Manual Aircon, Recirculator, Heated Rear Window

[Guest Talmos]

Hi,

 

I bought a 2002 C3 1.4HDi 8v three weeks ago, in good condition but bought cheaply as it has a high mileage and some known faults (which I thought I could solve!).

 

Although I can touch anything on my Rover which I've had for 13 years, I'm also pretty familiar with Citroens as there have been many owned throughout the family over the years (my sister still has her 1.4 petrol C3 she bought 4 years ago and I've fixed a few things on that) but I'm struggling with a problem with some heating/demister control trouble on my own C3. I have the Haynes manual for reference but thought someone out there may know the answer.

 

My C3 has the rotary controls for the heating/ventilation which are all working fine on their own (direction/speed/heat) and manual air conditioning. In changing the radio I had the control unit out to change the illumination bulbs and see what was behind the electrical switches - nothing except the wiring loom connected!

 

Basically all the three switches for the recirculation/air con/rear demister do not work - no lights and no sign of any air con starting up or rear window demisting when either of the buttons are pressed. I'm wondering what I should be looking at to get these to work, do they have common fuses or relays? Mentioning relays, I know where the location of the fuses is both under the dash and bonnet but do not see any relays at all. I have even had a good look at the C3's I have managed to find in the scrapyards and have not located any relays - where are they?

 

I hoping someone can help and direct me to what I should be looking at.

 

Many Thanks

 

Peter

[paul.h]

The air con may not be working since the outside temperature is too low, not sure of value but possibly if below 6°C. Also needs the cabin blower running. Also if the refrigerant amount/pressure is low (leaked out) then it will also not work.

 

The fuses are listed in the car handbook (our C3 is petrol so may be different nos. and recirc is done by a sliding knob, not a switch). Haynes also mentions the relays in the electrical section 12.3 as being in the engine fuse box and some as part of the BSI. Haynes includes wiring diagrams that may apply but check any fuse locations/value with your handbook.

 

The recirc sliding knob moves a lever that moves a section of the air duct above the driver's pedals - in your case the switch will run a motor that moves this section of the ducting. Have a look, it may be the duct has jammed (ours sometimes sticks when hot) or the motor may need replacing.

 

The heated rear window may be fuse 10 (40 amp) located in the dash fuse box. It gets a signal (timer ?) from the BSI.

 

Did any of these things work before you changed the radio ? Are there any other problems which may indicate something wrong with the BSI.

[Guest Talmos]

I haven't had a chance to check out the wiring diagrams, etc but will check all this out. Not sure what is meant by BSI? I don't have any other issues with the car's electrics and these things did not work when I purchased the car.

I suspect the previous owner had the radio out as the Cd player is faulty. I have changed the radio for a Sony and used the necessary wiring parts to still use the stalk controls. As I mentioned i used this opportunity to check out all the connections behind the heater controls and change the nightime illumination bulbs and found no problems (there's not actually alot behind there other than cables for the heater controls and wiring loom.

 

It's just not been very good weather (it's not been dry up here since I bought the car!) to start crawling under the dashboard to look at everything so it may be sometime before I do.

 

I very much appreciate your hekp and guidance to what to look for.

 

Many Thanks

[paul.h]

On our C3 (2003, 1.4 petrol sx) there are no covers under the dash at the driver's side (where the air inlet ducting is located) so a quick look can be achieved with a mirror and torch.

 

The BSI (Boitier de Servitude Intelligent) is a Citroen thing but is the computer for the car that controls many of the electrical things as opposed to simple plug in relays and wires. Haynes calls it the Built-in system interface. Within it are some protection fuses and relays but I do not know if they are diy repairable.

[paul.h]

I tried the air con switch on our car today and even though it did not run (cabin fan off and below freezing temps) the switch LED lit, just the same as the rear window heater which was working. Something common worth you checking first are the earth points E15 (as Haynes) for the heater switch panel located to the right of the handbrake lever and E5 for the air con control panel bottom of left hand A pillar.

[Guest Talmos]

Thanks for your suggestions, I had not thought of the simple earth problem.

 

I took the engine fusebox apart yesterday to change the main bottom casing as the clip for securing the fusebox cover was broken off and I gave everything a good look. The engine fusebox looks like being the BSI (or part of the system) as it's mainly a circuit board with relays, capacitor, fuseholders all soldered in, don't like this, prefer relays that can be replaced:-( .

 

Anyway, all looks fine and in good order, wires under the engine and dashboard ar all intact and still no life in these switches. I have an issue with the spare key not working since I bought the car so I've talked to the Citroen garage I bought the car from and they've agreed to look at these two problems as they were there when I bought the car (I thought they'd be an easy fix!).

 

If they tell me what the problem was I'll report back (including the spare remote not working the doors or starting the car, even though I tried everything to try to reset it).

 

Peter

[Guest Justin1]

Hi, did you get a solution to your fault. I have exactly the same fault on my 2003 1.4 hdi. I dont think this is an uncommon problem with these heater panels with these 3 burtons.

Ive been a vehicle technician for many years and carried out electrical checks and am 90 percent certain its a faulty control panel.

Can you confirm this???

Kind regards

Justin

[Guest Talmos]

Hi,

 

Firstly, I apologise for forgetting to post the solution.

 

My local Citroen garage had the car just before Christmas and plugged it into their machine to get a diagnosis. The control panel was diagnosed as being faulty and in the investigative process they took it out and put it back in reporting nothing obvious with appearance or connections, with the discussion being that the panel would need to be replaced. We agreed this course of action with them picking up the bulk of the cost as it hadn't worked from when I bought it, but there was a twist when I finally left the garage to drive away.

 

When I got into the car and started it up I 'played' with the buttons and all were working, recirculation motor, lights and heated element! As it was past closing time i ran into the garage to tell them that the panel was mysteriously working fully, and I told them that before they order the part I would see how the panel behaved (to save my cost mostly!). I have reported to them recently that I have had no misfunction of this panel since, so presume that the tinkering and connection to the fault reader machine has somehow solved it. I'm happy, but still puzzled why the machine diagnosed the panel as faulty, I'm guessing that the dismantling of it after that somehow fixed something that was loose.

 

The issue with the non-working spare key was also fixed by the garage free of charge. The keyfob (and internal transponder) were recoded to the car. The explanantion being that due to the 'newness' of this key it had probaby lost it's memory from non use over a number of years. It was a one owner car from new in June 2002 until September 2010 and it looks like only one key was ever used (I've replaced the case on the other key as it was very worn). Tip, is to use the spare key frequently to keep it's memory!

 

Kind Regards

 

Peter