Citroen wouldn't start...but now it will!!!

Hebrews12

I have a 2016 C4 Grand Picasso and the other morning, I unlocked it and the car unlocked but the wing mirrors didn’t fold out and I couldn’t start the engine. I had a dig around and somewhere was saying that I need to replace the BSI/BGPA fusebox while somewhere else said it might be a problem with the battery. I’ve got it booked in to get looked at and my understanding is that it’s difficult to get hold of that part. But here’s my dilemma. Since that morning 4 days ago, it’s unlocked fine (wing mirrors folding out) every time I’ve tried it. I haven’t driven it as I don’t want to risk getting stuck somewhere but I’m now wondering if it was a one-off and whether I need to pay any money to get the work done. Has anyone had any experience of this happening please? It’s worth noting that when it didn’t work, it had rained a bit overnight but it’s rained previously and since and it’s opened fine.

Might be unrelated but the handbrake doesn't come on automatically when I stop at traffic lights but comes on when I turn the engine off and the Touch Screen Display has switched off on a couple of occasions whele driving.

daveyjp

Anything electrical first port of call is the battery.

Any decent car spares shop will do a free battery health check and with winter not far away now is the time to change it if its showing poor performance.

Hebrews12

daveyjp said:

Anything electrical first port of call is the battery.

Any decent car spares shop will do a free battery health check and with winter not far away now is the time to change it if its showing poor performance.

Thanks for this.  Would the fact that it didn't start and now it is starting suggest that it's not the battery?  (I have no idea).  And the handbrake situation seems a bit odd although I guess that could be totally unrelated.

GrumpyDil

As above I'd suggest checking the battery as intermittent electrical issues are often down to battery problems. 

If the battery is good then you can start looking elsewhere. 

Arunmor

Plug in a OBD reader and see what faults it shows,  As above a dud battery could show multiple faults so it remains the thing to check first.

Bigwheels1111

A failing battery causes lots of strange faults to appear.
My vectors doors locked and unlocked on their own.
Came out in the morning to find both front windows were down.

oldagetraveller1

Following on what others have written re the battery. Is it the original? 8 years is not bad for a battery before it causes some strange things to happen.

Hebrews12

Just a bit of an update which raisies a further question.  Since the incident just over a week ago, the car has worked fine.  I've also had the battery checked and that's fine and it doesn't look like any water is getting into the fuse box. 

One thing I do remember about 'that day' is that I'd gone out to the car to get something half an hour or so before it diodn't start and hadn't bothered to lock it as I knew we were going out in it shortly afterwards.  Could this have had anything to do with it - me walking out of range with the key fob while the car was unlocked?

born_again

Hebrews12 said:

Just a bit of an update which raisies a further question.  Since the incident just over a week ago, the car has worked fine.  I've also had the battery checked and that's fine and it doesn't look like any water is getting into the fuse box. 

One thing I do remember about 'that day' is that I'd gone out to the car to get something half an hour or so before it diodn't start and hadn't bothered to lock it as I knew we were going out in it shortly afterwards.  Could this have had anything to do with it - me walking out of range with the key fob while the car was unlocked?

More likely that being unlocked just pushed the battery over the edge.
As many cars are still electrically active while unlocked.

If it's still on original battery time to replace.

Hebrews12

born_again said:

Hebrews12 said:

Just a bit of an update which raisies a further question.  Since the incident just over a week ago, the car has worked fine.  I've also had the battery checked and that's fine and it doesn't look like any water is getting into the fuse box. 

One thing I do remember about 'that day' is that I'd gone out to the car to get something half an hour or so before it diodn't start and hadn't bothered to lock it as I knew we were going out in it shortly afterwards.  Could this have had anything to do with it - me walking out of range with the key fob while the car was unlocked?

More likely that being unlocked just pushed the battery over the edge.
As many cars are still electrically active while unlocked.

If it's still on original battery time to replace.

Thanks.  Looks like it's not the original battery.  Could it be something to do with the battery in the fob?

chrisw

As the battery has checked out ok, it might be something you have to live with in the hope it doesn't happen again. It could really be anything, maybe something not switching off when it should have, probably unrelated to the fob battery. 

Hopefully it's a one-off, but make sure your breakdown cover is up to date!