Citroen Xsara - Odd electrical issue on a Citroen Xsara

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Thu 14 Apr 2011 11:28
Citroen Xsara - Odd electrical issue on a Citroen Xsara - mrbored

Hi Guys,

I have a Citroen Xsara (2000 model), recently on a couple of occasions the car felt like it was miss firing. This happened a couple of times, then driving to work one morning the engine management light came on, the rev counter dropped to zero as did the speedo and the indicator lights stopped working. I drove straight to the garage I normally use and let the car with them. All he could spot was a loose connection to the battery which he tightened and all was well. This was 3 weeks ago and not another occorance of the proble until last night when it happened again. Leaving the car for 10 minutes and trying again the warning lights came on within a matter of minutes. After leaving the car for a couple of hours and trying it, the car was completely fine and again this morning no problem at all.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Apr 2011 15:13
Citroen Xsara - Odd electrical issue on a Citroen Xsara - unthrottled
Does the problem occur when the weather is damp? I had a similar problem and it turned out to be ingress of water into the main wiring loom for the ECU. This was unfortunate because galvanic corrosion completely ate away the male connection pin making repair awkward.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Apr 2011 15:37
Citroen Xsara - Odd electrical issue on a Citroen Xsara - mrbored
Thanks unthrottled,

That was my initial thought, but it has only happened a couple of times and I was unsure of the weather conditions the first time. Do you know where the water was coming into your ECU from ? Should I be looking for something in particular.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Apr 2011 16:00
Citroen Xsara - Odd electrical issue on a Citroen Xsara - unthrottled

The water didn't actually get INTO the ECU itself-that is completely impermeable! My ECU is mounted on the inner wing and I presume water was thrown up from the road and settled into the wiring connection and startd gnawing away at the pins :( The power supply pin to the ECU was the only one that corroded completely-presumably because it was the only one with a constant voltage across it-so galvanic corrosion was fastest.

NB: the ECU casing was not damp to touch. The first sign of water was when the connection was opened.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Apr 2011 16:03
Citroen Xsara - Odd electrical issue on a Citroen Xsara - mrbored

Thanks for that unthrottled.

I will get the mechanic I use to check it out.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide