Brief power interruption

[Billious]

I have a 2002 2.0se..the air bag light is on but I think it's because of the power interruption. When driving all instruments turn off briefly and the doors lock and I get psssenger airbag deactivated. Then everything comes back on. Engine doesn't cut out.. I'm wondering if it's a earthing problem... could someone please help?..... thanks

[IanL]

You are probably right about an earthing problem.

One known source of the issue is the earth cable which attaches to the gearbox. It fails at the connector due to a combination of corrosion and vibration. The cure is to clean the cable to bright metal, apply silicone grease, then crimp a new connector on but cover the crimp and as much of the cable as possible with heatshrink. Probably outlast the car

[Billious]

Thank for the speedy reply, I have seen this mentioned before but would the engine not cut out?

[Artermis]

The engine potentially has a separate earth so the engine may not be affected in the same way as the cabin electronics. That and the power interruption probably isn't significant or sustained enough to cause the motor to cut out. With the motion of the car and everything else stalling is fairly unlikely.

I agree that it sounds like an earth issue needs investigating.

[Billious]

Thankyou

[GrandadMonkey]

Make sure it has the correct battery on it. I'm pretty sure that the battery for your car should be 190mm tall. Some cheapskates incorrectly replace the battery with the 175mm tall one meant for the 206 hatchback. Doing this puts undue strain on the terminals and frequently causes intermittent loss of continuity such as that which you are experiencing..

If yours HAS got the 175mm battery on it you have two options:

1) Replace it with the correct battery for the car.

2) Use a 15mm thick piece of plywood under the battery as packing to raise the terminals to the correct height.

Be careful with battery disconnection / reconnection procedures which are specific to the 206cc. Precise instructions can be found here:
http://www.peugeot206cc.co.uk/viewtopic ... 23&t=13473
or follow the instructions in the manual.

Let us know the outcome please.

[Billious]

Thanks for the advice, battery was new 2 years ago and the problem only started about 2 months ago... I checked earth cable and no corrosion but the one to the battery seemed like some of the strands had frayed. It is conected but I wiggled it and thought it could be better. I went to unlock the car the other day and remote wouldn't do it so I unlocked with key and set alarm off when I opened the door and then Remote turned alarm off and worked fine. Today I drove to work and all dash electrics went off 4 times on a 15 mile motorway journey also the wipers turned themselves on twice before the the electrics went off. Seems to be worse since wiggle the earth wire. I work away and won't get back until Friday so will order s new earth lead while I'm away, any ideas where best to get one? I'll keep the post updated and thanks for all the advice

[GrandadMonkey]

When we had our 206cc I would only buy genuine spares from the local Peugeot main dealer. I didn't find them expensive.

[Billious]

£98 plus vat.. I call that way too expensive lol. Halfords sell earth straps for less than a tenner each so I'll make my own I think.

[GrandadMonkey]

Hope you get on ok. Let us know.

[Billious]

I have another question lol, as I haven't had the car long.... when I turn the key on one click, not as far as ignition just one click, the battery light shows on the dash. When I turn it again for ignition all other lights e.g. Oil light etc come on.... they all go out when engine started..so my question is should the battery light come on on one click?

[IanL]

Yes, that is correct and quite logical. It is warning that some electrical services are on-line and the battery is being depleted because the alternator is not charging it.

[Billious]

Thankyou for the info

[Billious]

Just to update earth getting replaced this weekend

[Billious]

Just replaced straps not had chance until now, airbag light is still on but I'm going out now to test se if power goes off, update tonight