Courtesy light not working in cab

[DazzleD]

Hello Berlingo owners,
I'm new here, thanks for letting me join.

I purchased my 4 month old driver eat8 130hp in June, with 7000 miles on the clock.
I am happy with it so far, apart from.... 

The other day I noticed that the cab courtesy light does not work. I hadn't until this point tried to switch it on, and haven't used the van when it was dark so its very possible it has not worked since I purchased it.

Both cab reading lights either side of the main courtesy light will switch on and off, but its the automatic central light which regardless of switch position will not work.

The previous owner has added a string of led lights in the load area. They were poorly connected, I have since re terminated the connections (I am an electrician) but not automotive, but can spot shoddy work!

After discovering this issue, and prior to posting this, I've done some research/home work. I now realise that lighting circuits are not what they used to be. It seems all lighting loads are triggered/controlled via a BSI (don't know what this stands for).

Anyway...... I intend to check what the previous owner has done in the back. The led string is connected to a 2 core black sleeved cable which pokes out of the structural part at the top of the side panel, and possibly originates at the factory rear internal light on the same side. This cable poking out (which is currently connected to the retrofitted led string) doesn't look like it is original not properly supported etc, but I don't know for sure.

Once i learn how to pop the original light out, I hope to see what has been done, does anybody know how to remove the light? 
I'm wondering if this might be linked to the cab lighting. Either in a sort of signal way or power? I don't even know if there would have been a factory light in the middle originally?

The Van has 2.5 years of Citroen warranty, but I don't think they will entertain me due to the retrofitted nature, so am keen to see if I can reinstate as it left factory.

Its a bit frustrating, that's all, and I realise lot of the members here will have far bigger issues to worry about.

Any advice or comment would be very welcome, and apologies for the long windedness' of my post.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[brodfather11]

Hello and welcome.
                BSI means Built in Systems Interface  , or in other words the computer which controls the vans body electricals. It can be easily damaged by too big a load connected to it thru interior lights etc
The interior lights are operated by the door locks , used to be a switch in the door jamb.

Its a common mod to run string of LEDs in the rear as the basic lighting is quite poor and come the dark days and nights you may find you need extra lighting inside.  

Another common mod is to fit a LED in the actual light itself front and back. Both are connected to each other. Sometimes confusion arises because the LED is fitted the wrong way round.

A small screwdriver is usually enough to pop out the lens in the rear light if its the same as the earlier models.

[DazzleD]

Hello Brodfather11,

Many thanks for your helpful response.

Thinking this through a bit more, if the rear and cab courtesy lights are linked, it maybe that the outgoing connection to the front was not re connected.

I also wanted to check the front courtesy lamp, to see if its faulty or not. This seems an obvious check, but again I cant see an obvious way to get the diffuser off, there's no tab or lever point I can see. Keen to avoid damage getting this off, and clues on how to please?

Really just wanted to thank you for response, but couldn't help writing-out-loud!

I will provide an update once I have carried out further investigations, which may help others in the future.

[Sol]

You may need a body pry tool, the lenses in the front can be hard to pull out (steel spring clips hold them in) and once out you will see what's up.

Adding LEDs to the BSI outputs for lighting causes the original lights to remain on permanently so he probably pulled the OEM lamps out.

[Romahomepete]

Brodfather BSI actually means body systems interface just as ECU means engine control unit

Peter

[DazzleD]

Hello,

Thank you to everyone who posted responses.

I am posting this time with my findings and outcome.

I found this video on YouTube, which proved to be very useful. It shows how to replace front interior light bulbs on a Peugeot, but the principle is the same.

How to replace front interior light bulb-PEUGEOT RIFTER/CITROEN BERLINGO/OPEL COMBO/TOYOTA PROACE CI - YouTube

I decided to start by checking the front lamps, so I made myself an aluminium pry tool, and followed the video.

It turned out that the 3 front lamps were LED, so I am assuming they came as standard, but I am just guessing on this, see pic below of the lamps I found installed (the white ones).


With the ignition off and doors closed, I got the headlining panel down.

I disconnected all of the plugs. I could then work on removing the interior light housing to access the bulbs on my lap.
This last part was quite tricky, but careful perseverance paid off.

I found that the courtesy and map lights had the same lamps in them. I knew the maps lights worked, so swapped one into the central fitting. Plugged it all back in (but didn't re fit panel) to see if anything had changed. Bingo, the courtesy light worked (and one of the maps lights didn't).

I will be ordering a set of replacement lamps, and replacing all of them.
I really don't understand why a manufacturer would make the job of replacing a lamp so difficult, other than to generate more work/income for themselves!!

Indecently there was not any alerts from the vans software to say that a lamp had failed.

I hope this helps people in the future.

Thanks again for the responses.

[Sol]

These Argo LEDs are Chinese junk. Those are definitely not original and probably why one failed.

The original lamps would have lasted for decades. Someone before you had fitted cheapo LEDs replacing the originals. But remember the BSI doesn't monitor interior lights ..why? Because the driver can see them at all times!

Outside lights are not visible to you when driving so they are monitored for failure.

The roof lamp housing comes out without taking the headliner down but hey ho, you did it now..

The originals are 5w pygmy bulbs.

[DazzleD]

Hello Zion,

Thanks for your responses, and helpful info.

Interesting to learn that the BSI does not monitor the interior lighting, and it makes sense why, and explain the lack of any warning indication.

I didn't take the headlining down, only the central part (as demonstrated in the YouTube link I posted in an earlier post).
Please can you clarify, are you saying that removing the section outlined in blue (my pic below) is not required to replace lamps?
And are you saying that the opaque/diffuser section/s outlined in yellow is/are removable to replace the lamp instead (I hope so).
And lastly, were the original lamps you describe as pigmy, the 5W halogen capsule type?

Apologies for so many more questions, I want to replace the lamps with original versions, reinstating the longevity of lamp life, with minimum faff. 

....Having trouble inserting my pic as it makes message 665,000 characters (max permitted is approx. 65,000), so will post the pic separately to see if it can be done that way.....

[DazzleD]

Image relevant to my previous post couldn't be inserted, so I have attached it to this message.....

[Sol]

Hmmm, does seem a right faff to take the whole unit down to change a bulb. I'm not sure about that now I see yours, the bit with the diffuser looks tiny, surely that would come out but I understand the difficulty and reluctance to potentially break it.

The bulbs should be w5w (501) but maybe your hand book details the lamps?

I've attached the handbook, very detailed and does show bulb changes - just not found the interior one. Give it a scan and see.


  2022-citroen-berlingo-owners-manual_.pdf (Size: 9.62 MB / Downloads: 5)