R 10 electric mystery

[Bill 65]

I have had an R10 with piloted auto transmission since June this year. It is parked on the drive and I always make sure that doors and windows are shut when leaving it. However, I have had four occasions when I have come out in the morning to find both front windows open and, sometimes, the vehicle itself is unlocked. Often it happens when it has rained but not always. I can uderstand the vehicle being unlocked if, with the electronic key in my pocket, on of the buttons has been pressed by something in mye pocket. What I can't figure out is why the windows operate and open fully when the ignition is off. Has this problem occurred on other R10's or is there some fault with the electronics or the key? Any help would be appreciated.

This has never happened to date when away from home.

With thanks in advance

Bill

[glenw]

Hi Bill,

I'm no expert, I've not got a citroen but I did own a car that had a function where, if you pressed and held the door open button on the key fob, it automatically wound down the electric windows - its a function built in for hot countries I'm told, so they can let the hot air out of the car before getting in!!

Maybe thats worth trying?? Other than that, I give in!!!

[Bluebell]

This is not really an 'Ask Ant' for me as I have already spoken to him about it but on the same theme my Dimension's nearside window occasionally comes down as I am driving along. It is then hit and miss as to whether it will close again. The problem is intermittent and I recently drove 500 miles without a problem. It went to a Citroen garage where they said they couldn't find anything wrong but they weren't really interested because it wasn't a fault that anyone else had reported. The very next day it came down again. If it weren't for the fact that it won't close immediately I could live with it. Would be interested to hear if anyone else has this problem so that I can tell Citroen! It is now booked into another garage where they seem more caring so maybe I won't be driving along one day in a thunderstorm with rain pouring on to the passenger seat.

[ant]

Hi Bill.
I've had a similar problem with a Berlingo, where the windows opened the lights came on on dipped beam and the van unlocked! The culprit was the BSI unit ( a control unit that most of the dash board functions pass through), it failed because the windscreen leaked and the unit got wet. On removing the BSI I found it was full of water and all the printed board connections where corroded. That particular vehicle had gone too far and I had to replace the BSI and reprogram a new one, in your case you may catch it and dry out the unit in time. If you do get there in time put a bag over it while you investigate the windscreen leak. As the van is June this year registered get your supplying dealer to sort it, I expect your not the first with the problem.
Ant

[Bill 65]

Ant

Thanks for that. I will get the dealer to sort it out - hoping that they accept that there is a problem!!!

Regards

Bill

[Tentpeg]

Ant you are just so brilliant! You seem to have a map of a romahome hard wired in your brain.

[Bill 65]

Ant

For information. I took the R10 to the local Citroen dealer who could find no fault with the BSI unit. Two weeks later the fault recurred -, back to the dealer again. This time they updated all the software and subjected the vehicle to an hour's water test simulating rain. They could not reporoduce the fault.

On returning the vehicle they demonstrated that by pressing and holding the "open" button on the electronic key the doors would unlock and the windows would open fully. The reverse would happen when the "close" button was pressed and held. They suggested that I did not use the electronic key for a few weeks to see whether the problem repeated itself. So far - some six weeks - there has been no recurrence of the problem and the key has been "locked away"!.

It would seem that the electronic key is the culprit and that pressure on the controls when carried in a pocket could trigger the door and window operation. I have noticed that the operation of the buttons on the key is very light and not very positive in feel - something which Citroen might address in future perhaps.

With thanks again.

Bill

[peterholden]

We have had a similar problem with our Outlook that is coming up to 4 years old. Occasionally I will go to it and it is unlocked when I know that I have locked it. The Citroen agent looked for it several times but could find no cause.

[peterholden]

Just for information I found details through the Car Mechanics magazine of a company who can resurrect faulty BSI units at something like £130. They seem to know all about the dreaded Citroen water problem and they say that because they recondition your unit you do not have to pay Citroen to have it configured to your vehicle.

Citroen electrics are very complex and seem a bit wierd. We also have a 10 year old Berlingo car and 2 years ago the instrument panel gave up the ghost. After much investigating I had to buy a new instrument cluster at £360. When things went wrong one of the side effects was that the mileometer went to 600000miles and the trip refused to work. Fitting the new cluster has not rectified this as apparently the mileage details are stored in both the cluster and the BSI. Citroen will not reset the mileage because of "clocking" however I found someone fairly local on the Internet who says that he can solve the problem but at a cost of £200. Since the vehicle probably has very little monetary value and a mileometer is not a legal requirement I have decided not to have it fixed.