Have a real headache here. 1999 Citroen C15D RHD 1769cc van. On journey, suddenly van loses all power and rolls to halt on country road. Try starting it , nothing!.

Lift bonnet, check cables to battery, fry my fingers. Realise positive battery feed wire has come up against sharp bodywork and has earthed it. Disconnect battery quickly as lead is very hot. No other signs of problems.
Replace battery, nothing, buy new battery, replace it , nothing.

Recover vehicle to home. Strip ignition switch and rebuild, still nothing. Replace starter motor and solenoid with new unit, nothing. Follow the electric chain and replace pre-heater solenoid with another unit ( they are like hen's teeth to find second hand),but still nothing. Turn the key the first click, red battery lights ignite on dash, second click no preheater lights ignite, third click , sort of click and buzz from pre-heater relay. Running out of options. No sign of burning on any connection or brown staining, all fuses o.k. (at least the eight on the bulkhead are fine) Any help would be appreciated. Many Thanks,Mike

MIKEB, August 2011

You shorting the + bypassed all the fuses,chances you've melted wires in the harness,tough to find but the only answer is strip of the harness cover and look,or a s/h harness.
if you run a wire from bat + to starter sol terminal it'll spin over no matter where the key is and if it does the engine earths are ok if not...

1/4drive, August 2011