C5 X7 tailgate anger......

[Haych]

lost my temper today with the tailgate.. 2 armfuls of shopping long walk from store, and thinking already got my key poised between fingers ready push button open, but alas the tailgate refused, so now had to put shopping down and then bags fell over , cabbage did runner down car park and i just tore the blumin door right up as hard i as i could , then as i thought i had succeeded as i put the shopping in the boot the blumin tailgate fell on my head. i then for a second or two i blacked out, shopping all over car park. doh.. now i noticed how heavy tailgate actually is! Then i realised i had not just opened the tailgate i had torn out the pivot points on the strut tops, am now using a broom handle. Then on the way home i hit a massive pothole hidden in a puddle. Not a good day, so i thought you might like hear about my day for a laugh. head still hurts, next thing is, is it a straight swap for normal struts for the tailgate, i doubt i am the only one who does not get on with this electric opening tailgate?/

[GiveMeABreak]

No - different struts.....they are unique to the powered tailgate version and not interchangeable with the non-powered version unfortunately...

Sorry to hear about your nightmare episode. I fared slightly better than you with a parcel shelf full of rolls Christmas wrapping paper for next year , which when I opened the tailgate on the C3, decided to roll out onto the road, and then they all rolled forward under the car - right in the middle of the wet muddy road. Half a dozen Pilates moves later, I managed to retrieve them with the help of a few strong words of encouragement - and flung them in the back seat. Stress.

[Lenny]

I feel your pain (although not literally).
I love my car but despise the utterly pointless tailgate.
I'm going to try this sometime...
viewtopic.php?t=60776

Failing that I'll get me a broom handle.

[GiveMeABreak]

Ah, that's my Economy mode fix I see... it can help resolve the power cutting out just when you need it as in the case above - but it is important that you do maintain and check the condition of your battery in this case. I take mine off and do a maintenance charge on mine every 3-4 months - as I don't do the miles on it and use the C3 for local trips.

This keeps it conditioned and topped up.

[Haych]

Hi, all calm now; struts will stay teetering on the edge of just holding in position when it decides it wants to open that is (recalcitrant springs to mind) . so now my stress has double and some, as now i have to prop the gate with a broom to pacify my head, thats thinks it is unsafe?//??

I don't drive my car for 4 or 5 days also, i tried starting the car first and that then enables the gate to open, not as design intended i am sure.

i just moved house so i spent last week or so making room in my now double garage which is now hopefully giving me time to sort the issues out, these i am going to put in another post, appreciate any advice as i am very much a newby with this car.

[Jetjockey]

Urrrrrrm.

How does one know if ones C5 (2008 2ltr Hdi Tourer Exclusive (Power tailgate)) is fitted with this Battery monitoring unit? Can the BSI be reconfigured Per this mod using any other professional diagnostic box?

Thanks.

[GiveMeABreak]

You do have one Checked against your VIN, item 1.

I doubt most aftermarket units will be able to do it - as it's a non-standard function / programming function.

[Jetjockey]

Thank you, very helpful.

Right then, it’s either a new battery or a dedicated diagnostic unit.

Ummmm, can the dedicated unit be purchased from eBay for example, and can it be run on any tablet or does it require Windows and a Laptop.

Thanks again.

[GiveMeABreak]

If your're referring to a Lexia Diagnostic kit, then no, it requires installing on a laptop (preferably Win 7 32 bit operating system).

Be careful if purchasing - not to get a kit that is under £90 ish- as these may be cut-down versions that won't have all the hardware components for full CAN vehicles.

There is a discount for members here from a UK supplier (we are not affiliated, but many members have purchased from them):

viewtopic.php?t=60113

I will say that one of the reasons I posted the modification up to arrest control of the electrical management supply from the Battery Charge Control Unit back to the BSI, was that even if I recharged my battery, it would still refuse to give me any more than a couple of minutes of power after the engine was switched off - and mine is a saloon, so no powered tailgate!

[Jetjockey]

Hello Marc.

Many thanks for that. Yes, I’m torn on this one. When I was given the car 6 months ago it had a brand new Yuasa 5000 Silver battery on it, brand spanking new. However, the C5 had a problem with its injectors amongst other problems and the battery was well and truly hammered in several fruitless attempts to start the car. I’m now wondering if the batteries performance was affected or not. Certainly it now cranks easily on start pointing to an OK battery.

Re the Lexia, I used to have one of those and remember the constraints re Win 7 etc, it was frankly a pain.
Perhaps I need to look at this again, maybe I had a cheap version.

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes, think of it as an investment if you are going to maintain any PSA vehicle. A dedicated laptop that is also best, so that you can keep it for diagnostics alone.

[Jetjockey]

Just dug out an old Vista laptop and am installing Win 7 as we speak. A mate of mine thinks he has an old Lexia tucked away. I wonder how up to date his software is?

[GiveMeABreak]

Not just that but the hardware revision - it it's an older revision'B' it may not connect with later versions of diagbox on newer cars.

[Jetjockey]

Ahhhhhhh......... I knew that of course.

However, loads of these for sale on EBay for circa £35 and the only thing they seem to lack is the latest software?
Anybody tried one?

Thanks

[GiveMeABreak]

Some of the older VCI hardware units would only work with Diagbox 5 - some (as there are different clones out there of varying quality) managed to get them to work with DB 7.02 - but many won't. As Diagbox automatically updates the firmware on the VCI for each software upgrade version, this can then render the unit inoperable with older VCIs (no communication or dialogue with ECUs).