Peugeot 306 (1993 - 2001) - 95 2.0 XSI died and I'm too stupid to make it go

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Sat 24 Oct 2009 03:10
95 2.0 XSI died and I'm too stupid to make it go - xswhy?
I have a 95 8v XSI which makes Stephen King's "Christine" look positively mild-mannered....

It's latest trick nearly resulted in me leaving it where it came to rest;

It cut out in traffic & would not turn-over.

All the lights on the dash flickered and there was a very fast "ticking" or "pulsing" sound... I didn't run away thinking this was a bomb as this happened once before and it cost me a £65 call out from the garage to be told "I just tried the key in your door mate". I tried this about 50 times along with wrestling with the neg terminal on the battery to no avail.

anyway Let me explain the foibles on my dearly beloved:

The central locking doesn't work- It pops straight up from the passenger and doesn't come on at all from the drivers side.

Some (I won't bother swearing if it gets edited) cut the cable to the alarm just below the key that is just behind the radiator on the left (peugeot- if you are sat ontop of your battery) or right (haynes- if you are leaning into your bonnet considering taking a sledgehammer to the engine).

Unfortunately all this cut has achieved is making it impossible to use the key that is in my top glove box to reset the alarm. I tried restting the alarm via the ignition and the cute little button just above it within ten seconds a time or twelve too....

The battery isn't the recommended battery; I seem to recall it mentioned something about diesels on the wrapper..........

The pulsing noise actually originates from around the ECU.

when it died on me half the time I couldn't get a response from the immobiliser keypad- when I could, it made no difference.

I noticed that turning the key to "I" only brought on what I have learnt from reading other threads, is the alternator light ( & not the battery light!)

Ok, so here is my list of stupid questions-

Does that light I just mentioned always come on at posistion "I" (as opposed to "II" which is ignition on or "III" which used to be brmmmmm)

can I just reconnect the collection of white wires that were cut, or are they (erm.....) pole sensitive? (like some pos some neg??)

Is my ECU pink fluffy dice?

will spending a paltry sixty quid on a new battery solve my non-turnover woes?

Do I need to be poping down to messrs Ee & bay for an alternator?

I sthere anything simple that can be done about the central locking? (seems from reading on here it may be something gone awry in the doors?)
Is it clear from this post I know chuff-all about cars?

& lastly, what have I got to do to make my Pug go again!?

Please help as it is a lovely red-colour and the radio tunes itself into non-exsitent mid-western rock n roll stations .......

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 24/10/2009 at 15:35

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Sat 24 Oct 2009 10:29
95 2.0 XSI died and I'm too stupid to make it go - DP
These are lovely cars. When they work :-)

The ignition light on Position I is normal. It should also come on (with all the other lights) in Position II

The rapid clicking of relays is a classic Peugeot "flat battery" thing. Simple test - get someone to give you a jump start and see if that makes any difference. If it does, you need to get the alternator tested. A crude test is to stick a voltmeter on the battery terminals with the engine running. You should have something like 13.5-14.5 volts at the battery terminals (against the battery's normal voltage of around 12v with the engine off.

The central locking issues are almost certainly down to the wiring where it goes from the A pillar into the door. This is an appalling piece of design. Tracking the fault down will involve a multimeter and methodical testing of connections between switches and components. Not difficult, but time consuming and can be frustrating.

ECUs rarely fail. If it's not a flat battery / alternator issue, it could be something to do with the immobiliser system especially if wiring has been butchered, but I've had enough Pugs with the fast relay clicking to know the battery and charging system is the best place to start. Also check there's no crud on the battery terminals and that they are tight.

Don't replace the alternator until you get the car running and can perform the basic test above.

Edited by DP on 24/10/2009 at 10:32

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Sat 24 Oct 2009 20:06
95 2.0 XSI died and I'm too stupid to make it go - Mondaywoe
I don't know if this is any help whatsoever but you never know!

My mum's 1994 Renault Clio has had starting problems for some time - all the symptoms of a flat battery. We replaced the battery and all seemed fine until again, mysteriously the battery went flat. Checked things like alternator charge, boot lights etc but the thing was still determined to flatten it's battery at the drop of a hat.

Then one day, my sister borrowed the car and when she got to her house she phoned to say she couldn't get the boot to lock. Now the battery on the keyfob had been kaput for ages but because the car spent most of its time in my mum's garage it was seldom locked. Because my sister had to leave it on the street all night she said she'd pop out and get a battery for the keyfob.

From that day on the car has never failed to start and the battery keeps its charge perfectly.

My theory is that one of the solonoids on the central locking had jammed half on resulting in a firece current drain. Now I don't even know if this is technically possible but it seems as good an explanation as any.

So try and get your central locking working and see if that helps.

Graeme
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Sun 25 Oct 2009 00:11
95 2.0 XSI died and I'm too stupid to make it go - xswhy?
from digging about on the internet I found that the door wire loom is notoriously bad and it doesn't help that the door return is missing on my drivers side.... it's all starting to add-up in a scooby doo way. I have been trying all the Grannies own recipe cures I could find; pressing various buttons and watching my old man(my father, not my winky) go up in a shower of sparks as he re-connected the neg whilst I was turning the ignition. On the bright side, I know that removing the HS fuse does nothing, ditto fuses 14 and 15 and the random 20amp next to 15. And, I can now remove my seats with ease (as well as tell you that unplugging the two connecting clusters underneath the seat does nothing to affect the alarm (silent but persistent in my case) or the immobiliser.

So I guess it's time to get a new door loom and get round to fitting that door return I got off the scrappy the other week; I'm too stupid to figure voltages and repair wires and I'm guessing a volt-meter won't cost me too much less than the £40-£60 I expect to end up coughing up for the door wiring loom.

If I do get it going I'm sure nice uncle john will jump out from behind my door trim muttering something about getting away with it too if it wasn't for you pesky meddling kids......
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