C5 X7 ambient lighting (and some other bits and pieces)

[vborovic]

On another note, and actually getting back on topic ... today I've noticed something that can't be explained by now (with common logic at least) ... in the morning, when I start the car, the license plate lights aren't on ... I have the lights on Auto, and since it is dark in the morning, of course I get the dipped beam running (and the tail side position lights are also happily working) ... if I then turn the lights stalk to say 0 and then back to Auto, then the license plates start working ... now, the interesting bit is that, when I repeat the same procedure in the evening, the license plate lights are working ... I doubt I would get something useful from the DiagBox live parameter readouts (the lighting requests) ... potential battery problems/gremlins perhaps? ... the car is normally started, although I do occasionally get the Economy Mode when entering the car, which stopped bothering me for quite some time now ...

[Xantippa]

I´ve had that same problem that licence plate lights don't light on always. And it's happened with both original and Racing Dash led-lights. I just thought it's some contact problem, but maybe it isn't...

[vborovic]

Did a quick test just now (evening), the license plate lights are on with ignition .. will see in the morning how it goes ... I've been told by some other people that every morning my license plate lights are out cold, never actually bothered to check myself until this morning, and what do you know, it actually was so ... changed the light stalk to 0 (DRLs in my case), and back to Auto, and the license plate lights are working ... so, I'd rule out a contact issue, rather it is BSI or something in configuration ...

[Stickyfinger]

That will be the contacts, remove units, clean and coat in preventive wax. Mine oxidise and go intermittent.

[vborovic]

So ... an unexpected gift to myself for Xmas ... I've just bought a genuine tow-bar Citroen module from ebay.co.uk, new ... 90 GBP with shipping ... the thing looks like this (blurry pics from the seller):

Price of a new such module (from the Citroen Dealer) is roughly 200 GBP, so I'd say this is a bargain ... now, I'll probably order a Westfallia hidden tow bar from Germany (some 230 GBP with cheap shipping) in the next month or so, and then we'll proceed to officially install it (the module will probably be done by myself, plug&play in the boot & a DiagBox session for configuration)

[GiveMeABreak]

When is K.I.T.T. being installed?

[vborovic]

What do you mean by K.I.T.T ? The tow bar module? If so, then probably next week or whenever I receive it by post ... if you mean something else, don't worry, I still have some projects in mind ...

[Hell Razor5543]

K.I.T.T. was the acronym for the car in the TV series "Knight Rider", and stood for "Knight Industries Two Thousand". It was (almost) an AI car.

[bobins]

What do you mean by K.I.T.T ?

Knight Industries Two Thousand. Infinitely preferable to that other poor pretender Knight Rider car, the Knight Industires Three Thousand.

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes, that's the KITT I meant! This guy has already finished his:
http://www.mykitt.de/ich.php?lang=eng

[vborovic]

I know about the said car, you couldn't miss David Hasselhoff in the 80-ties ... ... not that I was that old during those years, but years later you could get the series on reruns ... ... but the K.I.T.T. is considered to be the whole car, not just its computer modules or dashboard, that's why I asked ... although I do intend to complicate my car as much as possible ...

[vborovic]

Today I've fitted H7s by PIAA (Stratos Blue, 5000K) ... the initial thought is that the price tag is really high for something that is almost the same as the Philips Diamond Vision ... OK, hard to imagine a halogen bulb exists that would throw even more light on the road, but ... you know ... the price is at least double (or more) than the Philips ... I have to be fair, the PIAAs light is even more white (both bulbs being declared as 5000K), but the total light output is the same (visually) ... the only major difference should be that the PIAA's are road legal (DiamondVision's aren't) ... now, we'll see how long they'll last ...

[Sloppysod]

the module will probably be done by myself, plug&play in the boot & a DiagBox session for configuration)

Fitted one of these earlier this year (2015), simple job apart from getting the wires from the outside of the car into the boot area, you have to pass all ther wires through a very tight oval grommet - fun!!
Not sure how much of the OEM wiring 'kit' you bought, but to get the rear parking sensors to turn off automatically you will need the OEM 7 or 13 pin trailer socket. These OEM sockets have small proximity switch which tells the car that the trailer is connected.

[vborovic]

We'll see ... the wiring kit is genuine Citroen, all included (without the tow bar ... ) ... which should do the job of turning the rear parking sensors off once something is connected to the socket (if I understood the schematics correctly) ... and it is a 13-pin version, so I'll add a 13->7 adapter just in case (the 13-pins are used only for the "advanced" trailers, ones that have reverse etc ... top range tow trailers or caravans).

On another note, those of you that don't have Xenons on the X7, doesn't it bother you that the car doesn't have the washing fluid low level sensor? This is a xenon-only (front washers to be precise) feature ...

[Sloppysod]

We'll see ... the wiring kit is genuine Citroen, all included (without the tow bar ... ) ... which should do the job of turning the rear parking sensors off once something is connected to the socket (if I understood the schematics correctly) ...

That is okay then, the wiring kit from the new control unit (your picture) to the tow ball has everything you need, however, be aware that I had to modify the plate to which the 13 pin socket attached, because, Citroen (as we all know) do things different, basically I had to enlarge the hole in the bracket by about 6 mm in diameter and re-drill the fixing holes to mount the socket, not a problem just a Pain..........