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citroen c3 03 reg battery warning light intermitent?

Last 2 weeks, at least 4 times now, get in car, drive approx 2 miles, battery warning light on dashboard comes on and alarm goes off, keep driving, after 10 miles, all back to normal.
Exept for last night, usual thing, light comes on after 2 miles but this time I noticed the dashboard lights getting dimmer and dimmer, looks dogey I thought, then after another 5 miles all dashboard lights suddenly went back to normal brightness and battery warning light went off!!! Poss causes? Alternator / Battery??? Have checked drive belt and its OK not slipping any ideas please ...thanks

Stumpy1, January 2008

home Fix label Vehicles label_important Cars category Citroendone

This is a very good link and may resolve a lot issues with owners experienced on here.

https://citroenc3owners.com/petrol-citroen-c3/battery-not-charging-t2428.html

Mark, April 2017

hello every one
i have a c3 2003 petrol 1.4 it was working great and all was going ok till i washed the engine and the car and every thing still working ok . next morning i try going to work tun the switch all lights are on but car wont start , wont start with any way , battery light flashing ,,, could it be the key ? or the ecm ? it is driving me crazy was going great . no lights no nothing and out of nothing this happen??
any help ? anyone ?
00961076858822

your help will save my nerve .

chris sader, March 2017

Had this very issue with the wife's car, battery light kept coming on, then air bag light then others finally battery died, and after it being in the garage a whole week with diagnostic guys as well they got to the bottom of it.
And if you live anywhere near Woodford green I'd use this garage
Roberts Motor Works
020 8989 1829
cause there just superb and have been so helpful. I've used them for thirteen years now with all of my family's cars.

What they found was the alternator is quite unique that it is recognised by the bsi and if you don't keep the original one it won't charge even with a bran new alternator,
The answer was to get the original alternator refurbed which took less than 24 hours and cost less than the new alternator.

They tried five different alternators from various years while tracing this fault not one worked.

If you've already scraped your original alternator, it's probably going to have to be a dealer job or a scrapyard to find one of the same year, bear in mind the one from the scrapyard can be refurbed and they come back like new.

Russell, September 2016

My wife's 2003 1.4 hdi was rubbish in the wet. We found that the cover over the battery and ecu was missing so I fabricated one and had no problems since

DaveC, August 2015

Hi i've just bought a citroen C3 1.4 HDI 57 reg. Whilst driving back from picking it up the battery light came on with a electrical fault on the screen. A little further it told me brake fault, abs fault, seatbelt fault, airbag fault. The power steering stiffened up and the radio went off. After turning off the ignition the car wouldn't start.

grimr33fer71, November 2014

SCM Automotive. I am happy to pay if you can sort out the battery fault on my Xsara Picasso 06 diesel. Problem is I live in stoke on trent are you near here?

Ken, November 2013

so did anyone gos solution to this prblem. I am having same issue with my C5. Battery warnin sighn comes and goes? Any suggestion please

Sk, August 2013

I have the same issue on a 04 HDI - Since fitting a new radio if happens all the time - if you take the radio out then again it helps...

David, July 2013

just to scm auto motive im not a c3 owner but you need to look at the site your on its called HOW TO MEND IT . COM not how to expand my business.com so spend your time earning money not posting on here

steff, March 2013

Hi, I have a C3 2002 model... it did all the above symptoms after new alternator same. But garage said problems is when you just turn engine over with keys battery 12v and is getting no charge from alternator, but if you put foot on accelerator to atleast 4rpm it kicks in the alternator to charge the battery which is then 14v and ok until you switch off engine again.

Any ideas and would the ignition wire snip help.

Thanks

Citroen sad owner, February 2013

The symptons described in the posts below are the same as the old dears car. Battery light on, then air bag light came on, power steering intermittent then failed along with all other electrics. Car still drove.

A thanks to SCM Automotive for giving the most likely fix as a new alternator and battery are beyond my mothers finance at the moment so going to try the fix myself tomorrow and hope that solves the problem ;)

Will post on here if successfull.

Yip, December 2012

I had the same fault it has taken me months to try to sort this out it was intermittent on and off the warning none charging fault and the battery light on. What I found was my car had a tow bar fitted with two sockets one for the lights one for the charging of the battery on my caravan I have disconected the charging one and up to now all has been fine the fault has gone.

Alf, June 2012

re. battery light fault.. one thing for sure its some sort of short circuit as the battery runs very low , very fast. tried substituting earths and main positive with no joy but will try again. As i said before.. if it was connections it would happen more regular and at any time. Always on a morning (damp or cold). Starts to charge maybe after 5 minutes but progressivly gets worse and longer. Maybe the alternator is charging ok but there is such a big load on the battery that the alty cant cope. (ie like glow plugs on a diesel) maybe on starting the system senses a very low battery voltage drop and the charging system just doesnt work.. still on it. good car other than this annoying fault. still on it lol a toughie

mark j, February 2012

Has anyone got to the bottom of the random battery light warnings?

Joshua, February 2012

Had same problem today. had new aternator fitted 2 days ago, first day with new battery light, airbag light etc on. called aa man, says alternator is not working. back to garage , they change the alternator, test it, not working. He rings the supplier who says that because the old alternators kept burning out citreon have changed the design but it won't automatically charge the battery so when you switch the engine on you have to floor the accelerator peddle to get it to kick in. he has tried and it seems to work. will see what happens when i set off for work tomorrow. Hope this helps. Doesn't sound like a great design though!!!

May, January 2012

Our has the same problem ours is on a 54 plate. Only started yesterday,26/04/11

Still under a warranty where we bought it used from so we should be ok.

Andy, April 2011

Sorry Holds my apologies. Looking at the wrong person. I ment "C.P"

S,C,M Automotive, March 2011

Hi everyone. Contrary to opinion I am not going to "rip off" anybody. I run a business and charge only £150 to sort the so called alternator problem on a c3 which is a snip of the price main dealers will charge at £450-£500. But here's what I will do. Seeing as "Holds" has a bit of the green eyed monster illness I'll let you all know the cure after letting my wife and kids know that a keyboard warrior called "Holds" took food out of their mouths.

Look at the back of the alternator where the ignition wires go into it. Dis-connect the earth (8/10 mm nut). You'll notice the wire and eye connector will be rusty or corroded. Cut the wire back about an inch, fit a new eye connector and reconnect.....Problem solved. Hope you appreciate it "Holds" you can go and rip people off yourself now can't you?

Hope this helps everyone else out.

Let me know how you all get on.

S,C,M Automotive., March 2011

Hi,
we have exactly the same with our Xsara Picasso 1,6 .
Today it was very cold. I messured 11.5V, the Alternator was not charging. Tried start at stop the engine, after some time the alternator was charging with 14.4V. It seems that the alternator is Ok

Andreas, December 2010

I have exactly the same problem, with a twist. Got alternator changed, didn't work, when new one was bench tested it was fine, but on car only producing 9v. Got it "fixed", then 2 miles up road airbag light came on, plus battery light and then power steering failed. Car is now awaiting recovery. All this started in the v cold weather (it's minus 11 here) after trouble free driving for years in this car.

Janetx, December 2010

Hi. Im a citroen C3 owner and also a qualified Auto Electrician. Im getting the same problem and got it today trying to get to work. Sometimes the light comes on and goes off, other times stays on. One thing for sure, is that it always happens in cold/damp weather (especially thawing conditions) Seems to be always on a morning and all loads on (ie lights, heater etc) In my opinion not an alternator problem as the fault would probably be present in all conditions and would probably get worse as time went on. Rest assured that when the light comes on, the alternator is not charging!! if you have a long journey (all loads on) the battery will not last long and all systems will eventually fail!! Personally I think is caused by one of two things.... either a wiring fault.. or as I have been advised (by a fellow Auto Sparky) the control module (ECU) near the batterry. I hope its the former but will keep you informed.

mark j, December 2010

Solved the problem with my wife's C3 horn continuosley sounding, after being in several garages the last one sorted it out. Simple. He disconnected the horn and then reconnected it before taking it for M O T, which it passed straight away, he then disconnected the horn again, cos my wife wouldn't drive it otherwise, I've told her to just drive with the window open and just shout at any one in the way etc'

bazzerone, March 2010

Hi, my girlfriend has just bought a used HDi 2003. The horn is not working. I check the warning fuse which is ok but I cant actually locate the horn. I am wondering if the car had a problem and it has been removed. Can anyone tell me where it should be please?

many thanks

Russ, March 2010

I'm having so much trouble with my C3 since mid Jan. Started with the car stutterin and stalling all the time, was told it was probably the coil pack. So got that replaced (the generic pack wasn't compatible so had to get a citroen part) cost about £150. 2 weeks later the acceleration went - rev counter wouldn't get very far even when I was pushing the accelerator to the floor. RAC out again - somthing to do with the throttle box (or something like that, can't remember exactly) - back to the garage £230. Week after that I start getting the battery light coming on. Happened a couple of times so got the RAC guy out, he cleaned the connections to the battery but said it sounded like it was developing an alternator fault. Since then - about 5 days ago - no battery light (touch wood), but there's been a hell of a noise coming from under the hood - especially so when the engine's idling in traffic. Any ideas what could be causing the noise???

strummers, March 2010

Sorry my question should have been directed to Steve Bubble not Russell H - sorry looked at the wrong person.

Thanks Emma

holds79, February 2010

Hi Russel H - is the procedure you suggest to help sort the battery light problem or the horn issue?
Thanks - I'm happy to try anything if it saves me a new battery/alternator!
Thanks

holds79, February 2010

Isn't it sad and a sign of the times that a certain individual on here wantsto rip people of before they will help them with their problem

SCM AUTOMOTIVE !!! you are lower than low !!!

cp, February 2010

We are having the exact same issue with the battery warning light. New battery had no effect. Our journey to work is only 20 miles and we can go from light coming on after 2 minutes and staying on all the way to work. Tends to be only when it's been raining but happened this morning and it's not raining today! Been told, like others, that the alternator is fine and when the garage plug it in to their computer it can't find any problems at all. I'm guessing that it is an electrical/dampness issue but an stumped as to how to fix it.
Any clues or work-arounds most appreciated!

Russell H, February 2010

turn the ignition to the 2nd click so it is on

Then keep your foot pressed down on the brake pedal for anything upto 2 minutes. You should hear the gearbox engage and disengage. The "-" on the speedo should turn into a "1" at which point you need to turn the key

The brake pedal will fully push in once the engine starts

steve bubble, February 2010

Re horn sounding:-
I have established that it is the horn and not the alarm,as no lights flash etc'
A local garage disconnected the horn until he could get it booked in 5 days later. Great. They have had the car for five days now with the horn reconnected and even used it for running about and parked at their home overnight and you can guess what? The horn hasn't gone off once, thats sod's law. Until the horn starts going off again they won't be able to check the fault on the diagnostic. Hope this may be of some help.

bazzerone, January 2010

Hi everyone. I have just solved the same problem on my father in laws C3. Exactly the same problem. Battery light was comming on 2 miles up the road, losing electric steering etc, etc. He had an alternator and battery fitted but no joy. I rang around my friends in the trade at citroen and also a vehicle sparky but none of them have ever managed to get to the bottom of this problem. In fact they said "he'd be better off just putting up with it" They will however lead you to believe that you need to put a genuine alternator and battery on which will cost you between £400 and £500 and still not solve the fault. I spent 2 hours on it and found the cause. The car has been fine ever since. Obviously I'm not going to give away my secret for free as I have a living to make and a family to feed. But if you have a spare £150 I can sort your problem out. If I don't cure it then there'll be no charge, I'm that confident. 07737 175542

SCM Automotive., January 2010

My wife's got a C3 on a 05 plate. 1400cc diesel.
Like today she was driving along and the horn/alarm started going off. When she stopped, turned off the engine and locked the car it was still going off. As she got home I could hear it inside the house. Only thing that I can do is disconnect the battery. Still the same on reconnection of the battery. Has anyone got any solutions for this please?

bazzerone, January 2010

Mine just started doing the same. If I get to the bottom of it I will post a reply - if not the C3 will be on its way part exchange.

Watson, January 2010

Hi, Having the very same problem with my C3. Two miles into journey and the battery warning light comes on, headlights and dashboard lights dim and after exactly ten miles everything goes back to normal......this can't be right surely ! Something is making it happen.

Carol, January 2010

Has anyone had any luck with this fault yet as im getting it, fine ride for an amount of time (random each time) then sometimes light goes on then maybe off or perhaps no untill next time the darn thing is started. Problem seems to be linked to wet/cold weather.

Naz, January 2010

Recently had the same problem with mine.On startup,lights are very dim,wipers slow etc and after about 3 miles ,battery light comes on,and then goes off about 5 mins later with the lights and wiper returning to normal.I think its an alternator problem.
Was thinking i need to change the alternator,but from what am reading,that might not be the case.
C3's are so wrong!

XP, December 2009

Battery warning light has come on and heated rear window stops working.Corrects itself after a few miles. Has happened twice both times extremely cold

Dave, December 2009

I too have the same problem with the wet. All I can say is find a mechanic who will reset the damn thing for free like mine and when you get the chance sell it, coz' even the new reg ones do it!

Marcus T, November 2009

Did this get solved? I have exactly the same problem. Replaced battery and alternator and starter motor, but no joy.

John, October 2009

Hello, i have a C3 and a few weeks ago my battery light came on and went off a few minutes later, then the next thing was the battery and airbag light would come on and the radio and fan would cut out, then finally all the above would happen the the power steering would go, it has cut as well, but it always resets itself after its been switched off, the alternator is charging ok,the only thing it has had done about a month ago was a second hand replacement factory cd/radio that was set up buy a citroen dealer to be coded, they said that that would have nothing to do with the faults on my car, has anyone any idea's i would be gratefull,

Gary, October 2009

I just set off for work this morning (in the heavy drizzle) and about two miles into my journey the Battery Warning Light came on. Car still drove ok so didn't worry too much as I have had problems with other lights before. Been to my local garage with the other problems and diagnostic checks showed up nothing!

It always seems to be when it's very wet or cold and seems to be a very common problem with C3s.

Extremely frustrating though!

gbean2871, April 2009

Was it raining? Was the car wet? My wife's c3 has the same problem occasionally when it is damp and wet. AA guy told her the electrics aren't up to our damp weather.

Stevei, January 2009

Having the same problems, again had battery, alternator checked etc no apparent faults. Going back to garage to see if it an earthing problem!! Will let you know. Hopefully we can get this sorted as its very frustrating. Similar fault drive for 2 miles light comes on, drive furhter 10 miles abs light, airbag light comes on then all go off, no other symptoms!!!

Scott Randall, January 2009

Can either of you shed any light on this, i am experiencing the same problems.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Heather, January 2009

HI mate- I have the same problem, have fitted new battery and alternator- problem still there!

Have you had any joy? Let's hook up to solve this

marke@mark2solutions.com

Mark, December 2008

link Click here to see other fixes for Citroen C3.