More problems

[DevilDamo]

I think it's safe to say I've never had as many problems in any of the other five Saxo's I've owned as I have with the VTS.

As some of you know, I already have these problems...

Power steering, heater fan and rear demister (http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62901)

Driving to work this morning, the following happened...

ABS light

This came on and stayed on.

Airbag light

This came on, went off, came on and stayed on.

Petrol light

This came on even though I've a quarter of a tank of fuel. The needle then dropped to 0 (i.e. empty) and stayed there.

Speedo/RPM counter/needles

These suddenly dropped to 0. They then came back and when I sat in traffic, the speedo stopped at 40mph and the RPM counter stopped at 3,000rpm. They then went down to 0 and came back as soon as I touched the accelerator.

Radio/CD player

It was on when I started driving, then went off, then came back on, then went off and stayed off.

Digital display (i.e. clock, total mileage, etc...)

It was there one minute, then gone the next. It also kept on flashing.

At certain points of the journey, the car wasn't pulling at all. It was as if something was acting against the car. Now... my battery light flickers and has been on for a while now. I haven't long had a new alternator and the belt was also changed. The battery terminals were checked and appeared to be charged correctly by the alternator. So... has the battery now gone or on its way out completely? I'm going to see my mate at Citroen tomorrow for him to sort the power steering, heater fan and rear demister problem. I'm also going to get him to plug his (Citroen's) diagnostic machine into the car to see what the hell the problem is/are.

So... any other suggestions?

[She_Racer]

aawwww- you are having a tough time arnt you!

following our converation before the demister and heater fans problem i had with my saxo and it was a problem with the ignition barrel!!

[Viper]

bloody hell. that sounds like one hell of a journey!!

i would have thought it would be the battery playing up..

either that, or you were hit by a series of EMP waves!

good luck getting it sorted out

[Danr]

Seems to be pretty fooked damo lad, sound like it won't be to cheap a fix either if they have to do alot of work!

[DevilDamo]

I'm just hoping my mate at Citroen will know what the cause(s) are when I go there tomorrow. If not, maybe the diagnostics check will pick up something.

[sy_VTR]

it sounds daft but maybe change the fuse for the dials! you never know! start with something simple and then try everything else, just a thought!

[saxoash]

I had this problem in my old car, think you need a new ignition barrel housing,my ignition barrel housing broke (think someone tryed braking into it before i had it) so now and again my car would do what your car is doing (losing all power), im guessign because the ignition curcuit was breaking.

Dont think you need a new ignition barrel just the housing i think but its defo that, that is the problem

[hesslevtr]

have you checked all main earths

[Mystic]

Party on Damos Dash!

Sounds like an electrical fault to me mate, Try swapping the battery, check thew earths, might be a wire somewhere shorting out and playing havoc!

Good Luck!

[Luke]

Sounds like a problem with your ECU mate, especially with all those problems.

Has a water got in the unit itself? Has the unit been taken off at anytime?

[Mark51]

not sounding good, get your mate to put it on the Diagnostic Machine and see what it shouts at you. then take it from there. as said before could be your ECU but then again it could be just a number of things that are not related that have coincidently gone wrong all at the same time, good luck anyway.

i thought you were getting a new car though?

[DevilDamo]

Update...

I left work at 5:15pm. Got in my car, turned the key and nothing. No noise... nothing! So I called the AA and they put the fault (and all other problems as mentioned before) down to a faulty alternator as the battery was receiving no charge whatsoever.

So... he charged up the battery as much as he could knowing that as soon as I turn on the lights, etc... it will drain. He decided he follow me home just incase I were to break down. I got home two hours later and after three breakdowns. Thank god he did follow me home.

So... I've spoken to my mate who supplied the alternator (as he works for a parts company) and mine is still under warranty (luckily) so he's going to get another one in and I've then got to try and figure out a way of getting it delivered to me and then my one to him.

The car will now be staying at home until furhter notice :(

The AA bloke said that issues I was having with the power steering, heater fans and rear demisters could all be down to the battery not being charged and thus not having enough power to do anything. I'm going to have a new alternator fitted and then see if those three problems have sorted themselves out. If not, then I'll be doing that wiring-bypassing thing within the steering column.

[Luke]

Bloody hell Damo, sounds a bit more of a bigger problem than you'd except.

I remember that alternator light has been on since the Yorkshire weekend in November, hopefully all this will solve the problem. I presume your probably loosing faith in the VTS aswell now..

[Barry123]

Update...

I left work at 5:15pm. Got in my car, turned the key and nothing. No noise... nothing! So I called the AA and they put the fault (and all other problems as mentioned before) down to a faulty alternator as the battery was receiving no charge whatsoever.

So... he charged up the battery as much as he could knowing that as soon as I turn on the lights, etc... it will drain. He decided he follow me home just incase I were to break down. I got home two hours later and after three breakdowns. Thank god he did follow me home.

So... I've spoken to my mate who supplied the alternator (as he works for a parts company) and mine is still under warranty (luckily) so he's going to get another one in and I've then got to try and figure out a way of getting it delivered to me and then my one to him.

The car will now be staying at home until furhter notice :(

The AA bloke said that issues I was having with the power steering, heater fans and rear demisters could all be down to the battery not being charged and thus not having enough power to do anything. I'm going to have a new alternator fitted and then see if those three problems have sorted themselves out. If not, then I'll be doing that wiring-bypassing thing within the steering column.

I remember saying on the way up to Yorkshire 'You alternator is dodgy'... see I'm not just a sexually simulating device for women :cool:

Fingers crossed it sorted the problems out man :y:

[DevilDamo]

Haha! But... the alternator has ALWAYS been dodgy. This time I knew it was fcuked ;)

[DevilDamo]

Update...

Alternator was fitted this morning and I've been told that car is working fine :panic:

[Global_discovery]

Thats all good news then, hope its works fine from now on. :y:

[Mystic]

Glad to hear it mate, put the old alternator behind a wheel then go for a test run ;)

[DevilDamo]

Haha! I've got to give the old one back to the parts place as they're more than likely going to have it refurbished.

[Mystic]

Haha! I've got to give the old one back to the parts place as they're more than likely going to have it refurbished.

Awh, no justice in the world, ring them and tell them your sorry but you carelessley left it in the driveway :oops:

[liamk15]

if i was you id change the battery aswel just for the sake of it.

are all the problems fixed now then?

[DevilDamo]

I wont know until I get home which will be around 6:30pm. I "hope" the new alternator has NOW cured the flashing battery light issue as well as the recent loss of power steering, heater fans and rear demister. If not, then I'll get my mate to do that re-wiring thing within the steering column.

[kerrie603314]

let us all know how the new alternator goes!!

[Davekelz]

Glad to hear it's all working fine now mate.

[argylefan1985]

I wont know until I get home which will be around 6:30pm. I "hope" the new alternator has NOW cured the flashing battery light issue as well as the recent loss of power steering, heater fans and rear demister. If not, then I'll get my mate to do that re-wiring thing within the steering column.

do it yourself you lazy bastard lol

[DevilDamo]

Well... got home and all is ok :) No more warning lights and the car is running fine. I will have the battery tested tomorrow just to make sure that's ok. I took if for a spin as soon as I got home (trying to get the battery light to come on) but it was having none of it :)

[Luke]

Least it's all sorted now.

[liamk15]

good shit:y: its always good when you know something is fixed.Then just wait for the next problem :)

[DevilDamo]

Update...

A new alternator was fitted. The battery light went off for a couple of days but then came back on. Again I thought it was just "one of those things". Anyway, it started to come on a lot more and I was getting very fed up with it so I called Citroen and had it booked in.

Anyway... one night (before I took it in), I dis-connected the alternator, left it for ten minutes and then re-connected it and made sure it made a complete connection. The next morning, I turned the car on and all was fine. I was like :panic:

But... I spoke too soon. Just before I got to work, it came back on again. I thought FFS!!!

Ok... I took the car to Citroen this morning as I needed the problem sorted. They called me after an hour and said they had spent about an hour on it and cleaned the terminals, etc... but the problem was still there. Did I want them to carry on (i.e. having to pay more money). Because they were my last resort, I told them to go ahead because they did say they're going to have to get the wiring books out, etc... I was like nooo :(

So I got a call at 5pm and they said it's all done. I was like :panic: They told me what the problem was over the phone and it turned out to be the two wires that connect to the alternator had burnt out AND the connector wasn't making a good contact with the alternator. The engineers' report it as follows...

Checked charge rate and volt drops, minimal volt drops, checked and cleaned earthing points and cables but problem still persistant. Tested both wires from alternator with break out box, found wires burnt and two pin plug on top of alternator not making a good contact.

Replaced plug and wires.

Re-tested and road tested vehicle - All ok.

Cost me £131.01 in total including VAT :n:

[mark16v]

Hopefully that is the end of your electrical gremlins Damo ;)

[stevossaxo]

at least all is well now buddy!