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Posted

Hi all. Hoping someone can help me... My c3 2002 1.4dci has starting issues. After about 3 days the battery is completely dead!!! The alternator is New and Does charge at 14.5 vwhen reving. And at idle is at 12+v. Battery is also new., I have noticed that when it struggles to start the headlights flash . Also when inserting the key there is 3 peeps , then there are another set of 3 peeps, "which I then start the engine " then after starting the engine there is a further 3 peeps..

The airbag light is on, but nothing else. I have checked all the fuses , I have a feeling it's immobiliser related. Any advise would be a help. Thank you

Posted

Welcome to the forum.

 

Why did you replace the alternator and battery ?

 

We had a 2003 1.4 petrol and when the battery voltage was low it would do 3 peeps when starting. Somewhere in the handbook it gives a list of the things that this warning can be so there are other possibilites than a low battery which might include the key needing a new battery. Citroens do odd things when the battery is low such as the headlights flashing and wipers moving so you can ignore the lights. The fact the car starts suggests the immobiliser is ok.

 

At idle the battery voltage should still be about 14.5 volts so you could check if the auxiliary belt driving the alternator is in good condition and correctly tensioned so not slipping. Also check the connections on the battery are tight and giving a good connection as well as the earth connections to the body and engine/gearbox. Also check the cables are in good condition. Check the connection at the alternator is ok, fastened and its pins are clean. If there is no improvement at idle then the alternator could be faulty, despite being new - or it may be the wrong one and giving a lower output than the car needs (a member had this on a C5).

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

hi paul...cheers for the response, and sorry for the delay in getting back to you....   i changed the alternator and battery, at the same time, the altenator was not charging the battery...   i today have done a parasitic draw test. and the Meter shows no draw at all.  also the battery shows 12.50 volts, but again struggled to start this morning,...... i have started disconnecting the battery at night, and now it doed start in the mornings, but i would like to find the cause..

 

so this is what i know......

 

battery shows at 14+ volts at idle

battery shows as 12.50 "unstarted"

alternator Does Work as voltage increases when Reving..

battery is New

alternator is New

there is no parasitic Draw..

 

i changed alternator because the old one did not charge the battery...........

 

any help would be helpfull      thanks  neil

Posted

Check the alternator is the correct one and its drive belt is not slipping. It should be a 150 amp one (petrol ones can be as low as 60 amp), if it is less than this it will not have enough output to charge the battery up. The battery should still be 14+ volts at idle.

 

You can get faulty batteries so you could try where it was purchased to see if it can be checked. If it is down on capacity it would quickly be drained when not being charged - this is a good indication of a battery needing replacing. I recently replaced the one on our C5, the voltage would seem ok, it very quickly charged up off the car but only had enough capacity to turn the engine over slowly.

 

To check for parasitic draw you would need to connect an ammeter between the battery positive terminal and the positive lead - you could do this before reconnecting the battery but initially for a few minutes there will be some use as the connection is made and the bsi starts up. Probably about 10 mA would be normal once the bsi stops - much more than this such as 100 mA and you will need to check all the circuits by removing fuses and using the meter across the fuse connections.

 

Does your car have any non standard accessories such as a towbar, car phone charger, sat nav, radio, alarm and are all the lights going off ? Does ecomode come on after a while if something electrical is left on such as the radio/internal light once the engine is stopped ?

  • 4 months later...
Posted (edited)
Hi sorry to hijack your post but im having the same problem not starting in a morning but on a cold morning ie winter time summer months are ok starts first time its really doing my head in Edited by andykeeton
Posted

Our 2003 1.4  petrol did not start as well in winter (slower turnover on the starter motor) when compared to summer. In the end I replaced the battery with a higher capacity one and problem solved although just replacing it may have been enough.

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