Hello again everybody !
Been a Forum member for quite a few years, but not been on for a while as my C4 Picasso (2007 reg VTR+ Petrol 1.8cc) has been running well.... until today !!!
In May this year had a full service & MOT (at Kwik Fit, York) and also had the original battery replaced as its nearly 10 yrs old and was slowish to start in Winter. Anyway everything passed and car ran smoothly until today.
Parked in Supermarket car park, went shopping, came back, tuned ignition on and yikes ! The following error messages (or similar) were displayed:
STOP Braking system Faulty, followed by Handbrake Faulty, ABS Faulty, Depollination Faulty, Pretensioners on Seatbelts Faulty. SERVICE light on followed by continual beeping and it would let not me move off in 1st gear. Also the speedo, trip counter and total mileage were replaced by two dashes.
Thought I'll turn the engine off, give it a minute and everything will be OK (Yeah I know, I am an optimist !!!). Of course wouldn't go away, the basic (very) mechanic in me thought the new battery must be duff, earth fault or something.
It cannot possibly be brakes faulty as (a) new discs and pads under 2 years ago and what on earth does the Pretensioners on seat belt have to do with the brakes.
Anyway I panicked and called out my Roadside Assist (well I pay every year and never called 'em out before). After 45 mins fella arrives, I explained though it might be new battery, but to be fair the car starts first time with full power so he thought unlikely. Anyway he poked around the battery and took the negative terminal off and replaced, tried again same faults. Plugged in his computer and said it found various faults including braking system not "talking to the car". He suspects an ECU fault and to take it a garage that can read Citroens. but I could be looking as several hundred quid !!! Crikey !!!
Now I love my C4 but the old girl is getting on a bit now and I am a bit scared of how much this is going to cost me.
Anyway the Breakdown man tootled off and I had to release the manual Handbrake lever/button thing to get home (obviously with no speedo apart from two dashes); Brakes etc all worked fine.
Got home left it in first gear and applied manual Handbrake and left her poorly on the drive.
Skipping very quickly through the forums I can see my errors are certainly not unique but is it a faulty brake switch or is really an ECU fault (gulp !).
I don't really want to give up on her yet but due to age etc, I also don't want to throw loads of money at this either.
I live in York and once took her to Reg Vardy, Clifton Moor, Citroen dealership and they ain't cheap.
Obviously I am not asking for an answer to my problem here (well, yes I am actually !!), but anybody got any ideas what this could be ?
I can still drive her if you ignore the initial Christmas Tree effect on the dashboard, but I know having no visible speedo is not strictly legal (ahem !) and also pulling the manual Handbrake is rather annoying too.
Anybody got any thoughts on my next steps !!
Thank you all for so much in advance !
Razor.
Been a Forum member for quite a few years, but not been on for a while as my C4 Picasso (2007 reg VTR+ Petrol 1.8cc) has been running well.... until today !!!
In May this year had a full service & MOT (at Kwik Fit, York) and also had the original battery replaced as its nearly 10 yrs old and was slowish to start in Winter. Anyway everything passed and car ran smoothly until today.
Parked in Supermarket car park, went shopping, came back, tuned ignition on and yikes ! The following error messages (or similar) were displayed:
STOP Braking system Faulty, followed by Handbrake Faulty, ABS Faulty, Depollination Faulty, Pretensioners on Seatbelts Faulty. SERVICE light on followed by continual beeping and it would let not me move off in 1st gear. Also the speedo, trip counter and total mileage were replaced by two dashes.
Thought I'll turn the engine off, give it a minute and everything will be OK (Yeah I know, I am an optimist !!!). Of course wouldn't go away, the basic (very) mechanic in me thought the new battery must be duff, earth fault or something.
It cannot possibly be brakes faulty as (a) new discs and pads under 2 years ago and what on earth does the Pretensioners on seat belt have to do with the brakes.
Anyway I panicked and called out my Roadside Assist (well I pay every year and never called 'em out before). After 45 mins fella arrives, I explained though it might be new battery, but to be fair the car starts first time with full power so he thought unlikely. Anyway he poked around the battery and took the negative terminal off and replaced, tried again same faults. Plugged in his computer and said it found various faults including braking system not "talking to the car". He suspects an ECU fault and to take it a garage that can read Citroens. but I could be looking as several hundred quid !!! Crikey !!!
Now I love my C4 but the old girl is getting on a bit now and I am a bit scared of how much this is going to cost me.
Anyway the Breakdown man tootled off and I had to release the manual Handbrake lever/button thing to get home (obviously with no speedo apart from two dashes); Brakes etc all worked fine.
Got home left it in first gear and applied manual Handbrake and left her poorly on the drive.
Skipping very quickly through the forums I can see my errors are certainly not unique but is it a faulty brake switch or is really an ECU fault (gulp !).
I don't really want to give up on her yet but due to age etc, I also don't want to throw loads of money at this either.
I live in York and once took her to Reg Vardy, Clifton Moor, Citroen dealership and they ain't cheap.
Obviously I am not asking for an answer to my problem here (well, yes I am actually !!), but anybody got any ideas what this could be ?
I can still drive her if you ignore the initial Christmas Tree effect on the dashboard, but I know having no visible speedo is not strictly legal (ahem !) and also pulling the manual Handbrake is rather annoying too.
Anybody got any thoughts on my next steps !!
Thank you all for so much in advance !
Razor.