Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

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Gordon
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Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by Gordon »

Happy Christmas wherever you are, and apologies that this is a question about a Xantia but I'm in Oz on holiday and our son has the Xantia back in NZ that won't start. On turning ignition key the only dash lights that come up are the battery and the handbrake. On turning further to start the starter motor operates but engine doesn't fire. When all dash lights came on the engine did start without trouble but it is now back to its former self with the main warning and ignition lights out and the car unable to start. Being in Oz I'm not able to provide any more description, and my son doesn't have mechanical or normal testing equipment - fuses were checked and are ok, ignition barrel was removed but contacts can't be easily accessed. I'm assuming it is something electrical, but my question is what turns on these main ignition lights. In the first two positions of the ignition key these should light up, so do I suspect something wrong in the ignition switch, or is there something else that I'm not aware of. Again apologies for limited information but I'm trying to help my son remotely. Cheers,
Gordon
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by Kaapelimies »

Sounds like faulty ignition switch. You can try rattling or pushing the key to different directions while turning the ignition on and see if it makes any difference. If the starter didn't turn, my suspect would be the battery terminals; remove, clean (both battery poles and the clamps) with sandpaper if a battery pole brush is not available.
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by xantia_v6 »

If you can tell me the trim level and engine type, I should be able to find the correct wiring diagrams for your Xantia. [edit] I see it is in your sig, I will see what I can find.

There is a fairly common failure in the Xantia, especially in hot weather, due to metal fatigue in some of the soldered connections in the dashboard fuse box. The exact symptoms vary according to changes in wiring for each production year. The fuse box is a bit awkward to remove, and a bit of skill is needed to re-solder the PCB connections, but it is fixable.

The other common electrical failure with similar (but random) symptoms is a break in the wiring in the big harness that runs under the radiator on RHD cars.
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by xantia_v6 »

I do have the correct wiring diagrams (does your car have a catalytic converter?), but as there are quite a few pages and the files need to be re-formatted, I won't start until you confirm that you want them.
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by Gordon »

Thanks very much for your advice. We've had to admit defeat mainly because the car is in Wellington, and having returned to NZ I'm resident up in Whangarei a distance of 805km. We'll get the AA to transport the car in Feb, and then I'll try and determine the cause. It is a 94 Xantia SX 2.0, petrol without cat converter. Certainly the wiring diagrams will help and will be much appreciated if there is someway of posting them for me to access. Thanks very much. Gordon
Gordon
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by xantia_v6 »

When this happened on my Xantia, I checked for 12V at each fuse that should have been live with the ignition on, and found that some of them had power but others didn't, and managed to fit a shunt wire to the dead fuse holder (from the fuse side) to get the car home. Here is the story: https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... 83#p377280


It looks like I may not need to redo the diagrams as a similar set is available on FCF: https://frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/view ... hp?t=26492 and the fault described there is the other common one.
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by Gordon »

Thanks very much for your advice. When the Xantia finally gets trucked up from Wgtn I'll have a go to fix and let you know. cheers Gordon.
Gordon
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by Gordon »

Richard, where about is the starter inhibit relay located? I'm in the process of checking everything and hopefully will get a 2nd hand fuse PCB. The existing PCB had some localised signs of condensation ( how & where from I don't know ) and slight corrosion on it, but no obvious solder cracks. Work in progress. Thanks.
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by xantia_v6 »

The start inhibit relay is only fitted to cars with automatic transmission, and only stops the starter motor from turning. From your previous post, I don't think that it is relevant to your problem.

Can you check carefully and give a list of all the electrical components and warning lights which are not working, and I should be able to find the appropriate diagrams to cross-reference. Could you also give the RP number of your car, so that I know which version of the diagrams to look for.

BTW, I am Mike, and currently in Christchurch NZ.
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by Gordon »

Mike, apologies - I was reading that you were the FCF moderator. Thanks for your reply. My VIN no. is VF7X11C00011C2239, Xantia 5 door saloon 2.0i 1994 XU10J2 Auto Gearbox4. On the aluminium name plate above this VIN number there is 1820, then above that 2970, above that 1-1000, and above that 2-850. I've looked up on the internet where the RP number is located but without success - not part of the tyre pressure sticker and no other stickers around A or B pillars.
When I turn the ignition to A I get only the battery light coming up, on turning the key to M position the parking handbrake light also comes up. The lights, indicators, reversing lights all work. When I turn ignition to D the starter motor turns but car doesn't start. Checked for a spark I couldn't detect any spark from the spark plug. The two green relays below the fuse box click with ignition key turning to A.
Checking the fuses all are ok, both inside the car and in engine bay. Inside car fuses F3, F12 F28 all getting voltage. No obvious solder connection issues on the visible part of the fuse PCB.

So no warning lights or other ignition lights are coming up. When they did back in mid Dec, the car started ok. I suspected that the wet windy Wgtn weather was getting into the electrics or contacts, but where abouts is the problem. But since then no other dash lights apart from the battery and parking brake as mentioned.

Any help much appreciated and enjoy Chch.
Gordon
Gordon
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by xantia_v6 »

See here for RP number location: https://frenchcarforum.co.uk/wiki/ORGA/RP_Number

There was a wiring change during 1994, so I want to be sure about which version you have.

Does you car have an immobiliser keypad? 1994 UK market cars did, but I don't think it was the case for NZ or Japan market cars.
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by Gordon »

Thanks Mike. RP number is 6581, no factory code but understand that's not necessary. No keypad for immobilising.
Cheers.
Gordon
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by xantia_v6 »

OK, yours appears to be a 1995 model-year, so has a slightly different wiring diagram.
xan-95-xu10j2-cct.png
xan-95-xu10j2-har.png
xan-95-xu10j2-loc.png
xan-95-hyd-cct.png
I have added the circuit for the hydraulic level/pressure warning, as that should be coming on with the ignition, and it should be somewhat easier to trace than the engine management system. Look particularly at the feeds to and from F12.

Good luck!
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by Gordon »

Thanks Mike for the wiring diagrams. The 2nd hand fuse box turned up at the same time so on the off chance I put that in and the other dash lights came up. The car started and seems to be problem solved. Hopefully it was the fuse box and not the fact that I might have disturbed the wiring higher up under the dash. Looking at the photo of the old fuse PCB certainly shows areas of what I guess has been condensation and resulting corrosion on the board, but without knowing which fuse these additional warning dash lights get their supply from and why/how these dash lights prevent starting is a mystery to me. Fingers crossed problem has been fixed. Thanks again for your input.
Gordon
DSC00986.JPG
Gordon
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1994 Xantia 2.0SX
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Re: Xantia Dash Lights not showing when ignition turned on - car won't start

Post by xantia_v6 »

Gordon wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 5:54 am Thanks Mike for the wiring diagrams. The 2nd hand fuse box turned up at the same time so on the off chance I put that in and the other dash lights came up. The car started and seems to be problem solved. Hopefully it was the fuse box and not the fact that I might have disturbed the wiring higher up under the dash. Looking at the photo of the old fuse PCB certainly shows areas of what I guess has been condensation and resulting corrosion on the board, but without knowing which fuse these additional warning dash lights get their supply from and why/how these dash lights prevent starting is a mystery to me. Fingers crossed problem has been fixed. Thanks again for your input.
GordonImage
On the very top of the board in the photo, there are 4 soldered joints and a number of unsoldered pins (soldered on the other side of the PCB. The second soldered joint from the rigth looks suspicious to me, but it could be one on the other side causing the issue, it is almost sure to be one of those pins between the PCBs.

Good that the problem is fixed anyway.
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