C3 1.4i Will Not Start And Door Locks Failed

[Bobster]

Hi,

 

My wife has had a Feb 2003 (52 plate) C3 1.4i for three years. It has been and still is a super car, has covered 77K miles but twice in the last month the following has happened:

 

The car has been used, parked outside the house and locked with the remote. Then about an hour later, she has gone to go out again only to find that the remote will not unlock the car, with neither the main or spare key. After manually unlocking the car, an attempt to start it merely spins the engine over (at a good speed, battery is fairly new) but it will not fire up. The Haynes manual says to check fuses and connections, but no single fuse affects both circuits and the connections all appear sound. I then disconnected the battery for a few seconds and reconected it and everything worked as normal.

 

I am guessing that part of the ecu had shut down and was rebooted by reconnecting the battery but why? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Many thanks,

 

 

Bob H.

[paul.h]

A few times at home (and once in a car park) I have had times when the remote has not locked or unlocked our C3 (2003 1.4i SX) but the key has worked and the car started. Or, if waiting a while, the remote has worked. Using the second remote has not helped. I have put it down to interference from elsewhere such as a mobile phone, phone mast or amateur radio mast (there is one not too far away). I have also read that some remote card reader terminals used in such as restaurants can have the same effect. The same used to happen to a 2005 Xsara Picasso we had and at the same time as the C3.

[Bobster]

Hi,

 

Update - the car had a full diagnostic check at the dealers but no faults were found but they did download a software upgrade foc so we went away with hope. However the fault occurred again so they agreed to check it again foc and discuss it with a factory technician. However, whilst at the dealer, the fault appeared and a check found that the comms unit had shut down (it resides in the steering wheel nacelle and reads the key signal and transponder).

A new unit was ordered and fitted £291 inc VAT and so far since then all has been well, so hopefully it has been sorted.

 

Best wishes, Bob H.