (in which the indicators, wipers and blower failed to function) because the BSI was sensing remote locking signals despite not having central locking. Everytime a person sent a remote unlock signal to a car in the vicinity of mine, the BSI (which had been set up to reflect no remote central locking fitted) apparently viewed the signal as rogue and 'tripped out'. Finally, the dealer reconfigured the BSI to reflect remote central locking as fitted, and the BSI was able to determine that all signals were to be ignored, thereby avoiding the reversionary mode. As might be expected, I was not impressed with the dealer/Citroen in the slow progress in solving the problem ... and am still baffled why a 'safe' mode results in the car losing indicators and wipers, which I consider fairly essential in ensuring safe driving. I did feel somewhat appeased when the dealer loaned me a courtesy car to try and make up for the inconvenience due to the extended delays - but was thoroughly dejected when I had to have a week off work with a bad back as a result !!! I recommend avoiding Nissan Micras with 'bucket' seats at all costs. Incidentally, the rear wiper motor blew during all this, but having shelled out heaps to get the prime issue resolved I decided to ignore this .... still not sorted even today. I thought I would close out the saga as some members may benefit from the knowledge ... and because, in my next posting (to be submitted very shortly after this one), the problem appears to have returned after 2 years and another ~30k miles .... aaarrggghhhh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for that. Am still waiting to hear back from the dealer .... I trust it will be just a simple problem like an earthing fault but am resigned to being provided with some highly convolute & confusing story to justify more major component replacements !! My fear for the future is that the electircs could be prone to further trouble of a similar nature. Only time will tell ....

Wanted to post to see if anyone has had a similar problem, and whether it was/has been fixed successfully ... I purchased a 1.8i petrol '00 Bling (~34k on the clock) from a relative last Sept. He was the second owner of the vehicle and ran it as a second car (~8k miles a year) for 2 years without any reported problems. Two months after getting it (and flogging tp & from work every day, completing 50 mile round trip) I noticed that the dash instruments (speedo, gauges, rev counter) were slow to energise on starting, taking upto 10 minutes to become operational. This despite the fact that the lights, indicators, etc worked normally. Having inibtially thought it was something to do with the cold weather, and the fact that the instrument cluster worked when the car interior warmed up (not sure there's any real scientific basis for this concept !!), the problem spread to the indicators and/or heater blower not working, while the dash problem persisted. I kept saying to myself I must get it looked at ..... Issues came to a head first day back to work this year. Filled up with fuel on the way to work and couldn't get the car started to clear the station forecourt !!!! Managed to get the car to the local dealer (who at this point shall remain nameless) who diagnosed BSI failure, which I believe to be the main electrical interface unit controlling the four electrical systems on the car. Was also advised to supply a new battery & (re-con alternator). Having waited 10 days to get the BSI from France (!) they replaced it and then diagnosed a dash unit failure. Another 10 days later and they finally said all was well. Picked the car up and immediately noted the battery light stayed illuminated with the engine running. Was told the battery would charge while running so set off only to discover the indicators & heater blower non-functioning (sound familiar). Turned straight round and had the battery diagnosed as providing enough volts (~13.8V static & ~14.3V at idle, suggesting the alternator was OK) but insufficient amps (304A cf. rating of 570A). The technician at the dealer demonstrated that a new battery delivering the correct power was able to stop the battery light illuminating as well as get all the systems working. Set off again and noticed that the fuel temperature gauge wasn't working. Rang the dealer to advise a problem remained, but agreed to drop the car back after changing the battery. The following day the battery light stayed on again after starting. Changed the battery (with an old one I had lying around) and the battery light went out. Used the car very little over the weekend and got to work the following Monday without incident. Come Monday night return home, and Lo, the battery light stayed on again after starting. Am completlely baffled as to why the problems with the battery light & temp gauge persist. Will be returning to the dealer a.s.a.p. to get them to explain/fix the problem. However, any advice/guidance/sympathy would be appreciated. I am not familiar with mulitplex electrical systems and their associated faults & fixes and seek the voice of experience/wisdom to educate me. Apologies for wittering on so much, but the 3+ weeks to get this far is really stating to piss me off !!!!

Wanted to post to see if anyone has had a similar problem, and whether it was/has been fixed successfully ... I purchased a 1.8i petrol '00 Bling (~34k on the clock) from a relative last Sept. He was the second owner of the vehicle and ran it as a second car (~8k miles a year) for 2 years without any reported problems. Two months after getting it (and flogging tp & from work every day, completing 50 mile round trip) I noticed that the dash instruments (speedo, gauges, rev counter) were slow to energise on starting, taking upto 10 minutes to become operational. This despite the fact that the lights, indicators, etc worked normally. Having inibtially thought it was something to do with the cold weather, and the fact that the instrument cluster worked when the car interior warmed up (not sure there's any real scientific basis for this concept !!), the problem spread to the indicators and/or heater blower not working, while the dash problem persisted. I kept saying to myself I must get it looked at ..... Issues came to a head first day back to work this year. Filled up with fuel on the way to work and couldn't get the car started to clear the station forecourt !!!! Managed to get the car to the local dealer (who at this point shall remain nameless) who diagnosed BSI failure, which I believe to be the main electrical interface unit controlling the four electrical systems on the car. Was also advised to supply a new battery & (re-con alternator). Having waited 10 days to get the BSI from France (!) they replaced it and then diagnosed a dash unit failure. Another 10 days later and they finally said all was well. Picked the car up and immediately noted the battery light stayed illuminated with the engine running. Was told the battery would charge while running so set off only to discover the indicators & heater blower non-functioning (sound familiar). Turned straight round and had the battery diagnosed as providing enough volts (~13.8V static & ~14.3V at idle, suggesting the alternator was OK) but insufficient amps (304A cf. rating of 570A). The technician at the dealer demonstrated that a new battery delivering the correct power was able to stop the battery light illuminating as well as get all the systems working. Set off again and noticed that the fuel temperature gauge wasn't working. Rang the dealer to advise a problem remained, but agreed to drop the car back after changing the battery. The following day the battery light stayed on again after starting. Changed the battery (with an old one I had lying around) and the battery light went out. Used the car very little over the weekend and got to work the following Monday without incident. Come Monday night return home, and Lo, the battery light stayed on again after starting. Am completlely baffled as to why the problems with the battery light & temp gauge persist. Will be returning to the dealer a.s.a.p. to get them to explain/fix the problem. However, any advice/guidance/sympathy would be appreciated. I am not familiar with mulitplex electrical systems and their associated faults & fixes and seek the voice of experience/wisdom to educate me. Apologies for wittering on so much, but the 3+ weeks to get this far is really stating to piss me off !!!!