C5 Tourer Economy Mode

[dadkin]

We've had a C5 tourer for 4 years now its an 09 plate Exclusive.

Nice car comfortable relatively economical good looking car.

Very few problems with the exception of a fuse box replacement (under warranty) and a complete blow out of the tyre sensing valve on two occasions on two different wheels( I think) resulting in two scrap tyres at £250 a chuck.

 

The most annoying thing with the car is how quickly it switches to economy mode in order to sustain the battery voltage. This usually happens after about 5 minutes even after a 25 mile run, resulting in the fact that you cannot open the power tailgate.

Quite annoying really, well my dog thinks so, when I cannot let him out for his tea.

The only way to open the tailgate without a significant amount of brute force and ignorance is to re-start the engine in order to boost the voltage, and operate it in powered mode. (My wife is insufficiently  strong to use the brute force method)

We've had the car to the garage, with the diagnosis that the battery was starting to fail.

New battery fitted (£76.00) and everything worked fine for one week and then the problem returned. 

back to the garage and asked for a refund and our old battery back "Sorry sir it's been disposed of" (surprise surprise) was the garages reply

So we are stuck with the problem. I have considered disconnecting the power mechanism for the tailgate and converting it into a DIY open and close, but thats a fuss and maybe some sensors will think that the tailgate is open and ground the car.

So if anyone has experienced, this problem and has a solution, I would appreciate  it if they would share their knowledge with me.

Thanks

dadkin   

  

[Randombloke]

So if anyone has experienced, this problem and has a solution, I would appreciate  it if they would share their knowledge with me.

Thanks

dadkin   

 

I had the same problem but fitted a more expensive battery. If you want we can compare battery ratings.

 

Mine was definitely dying (I use a £5 voltmeter plugged into the cigarette lighter on cars now) and my Citroen indy garage advised me that if it remained problematic they would check to see if new software had been issued, as they had seen a lot of problems with overly aggressive Eco mode to protect the battery on the C4 Picasso.

 

Mine lasts a bit longer than 5 minutes but at about 20 minutes you are in Eco land.

 

The problem is finding someone who will tell you the truth rather than wanting to "look at the car" and charge you.

 

The only other suggestion I would make would be to check that both Earth and the thick Positive strap are 100% free from corrosion and securely tightened, with one car I was losing nearly 0.75 V due to corroded straps. Replacing both solved some problems.

 

Buy a £5 voltage meter to place in the ciggy lighter to be sure that the battery is charging well and is retaining charge.

 

It may be best if the mods moved this post to the C5 section, as some who read that may not look here.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Randombloke

[Parkesie]

Had this with my 08 tourer fix was to fit a new bosch silver battery and clean up the terminals and earth points with a smear of vaseline to stop them corroding again.