Citroen C3 Owners

Never any problems with my wife's 2003 1-4 C3 only done 86000. until Friday.

Oh! dear flat battery! bought new battery.

Central locking would not work OK! Put key in door lock wouldn't open tried spare key still not opening.

So there I am new battery and cant get in the bl y car, phoned a mate. He came jacked up car wriggled underneath with a torch click bonnet opened. Fitted new battery still wouldn't open 2 layers of sticky tape just above drivers door screwdriver grass edging tool top of door bent open WOW! don't worry said Simon it bends back Ok! A snooker cue passed through the gap pressed central lock button still wouldn't open; OK! a cane out of the greenhouse bent piece of wire as a hook from top of gap hook onto window rear door window winder: 5 mins later window open but doors still locked. In goes Simon feet first, gets into drivers seat, key in ignition (wait for it!) it starts - door locks thunk! central locking off! Hooray! Brilliant all doors open.

Check lock drivers side as key wouldn't unlock Simon strips down lock; hey! these mechanics are good YEAH! go indoors to make the tea come back out, Oh! did u find the problem then, yes just lubrication just cleaned it out opened slide in Key barrel squirted in WD40 inside all ok! and he was right its all working again. Moral of this story buy some WD40 and squirt your door lock key barrel. It took in total an hour that was including the Tea break and a £10.

PS; Simon put his nnee on the door edge in the centre and tugged back, he was right it fits a treat

Glad you got it sorted. Seized lock barrels on cars with 'redundant' mechanical locks is a common problem. Some manufacturers now hide the lock away behind a cover knowing that its only going to be used once in a lifetime. This is great providing you know where the 'secret' keyhole is!

One small tip, now the lock is free, get some proper lock-lube. WD40 and similar penetrating oils do a great job on seized parts but like all oils, they thicken and dry out over time. They are also sticky when it comes to attracting dirt and gunge.

hopscotch wrote:He came jacked up car wriggled underneath with a torch click bonnet opened

Thanks for the tips!

Missing Lincs wrote:One small tip, now the lock is free, get some proper lock-lube.

Thanks for that tip!, there is graphite based lock lube in a handy aerosol on ebay. I may just get a can to do the locks before they seize up

When the central locking was working fine did putting the key in the lock and turning it lock all doors or did it just lock the driver's door?

I had a problem with the remote opening not working, it would close fine but would only open once in twenty times. I tried a new battery and resetting the key via the procedure to no effect.

I changed the central locking button as it was ugly after melting in the pacific sun (I am in New Caledonia) and the lock and unlock has been perfect even since.

Moral: try cleaning the contacts or even a second hand switch if you have the same symptoms as me.

Ploddit wrote:I changed the central locking button as it was ugly after melting in the pacific sun (I am in New Caledonia) and the lock and unlock has been perfect even since.

Moral: try cleaning the contacts or even a second hand switch if you have the same symptoms as me.

Thanks for the tip.

The switch is part numbered: 96405778XT and you can pick them up on eBay.

Any chance your still active in here, I'm needing access to bonnet but wouldn't have a clue what to clip when under the car, any chance of some advice? Or even how you managed to wind window down? Sorry I got locked out of my car and key unlocking doesn't seem to work