jennybash Posted November 30, 2004 Posted November 30, 2004 Over the past 3 weekends I've had to call out the Rac twice under Citroen assist as my car has been sat with the hazards on for about 2 hours and wouldn't start when I returned. All power is lost. The first weekend my car was towed to the garage on the monday morning, got the car back on the Friday. They 'had done something to the battery' they didn't tell me what though. The next weekend was fine, but then this weekend the car was very strange. The alarm sounded very regularly for no reason. When I came to leave the house I was visiting the buttons on the key fob wouldn't work. I had to therefore open the car using the key. My husband got in the passenger side and tried to open the driver's door from the inside. It wouldn't open so he tried to get out himself. The door wouldn't open!! It would only open when I unlocked it with the key from the outside. The Rac came and spent 30 mins trying to start the car without success so they disconnected the battery to stop the alarm from sounding and called a flat back to tow our car away. When the flat back arrived my husband and I went into the house until he was ready to take us home. After 30 minutes we were worried and went outside to see what was going on. The man was locked inside our car and had been for 20 minutes. This guy was the guy who had been out to us the previous weekend and a year ago when we had our first pluriel (which has since been replaced)..... Has anyone else had a similar problem?? Can anyone try putting their hazards on for a reasonable length of time to see how it affects their car? Only do this though if you don't need to be anywhere or if your warranty is still valid. It would be interesting to see what affect it has on anyone elses pluriel. I only wish there was a way I could see the service manager of my dealers locked in.... Jenny Quote
hertsnminds Posted November 30, 2004 Posted November 30, 2004 I seem to recall someone on this forum mentioning a battery upgrade being fitted (one with a higher rating was put in). I know my Pluriel battery warning light comes on after one cycle of opening and closing the roof and windows fully (so I always keep the engine running when doing this). I also recall that at the meeting we had, after playing plip alarm tag the battery warning light came on. I would say after about 10-20 mins of alarm activity your battery will be nearly flat. I also noticed the the central locking logic on my car got confused when I used the key instead of the plip. I had to do this when the plip seemed to stop working (happned about 3 times). But after cycling through unlocking and locking with the plip a couple of times the system was back to normal. The being locked in expert was Les who now no longer has his Pluriel, but ITV Westcountry news do have some footage of him being locked in the car. For about £35 you can buy a battery booster and jump leads from Halfords, if you keep these in the car you should always be able to start it (I know you shouldn't have to carry one around but at least you won't have to wait for the RAC). Ian Orange 03 Senso Quote
dobbin Posted November 30, 2004 Posted November 30, 2004 [quote name='jennybash' date='Nov 30 2004, 01:29 PM'] Can anyone try putting their hazards on for a reasonable length of time to see how it affects their car? Only do this though if you don't need to be anywhere or if your warranty is still valid. It would be interesting to see what affect it has on anyone elses pluriel. [/quote] I'm usually happy help anyone Jenny, but I'm afraid these Citroens seem to be so unreliable that I really don't want to tempt fate by trying to replicate your fault. I hope that this turns out to be a one off and that this does not happen to you again. Quote
lesw Posted November 30, 2004 Posted November 30, 2004 I am indeed the expert on being locked inside your car !!! You could (almost) always open the window and open it from outside as I ably demonstrated on Westcountry News.................(top item!!! pace of life is slower in the westcountry) It did speed up Citroen and they fitted new software a few weeks later which cured it; not as far as I know a recall, only if you complain. That was back in July so probably standard by now; affects C3s and C5s with the alarm. When I started one cold morning the clock reset so they fitted a bigger battery. They never fixed the alarm going off randomly. We now have a 206cc, the cheapest 1.6 Allure, no fancy gizmos but it comes with pearlescent paint, white leather seats and alloy wheels AND the roof goes up and down, something I was never able to do with the Pluriel. Had to put £1000 to the money we had back on our Pluriel 1.6 senso with air-con. Yes, we did look at the Tigra Twin-top but my wife cosidered it ugly and we have squeezed 4 adults into the 206cc!!!! (not recommended) This is our first Peugeot; we've had different Citroens over the last 20 years or so.......and one month on no problems........ Quote
hertsnminds Posted December 1, 2004 Posted December 1, 2004 Glad to hear the Pug is working well Les :) Ian Orange 03 Senso Quote
jennybash Posted December 8, 2004 Author Posted December 8, 2004 Another time with the RAC, this time I collected my car on Saturday lunchtime and at 11pm that night the RAC was recovering it again. I think this is now 4 times in 6 weeks, I'm going for the record!!! They keep replacing the battery but it isn't seeming to work. One of the reasons they say the battery is draining is due to local frequencies (higher if near airports etc...), however Clayton is a little village and about 20 miles from the nearest airport!!! :) Quote
hertsnminds Posted December 8, 2004 Posted December 8, 2004 errrr....I have seen nothing in my owners manual saying "Do not park or use your Pluriel near an airport". Does this mean you can never leave you Pluriel at the airport when you go off on holiday? So you go into a Citroen dealer ask to purchase a Pluriel and the dealer has to find out if you live near an airport to know if they should sell it to you. :) That has to be one for the..."They all do that" file <_< The usual reason for a battery to not hold it's charge is that it is not being charged in the 1st place, faulty altenator, or something is draining it. Either a short circuit or faulty eletrical item, alarm system, radio left on. The only other reason would be the chemicals in the battery are exhausted but that usually happens after about 3-5 years of use. Ian Orange 03 Senso Quote
lesw Posted December 8, 2004 Posted December 8, 2004 Jenny, The recovery driver locked in the vehicle is a gift for the newspaper, they will bite your hands off for it. All documented with witnesses.......wow! Quote
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