Repairing Com 2000 woes

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505604

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Fellow Frogger
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Junee, NSW
Following this thread by Decca and referring to a couple of YouTube videos, today I took apart the Com 2000 unit in my 2003 Peugeot 406 to fix the dreaded floppy indicator stalk.

I wasn't comfortable removing the steering wheel with the airbag, so the whole operation took place at my mechanic's premises. After he removed the wheel, I got to work and had little difficulty pulling apart the unit. I broke only 1 plastic tab due to aging plastics. I replaced the plastic rod with the spring inside the base with one of these items, purchased from eBay. Mine was so badly worn that you couldn't tell that it was supposed to have a rounded head on it.

Reassembly was not as easy as disassembling the unit. Both black tabs on the back of the unit which control the self-cancelling blinkers broke. I can't see that they'll have much of a negative impact other than the blinkers won't self-cancel. Please correct me if I'm wrong. But here's where the 'fun' began.

Once everything was put back together, (my mechanic did almost all of the work as it was getting late in the day), we reconnected the battery and turned on the ignition.
  • The wipers started of their own volition.
  • The windscreen washers sprayed continuously.
  • The indicators didn't work at all.
  • The headlights didn't work (neither main nor dipped beam).
The only way to stop the wipers and washers was to disconnect the battery.

After that, at various stages, the complete Com 2000 unit was removed from the car yet the wipers and washers would continue on their merry way. Yes, even without the wiper stalk being connected inside the car. Then, again with the Com 2000 unit out of the car, the headlights would turn on. Sometimes it would be dipped beam only whilst at other times it would be dipped and main, or maybe just the main beam! There was no recognisable pattern. The only constant thing was the wipers would operate all of the time whenever the battery was connected.

So, please help me understand what's gone wrong. (Yes, it doesn't work as intended!) But why? And much more importantly, how do I fix it?

Thanks for any help!

Andrew
 
When you find out, I've got a 406 HDi (CANBUS) with the same symptoms (plus it won't start). I've disconnected head light globes and pulled out fuses to stop it flattening the battery while I'm troubleshooting.

I haven't touched the COM2000 unit, but previous owner may have - I collected it as a non-runner, thinking I would be able to fix it...
 
I haven't tried starting mine. It might or it might not start, I don't know.

I attempted this repair only after talking to a fellow aussiefrogger. I now can't remember if I spoke to him or we just texted each other. Whichever it was, he assured me that it was a no-risk fix!

Why not simply disconnect the battery, rather than disconnect headlight globes and pull out fuses?
 
It was so I could test/trouble-shoot without flattening the battery/wearing out the screen/wipers etc...
 
Some of the Comm2000 have plastic sliders on the pcb that the stalks engage for high beam on LHS and washer motor on RHS. I'm guessing you didn't line these up so car think washer is activated hence wipers constantly running.

You can check while unit is open by pulling stalk forward and see if slider engaged correctly.

Without 3 hands they are difficult to have everything lined up to clip back together.
 
Thanks for replying. I'm not with the car now, but I'll check this tomorrow.

What I'm wondering is if the Com 2000 unit in my car doesn't have those plastic sliders. I can understand what you're saying about the wipers and washers on the RHS stalk, but I don't follow how it works on the LHS stalk. Maybe it'll make more sense when I'm looking at it, but if you want to explain anything further before tomorrow, you're welcome to do that, too!
 
I dont think I ever took photos, but the sliders have another set of electrical contacts underneath, from memory when the stalks are at correct location the sliders are fully out. there is a little finger in the stalk that need to line up with the slider. Makes sense when you open again.
 
I’ve had a look at the car now and I’m still not sure what the sliders are.

The mechanic told me that he has managed to get the wipers working correctly. The long metal contact fingers were not ‘bent’ in the correct shape and position to make proper contact with the terminals in the main Com 2000 body. Conversely, they didn’t completely lose contact when they were supposed to be in the off position. (He likes to fix things; he hates throwing something out if he believes it can, or should, be able to be fixed!)

Having been successful with the wipers, he began working on the light stalk. I wasn’t here for that, but he said that he was confident it was going well until a short wire came out from the stalk. Unfortunately the wire has a plug on the end and it is down a very small hole to plug it back in. And there’s a round PCB on top of the plug. That PCB Is held in place by two very small plastic lugs. It’s my job over the weekend to file the lugs without damaging the PCB.

I don’t know if I can get a good enough photo of the PCB end of the stalk. But I’m going to try and get some photos of the rest of the parts of the stalk as it looks like now, as well as the wire I mentioned. They will be in a following post, should I get them of a suitable quantity.
 
no problem, your on to it now, your version has copper fingers on tracks, never opened a floppy stack Comm2000 so possibly different. Delphi and Valeo model will be different, I think I have only opened Valeo versions
 
Delphi? Valeo?

Yes, I know both of those brands. But this one says DAV on everything that I can see. Is that another maker of the silly thing?

It’s not really silly. It’s just like all technology - great when it’s working, but a pain in the neck when it isn’t.
 
The repair - replacing the worn out plastic rod and the spring - has been done and the Com 2000 unit put back together.

I think that I noted that I broke a couple of plastic tabs as I was dismantling the unit. If I didn’t, I should have. Anyway, I looked at them and their placement and was reasonably sure that they would not cause any problems. I got my mechanic to look at them, too, and he was a bit more concerned than I was. But we had no choice but to reinstall the unit. Unless, of course, I wanted to have the car sitting on the driveway unable to be driven until I got a replacement Com 2000.

The blinkers don’t cancel automatically now. They make the sound like they are going to cancel, but they don’t cancel.
The left blinker doesn’t always work.
Sometimes the lights don’t turn off completely. They go to parking lights, but not off.
And I didn’t manage to fix the problem with the radio stalk.

I think that’s all. But that’s more than enough.

It would seem that those broken tabs might have been important, after all.

I have a friend who was given a box of ‘floppy stalk Com 2000’ units, but he has no Peugeot more modern than a 505. So he thinks that he has thrown out the lot.

I’ll post on the ’wanted’ forum as well, but if anyone reading this page has, or knows of a DAV Com 2000 housing in good condition, please let me know as soon as possible.

I specified DAV because that’s what is currently in my car. I don’t know if it’s interchangeable with other brands.

Thanks to all of you who have helped me with this one. It’s been an interesting task. And I’m the only one who is to blame for its failure.

Cheers,
Andrew
 
I have a spare radio volume stalk, but not sure a Valeo will fit a DAV unit, think the fittings were all the same but cant find any info now
 
Ah, fellers........ Firstly a big gold medal for perseverance and lateral thinking etc.... BUT... you have no idea how much you make me love my 203! Most complicated piece of technology on Poubelle? The small crank clipped in the glove box just in case of wiper failure.
That, guys is fail safe technology! Good luck with your continuing adventure (Have you thought of giving NASA a ring?)
Oh, and whatever you're paying your mechanic.......It isn't enough. 🤯
 
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