I recently bought a used 2002 Citroen Xsara 2.0 Exclusive (petrol) which had a single electrical issue; the rear wiper did not stop in the "park" position but rather timed out in a random position. Research suggested that a wire could be broken and it should be a simple fix. I have found the broken wire but haven't gotten to fix it yet.
Lat week I changed the timing belt. I disconnected the battery and did the job (including oil change etc.) Guess it took 5 or 6 hours before reconnecting the battery.
However, problems began! The remote was not able to lock / unlock the doors but central locking still worked using the key. The engine would turn over but the engine immobilizer prevented it from firing (Engine immobiliser fault
shown in console.) The car was towed to an authorized garage to reset the immobilizer.
Yesterday the garage called that the immobilizer was now reset and the car was once again able to move under its own steam. They informed me that the console read Eco mode active
but the hadn't investigated further. It was arranged that I should pick up the car and arrange time for further investigation.
When picking up the car the following took place:
- Central locking didn't work (neither via remote nor by key)
- The car started and the display read
Eco mode active
- Nothing worked: No lights, no wipers, no indicators
- I drove ~30 metres then all gauges and lamps in the dash died (RPM, speedo, etc.) except for the "battery discharge" indicator
Needless to say I left the car at the garage and are now waiting for news. But I'm wondering if anyone has knowledge of similar scenarios? Did I cause all this by simply disconnecting the battery?
Keep in mind that all work done on the engine was external: timing belt, water pump, coolant, oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, generator belt, etc. (Oh well, I did disconnect a fuel line but it had nothing to do with electrical connections.)