1.4hdi won't start.

Hi guys anyone had a same problem and get sorted before? I have a Citroen c3 1.4hdi 2004 model. It starts half swing but the battery light flashes but Battery doesn't drain and in the clock it shows eco mode. I can drive but the steering wheel is hard, breaks is hard and after few seconds dashboard goes off i cant see speed rpm or anything. Today i was fiddling to try to fix from web readings, so i read immobilizer fault can keep the car in eco mode so i tried to start the car without the chip in the key and the car still starts. Auto electrician told me my ECU needs to be replaced The number is EDC16C34 which i cant find not even by the agents in South Africa. Can someone help please. NB i have a ford figo 1.4tdci ecu along with all the wearing and Keys can i make it work?

Alaan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:31 pm Hi guys anyone had a same problem and get sorted before? I have a Citroen c3 1.4hdi 2004 model. It starts half swing but the battery light flashes but Battery doesn't drain and in the clock it shows eco mode. I can drive but the steering wheel is hard, breaks is hard and after few seconds dashboard goes off i cant see speed rpm or anything. Today i was fiddling to try to fix from web readings, so i read immobilizer fault can keep the car in eco mode so i tried to start the car without the chip in the key and the car still starts. Auto electrician told me my ECU needs to be replaced The number is EDC16C34 which i cant find not even by the agents in South Africa. Can someone help please. NB i have a ford figo 1.4tdci ecu along with all the wearing and Keys can i make it work?

Hello

Eco Mode is just saying that the ECU can't see the engine is running. As soon as the ECU sees the engine is running, Eco Mode will clear, that is not your problem.

If the steering is hard/stiff when the engine is running, the engine starts without the immo chip and the dashboard goes off, I would think it is a system wide problem. Suspect the BSI but is sounds like someone has swapped ECUs over and not configured them correctly.

You can't just put new or used ECU or BSI in the car, it won't work. They need pairing and configuring. You use lexia tool to do that, not OBD2.

Do you have the history of the car?

The reason the brakes and steering are hard is that both are power assisted, and there is no power assistance because the engine isn't running.

Thanks a lot for your insight
I dont have much history on the car, i bought it non runner, the injector holes were totally blocked, got new injectors, in the beginning it would clear off the eco mode and used to start with resetting after a while it goes into eco mode. Now if i reset and out of eco mode it wont start, only starts when it goes to eco mode. Im buffled. Other problem is i cant get EDC16C34 ecu made by Bosch anywhere. Can i put siemens made ecu off the same model?

Hi just to update, i spoke the auto electrician who worked on the car he said it starts without chip because he bypassed immobilizer. Another thing i just noticed is the BSI and The Bsm is made by Siemens. As i dont know the history of the car is it possible the original ECU of the car is made by Siemens. Does Citroen c3 comes with electronic components mixed like both from Siemens and Bosch? I can get a Siemens ECU and the key chip can it work?. Just weighing the possibilities.

I added some pictures, the bosch is currently in the car, other 2 made by Siemens i can organise if it can work

The 'immobilizer' is part of the engine ECU. It's possible to "break" into ECU and remove the immobilizer to make the ECU work with any car (in this case diesel, well, not any car just that type of engine).
So unless one of the remaining ECU's are the car's original one, they wont work. The engine will crank but it won't run.

ECO mode is set by time, typically 30 minutes. The ignition needs to be on but the engine not running. To conserve the battery while the engine is not running. Once in ECO mode most of the power is shut down. You need to start the engine (the engine needs to be running) to get the car out of ECO mode, even if you turn the ignition off then on again.

ECO mode can also be associated with a failure of the sensodrive gearbox but you don't have one of those.

Alaan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:46 pm Hi just to update, i spoke the auto electrician who worked on the car he said it starts without chip because he bypassed immobilizer.

The engine ECU and BSI (the fuse box in the glove box) "talk" to each other and each forms half of the immobilizer system. While I have never seen it before (congratulations you are the first) I postulate that the engine is running because the ECU is unlocked BUT the BSI (effectively the brains of the car) does not know the engine is running because the BSI has not unlocked the engine ECU! The engine ECU has not "told" the BSI that it's accepted the unlock code. Consequently the BSI is in ECO mode (thinks the engine is not running) and shuts down the ancillary systems, like the steering and dash, but the engine will still run!!!!

So even if you "immo off" the ECU, you still have security problems!? As Mr. Spock would say, "Fascinating"!

However this does not explain the hard brakes. The ABS is only an auxiliary system and while it would not be receiving power it shouldn't effect the brakes. That might be a separate fault?

Alaan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:46 pm Another thing i just noticed is the BSI and The Bsm is made by Siemens. As i dont know the history of the car is it possible the original ECU of the car is made by Siemens. Does Citroen c3 comes with electronic components mixed like both from Siemens and Bosch?

Yes but they must be compatible with the rest of the car, model, version ETC. The BSI and/or BSM could be Siemens, Johnson Controls or Valeo. The engine ECU could be Sagem, Bosch or Siemens.

Alaan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:46 pm I can get a Siemens ECU and the key chip can it work?. Just weighing the possibilities.

Well...yes... but not straight "out of the box". They would need reprogramming. See below.

The SID806 is for a 1.4 HDI. However the two Bosch units are for the TU5JP4 (petrol) engine. The ME7.4.4 is for the regular engine. The ME7.4.5 is for the 'S' version of the engine.

As I said, none of them will work. I don't even think the plugs will be compatible!

The 'easiest' way to get your car running is to get onto whoever applied the 'immo off' to the engine ECU and get them to read the BSI and find the 'old' PIN code. Then re-apply the pin code to the engine ECU. You will need to put the transponder chips back into the keys.

The next easiest way is to get a matched (from the same car) engine ECU, BSI and plips (central locking transmitters) from a donor car. The donor car needs to have the same engine type and gearbox as yours.