C5 Tourer Exclusive Electric Boot Opening And Closing Problem

[grassan]

I have a 2008 Estate. When engine is turned off, sometimes the electric boot doesn't open or close. When I press the button, I do hear 2 beeps, which seems to mean it's in Eco Mode. 

The Battery is less than 1 year old. How do I fix this ? I don't know what to tell the mechanic as there is no wiring problem as it opens and closes well when engine is on. 

Anyone else have this issue ? 

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Despite the battery only being 1 year old it may need charging (result of short trips) or be faulty or maybe its connections need checking. You need to check its voltage, should be about 12.5 volts before starting the engine, below this it needs charging or replacing. It should have a guarantee so if faulty you should be able to take it back.

[grassan]

I see what you are saying. You believe it all has to do with the battery. You are right in that it sits in my driveway all week and I only use it for very short trips. The boot worked fine when I just bought it but that was only for a couple of months. Makes sense that it's with the battery. 

 

Thank you

[Randombloke]

I have a Tourer and it has suffered the same problem.

 

 

Replacing the corroded earth strap (from the battery to the car chassis) reduced the frequency with which the tailgate refused to rise due to Ecomode.

 

The new strap raised voltage measured at the cigarette lighter port from 14.2V to 14.4 to 14.6V at motorway speeds.

 

The strap from Citroen is silly money, it might be worth getting an auto electrician to make you one.

 

Voltage measured with this:

 

[grassan]

Thanks for the advice. Wondering if you can just get a battery that retains power better than other batteries ? 

I will take your advise and look to see what I can do around this. Very frustrating that nothing really is wrong with the car but this is happening. 

[paul.h]

The battery high use is starting the engine, so if it is started a lot but not given chance to recharge by running the engine long enough it eventually goes flat. You could check the battery for a drain caused by other uses or a wiring fault in case there is something wrong but a normal drain will only be a few mA. 

 

Our C5 is only used once or twice a month and it goes flat if left longer than this due to the drain caused by the alarm and also it has the suspension pump and bsi that run each time it is unlocked. It also has a towbar which has a slight drain but to stop this I remove the fuses if it is not going to be used for towing. It was the same on our previous 2004 C5  but other cars we've had did not have this problem.

[grassan]

Thanks very much. What you are saying makes sense. I don't drive it often. All these drains create a scenario that puts the car into Eco and therefore the electric boot doesn't open and close. I may take it to the dealership, pay the £48 diagnostic to make sure it isn't anything else. I can't keep having this issue as it's such a pain to have to start the car and open the boot all the time. Not such a luxury !!!

[paul.h]

To check the battery voltage you just need a volt meter such as this from Toolstation for under £10 http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/d190/Electrical+Test+Equipment/sd3348/Digital+Multi+Meter/p11867 and then if it needs charging do a few long runs or use a battery charger, still a lot cheaper than a diagnostic check.

[MikeLane]

Also batteries don't like cold weather ! (Nor do I!)

[DOGs]

I have a C5 Tourer and I am really very troubled that intermittently the tailgate opens all by itself when the vehicle is stationary. I carry three dogs in the vehicle and this has caused all sorts of problems with one dog being hit by another vehicle when the tailgate opened recently near a very busy road. We have disabled the remote control in case this was the source of the problem but the fault remains. Does anyone have any suggestions please?

Regards

Lynne for

DOGs

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

You should check the wiring betwen the body and the tailgate since it is a common problem for it to break and cause electrical problems. I think it is top left of the tailgate/body and inside a rubber pipe.

[grassan]

I've been having the same problem for ages. Bought a new battery and after about 4-5 months same problem. Try to close it by pressing the button and it gets the 2 beeps and notice it's in Eco mode. Now, I can't even close the boot with the engine running !!!. I'm having to push the boot down pressing fairly hard. This has now gotten impossible. Dread going to the dealership and having to pay a ton for them to tell me, the battery drains if you don't drive it alot and will always go into Eco mode. 

Not sure what to do. I don't think it's really a wiring problem as it works perfectly with a fresh battery. It must be draining the battery due to the hydrolic suspension or something. 

 

Any other thoughts on this one ? 

 

Tks

[paul.h]

I would do some of the checks mentioned above, the battery voltage using a meter, any wiring damage (particularly in the sleeve between the tailgate and body) or earthing problems. If you are only doing short trips then the battery may not be recovering enough between all the starts.

 

Have you got any aftermarket additions to the electrics such as a phone or sat nav or a tow bar ?

 

If the problem is just caused by the short trips, then maybe you need to get a trickle charge for the battery and leave it on charge when the car is not being used. It may be possible to leave some of them on charge without having to disconnect the battery but you would need to check this. If it is due to a voltage leakage then you could check for this by disconnecting the battery and then putting an ammeter between the battery and positive cable and see what reading you get, should only be a few mille amps with nothing switched on and the bsi shut down. Before starting the car though it will need to be reconnected normally since a meter will not take the starting current. If more than this, you will need to start checking across fuses to see where the current is being used.

[grassan]

I don't have anything else that is draining. This must be a problem with the C% Executive Tourer I would think as I never had problems before with short trips as I never used cars during the week. I have checked and when the car isn't in Eco mode and not running, battery is below 12.5. I will check the battery once again but now, even when car is running, I am unable to get the boot to close electronically. I have to really push it down, which I am sure it's causing damage. It opens fine electronically when all is running and not in Eco but doesn't close in any situation. Sorry to bug everyone but just wondering as I'm baffled. 

[paul.h]

Have you checked the battery negative earth strap as Randombloke has suggested ?

 

Other people seem to have the same problem trying to close manually but it not working when the battery needs charging http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/23599-c5-tourer-electric-tailgate-2010/

 

I think I would be tempted to convert the tailgate to a manual opening/closing one, it does not seem worth the bother having an electric one. I could be wrong but you might only need to swap the electric struts for the manual ones, part number 8731R6 and maybe do something with the electrics such as disconnect them.

[grassan]

Hello,

 

Checking the batter negative earth strap. Did check it once and it was OK. 

Also, thanks very much for your suggestion. I'm tired of it all and will convert to manual opening and closing. Really appreciate you giving me the parts numbers. That is very very helpful. 

 

Thank you

Anthony

[paul.h]

I sometimes think it would be good to replace our 2007 C5 with a newer C5 (X7) tourer but since we tow a caravan I prefer the hydractive suspension which only comes on the exclusive models. However, I do not want the electric tailgate and the electric handbrake that it would have since our C5 is not used frequently and the battery voltage is often low. If you can successfully change to a manual tailgate then that is one less reason for not changing the car.

 

If you register on service.citroen you can see the parts diagrams. Register as an other professional non emergency services and as a member of the Citroen Owners Club. http://service.citroen.com/do/changerParametres You might need to select your language first and once on the site use your VIN (VIS) top left to find your car. At the left side click on Characteristics for info on your car. The parts diagrams can be seen free but you can also pay for additional info such as workshop procedures but I have never done this since I have these in the Citroen Service box on dvd (bought through ebay) although it is a bit out of date at 2012.