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reddandanfireman wrote: ↑Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:38 pm
if i check A6's continuity to earth would that prove anything ?
Not really. You can test it but the wire is unlikely to be burnt out if you cant see any signs of that at the plug end. What you need to do is prove that the A6 contact is making an electrical connection to the pins in the control panel.
With the fan switch in anything but off and the connector plugged in, at least one of the A1, A2, A3, A5 contacts should have continuity to ground. So try the Ohms range from those pins to ground. If you get continuity to ground then I think its the switch if not I think it's the A6 contact.
Ok this morning has gone both great and awful at the same time. I removed the multi plug connector from the rear of the control panel and inserted the back probing pin to pin a1. Inserted the multi-plug and turned on the ignition, took the multi meter and tested for continuity, nothing, then flicked to ohms and tested for resistance, with that the fan started blowing air through the vents. Confused i moved the dial and it stopped working again, then it started again and work through all 4 fan speeds. Checking the resistor i burned my hand on it, so pretty sure thats working too.
So far it seems to be working, but i have no idea why? Since yesterday I have changed nothing and it went from broken to fixed all by itself, the only thing I can add that may have a bearing on it is that today is 8c and before this it has been 4c and below most days.
This occurrence has be totally bemused. At least i know the fan is not the culprit, its not noisy at all and i'll commence with putting the glovebox stuff back together. I'm sure this isn't the last of it. So far the only thing i've changed is the probing pin is still stuck in the rear of pin a1 so maybe i'll remove it and see if it makes a difference. Could there be slack in some of the smaller diameter wires (a1 is thinner and the power and earth wires have friction on their side holding them in place more).
Will remove the pin and test again and repost. Quite odd
Have removed testing pin and checked again. Fan working fine now. All speeds, resistor pack warming up . Unsure what fixed this issued. It only started to work part way through the back probing of A1 ? very odd.
reddandanfireman wrote: ↑Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:03 pm
Have removed testing pin and checked again. Fan working fine now. All speeds, resistor pack warming up . Unsure what fixed this issued. It only started to work part way through the back probing of A1 ? very odd.
Thanks for the update.
Poor electrical connections are, unfortunately quite common on the C3. Just disconnecting and reconnecting can be enough to reduce the electrical resistance and suddenly things start working.
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My bet is that you put extra pressure on the A6 earth connection during the probing process and it made electrical contact.
I fear it might fail again.
contacts.jpg (26.41 KiB) Viewed 53 times
Sorry for the crudeness of the drawing but typically the mating contacts open up. If you can get a fine screwdriver in and bend the contact to make a more positive connection.
Ok thanks for the drawing i get the idea. If it fails again i'll take a little flat blade and adjust any contacts that appear slightly larger thank normal to the gap of the lesser ones. Many thanks for your help here guys, that one had been annoying me for the past year, at least I know there isn't anything wrong, what actually caused the shorting out however is very odd. Considering I do now have a new BSM in the car maybe it was the relay going in it and that caused the melting of A6 to create a bit of room inside the multiplug to allow it to move upon insertion into the socket, therefor having a poor to no earth ? Always worth leaving these things for others to read when having problems a French electrics can be a wonderous place to be. Thanks god its not a C6 or my headlights would be pointing the wrong way
There is a similar problem with the earth pin in the rear tail light cluster.
If you have the fog lights on, you stop at a set of lights and turn left or right, The earth pin (in just one side) is conducting more than 5 amps. 21 watts for the fog light, 21 watts for the turn indicator, 21 watts for the stop light.
If you do the same thing and decide to do a reverse park...it draws 7 amps! Another 21 watts for the reversing light.
Consequently the earth pin in the cluster melts.
Hi I have had this issue so many times on my c3 I went on Google and searched portable car demister I have purchased one that plugs into your lighter socket and is fitted to your dash my fans sometimes work but sometimes don't so when they fail ill use this hope
