I have recently aquired a C15 diesel, the later 1868 Peugeot (?) engined version. Tonight, in the monsoons we are having, of course, the battery warning light decided to come on permanently and lots of electrical bits stopped working, like wipers and indicators. I'm not well up on modern car electrical systems and I don't have a handbook or manual for this van. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, I'm leaving that till the morning. What am I likely to find? Could this be as simple as a belt snapping, or am I looking at something more complicated like alternator / regulator (do they have them? ) problems?
All help tonight gratefully appreciated. And while I'm on where are most C15 bits sourced from? Is it the AX model?
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It could be that you lost drive to the alternator, and then the battery was unable to cope with the load hence loss of wipers etc, but it sounds a bit more like you have blown some fuses, or an earth has dropped off somewhere. I's start be checking the battery voltage and connections, the fuses, the engine earth strap, and the +ve feed to the starter.
The C15 is based on the Visa, which was discontinued as a car in about 1987 (no, really!). You might get some parts from GSF or Eurocarparts, but may well have to resort to the dealer for van-specific parts. Most engine parts should be easily obtainable, since the engine was used in a myriad of other cars and vans.
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Thanks for that, I'm off to check it all now in the daylight and will yet you know what I find.
The Visa (doh! of course) ...they must have had a lot of parts left over then to continue making C15's until 2003 was it?
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You have probably already found the problem because the Visa diesel is so simple the problems are usually obvious. It was being built in Spain until this year although it has now disappeared from the UK scene in RHD presumably because EU emission regulations have scuppered the engine. Any electrical bits are likely to be common to some other PSA diesel with very little specific to the C15.
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So far, the alternator belt looks ok. I have cleaned the battery terminals and reconnected the battery. I have found that 1 x 15amp fuse has blown. I don't like the look of the body earth connection and will tidy that up later when I've got the fuse. Fault still present, no instrument lights except glowplug, fuel gauge doesn't work, neither do wipers or indicators. Start engine and battery warning light comes on.
Next silly question:- is there another fuse box other than the one in the passenger "shelf" area? Or is that the one fuse box where each fuse does several things, since it's a cheap, basic van and Citroen wouldn't want to spend money on things like fuses if they could avoid it.
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Sorted - sort of !
Replaced the blown 15amp fuse and everything was back to normal - for 1 second. Then the 15amp fuse blew. I have put in a 30amp (cos it's the only other one I've got bigger than 15amp) for the moment and it seemed to behave itself. I will take it out for a short run in a while. Question now is what should the fuses be? Could someone kindly look up in a manual or handbook and give me a list of what there 'should' be in the fuse box. Also, I will try to check what is on that fused circuit to make sure nothing is misbehaving and drawing more current than it should.
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Err, if its blown two fuses then by definition something is drawing more current than it should.
You've put a 30 amp one in ? Have a quick look out the window and see if its on fire yet.
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Err, if its blown two fuses then by definition something is drawing more current than it should. You've put a 30 amp one in ? Have a quick look out the window and see if its on fire yet.
I did say that too, and I am going to look into the possibilities, one of which is the heater fan which doesn't appear to do anything. Secondly, also as I said, just because there was a 15amp in there doesn't mean that 15amp is correct. Someone could have put that in as it was the only thing they had to hand at the time. Especially as it was being sold and it would have put punters off if the indicators or wipers didn't work, wouldn't it? (At least I haven't bypassed it with a paperclip or something! ) There was a lot of stuff on that fuse that was switched on last night when it happend. I'm thinking I might see if I can have a look in another C15 and get a picture of the fuses.
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I'm more familiar with petrol Visas in which case I would have been checking the bulkhead inside the engine compartment for further fuses/electrical connections since you mentioned a downpour originally.
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Back again and no it's not behaving itself. The fuse is blowing in minutes of the ignition circuit being on. The fuses are in a row of 12 in the passenger side, the fuse causing the problem is 6th from the left. Question is what goes through that fuse? So far it affects the petrol gauge (so could be the sender), brake lights, indicators and wiper. Where is the heater blower fan connected to, as I can't see any wiring going into the heater assembly? Anyone got a manual to look up what the fuse should be rated at and what it does?
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Looks like it is the heater fan. I've taken the 3 position switch off to stop accidental use of the switch, but the fan doesn't do anything apart from draw current. So far it is behaving itself now. And I've put back a 15amp fuse (whoever it was who mentioned it). The probem now is, where is the fan? I assume it's in the heater box/assembly in the centre of the bulkhead but do I have to take everything out to get to it?
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I've not looked at a van, but on the Visa it's up under the dash at the RH side - should be easy enough to get out. Sounds like the fan has sezied and is drawing a load of current.
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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I've not looked at a van, but on the Visa it's up under the dash at the RH side - should be easy enough to get out. Sounds like the fan has sezied and is drawing a load of current. -- RichardW Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
I agree with the second part, that would explain what is happening. As to the first part i.e. under the dash at the RH side, that puts it behind the instrument cluster and to one side of all the heater components. I'll have a look tomorrow in the daylight. Thanks.
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