Car maintenance at Castrol service repairs and diagnostics of new cars/cars under warranty at the ass (authorised service station) level. Citroen, Peugeot, ds, opal (PSA)

In order to take advantage of the options offered by a PSA Group car manufacturer you must first register with the Service Box portal (https://public.servicebox-parts.com/pages/index.jsp) (Fig. 1). The Firefox browser is recommended. The website’s default language is French, which can be changed in the bottom right corner. The registration process is illustrated by example of a workshop in Poland. The requirements and registration process may vary in details for each individual country, so always follow the instructions. 

Directly on the home page the manufacturer has shared digital vehicle manuals without the need to register or log in. In order to gain access to other portal functions you must first complete the basic registration process. After selecting the Registration option from the ServiceBox portal home page, the website will redirect you to the registration form where you must first select the account profile (Fig. 2) which you are going to create (this will determine the first two letters of the ServiceBox system login assigned by the system). 
If you are registering an independent workshop, select “Professional motor repairer” and then click on the Confirm button to move on to the next section.  

The next step is to complete the data for the workshop that is applying for access to the PSA Group ServiceBox platform (Figs. 3, 4). In this step you must specify: 
 
a) Title 
b) Surname and first name of the Service Box system company administrator 
c) Email address, which you will confirm in the next field by entering it a second time. 
d) Phone number, beginning with the country code –  +44 for the UK 
e) In the following fields are for the workshop address (street, number, postcode and town) 
f) Then confirm your country – it will be selected automatically based on your IP address. If it has not been identified, select your country manually 
g) The full name of the company, i.e. the one provided to Companies House if a limited company in the UK. 
h) In the next field enter the UK or Eurpoean VAT number (if the VAT number is not entered, tax will be added to the purchases in the ServiceBox portal) 
i) In the last two fields enter the portal password and repeat it. 
 
You must provide a European VAT number (i.e. NIP tax identification number starting with the country abbreviation, e.g. PL for Poland) which can be obtained from the Tax Office (this is relevant to Polish law; in any other EU country or in the UK this authority may be different), and checked on the European Commission website under the Confirmation of VAT number (VIES) tab. Providing a European VAT number means that no French tax will be added during purchasing, and the full amount will be charged with 0% VAT (UK VAT law may be different) It is recommended to avoid the use of special characters and letters when filling in any of the registration fields, e.g., ł, ć, ą, ä, ö, è, !, ?, including the company name. This may result in adding incorrect data to the invoice (special characters replaced or deleted). 
After completing the required fields and confirming reCAPTCHA as well as the general terms and conditions for using the portal and relevant fees, move on to the next stage using the Confirm button. 
 

In the next step of registration is to review the data entered  in the registration form. If there is a green dot next to the European VAT No. it means that the number is active. If there is a red dot, check whether the EU VAT Number has been entered correctly or is relevant. The Service Box portal may be experiencing temporary problems verifying the EU VAT number if it displays a red dot. 
Then confirm the data by selecting the Confirm button. 

In the last step of registration, the data used to create the ServiceBox account is displayed (Fig. 6).  

After the system has verified the data, your login and password will be sent to the email address provided (Fig. 7). The password in the email message must be the same as the one provided during registration. For independent workshops the correct login should start with the letters “AN...”.  

To log in, enter the login and password sent by email. Remember that the login must start with capital letters (e.g. AN...). Log in with the Connect button next to the fields on the Service Box home page (Fig. 8).  

 

After logging in to Service Box you can use the tabs to gain access to: 

1. Spare parts catalogue: 
2. Technical information – repair manuals, wiring diagrams, car data 
   
3. Orders – where you can purchase subscriptions for technical documentation and diagnostics
4. My account – account management, editing data, reviewing invoices and accessing the EmelDiag platform which manages queries to the manufacturer (e.g. unlocking the option for telecoding selected calculators with DiagBox) 
   

Up to 2020 only paper service books were available for Citroen, Peugeot and DS. In 2020 the company introduced the option of adding entries to a digital service book. This system allows inspections carried out by an independent workshop to be recorded. An inspection performed by an independent car workshop, along with them completing the inspection list, adding entries to the Digital Service Book (if available), deleting an inspection via DiagBox, complying with procedures and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts or parts with CQ marking (parts of the comparable quality with OE), ensures that the warranty is maintained in those cars for which it is still relevant.   

The Digital Service Book system can be accessed on the Service Box platform after logging in, entering the car’s VIN No. and clicking on the key icon on the right (Fig. 9). However, in order for a car to have a Digital Service Book, the owner must purchase its subscription. If there is no access, the key icon is displayed in an orange field: if the Digital Service Book is available, the field changes its colour to green. Due to the fact that this service has only recently become available from the company, few cars on the market have been subscribed to it.  
Moreover, in order to gain access to the inspection list, you need to purchase access to the technical documentation, and to delete a service inspection with DiagBox you need to purchase an appropriate token for diagnostics (the purchase process is presented later in this article). 

PSA’s technical documentation is divided into several groups,  depending on category and car systems, and includes the following (Fig. 9): 

 

Vehicle 

•     New – new vehicle selection 
•     Data – decoding vehicle equipment after entering the VIN No.  
•     General information – general information regarding the brand and model
   

Intervention 

•    Mechanics – technical information on the mechanical parts of the car (repair manuals, TSBs [technical service bulletins], etc.) divided into:

1.    Engine 
2.    Gearbox system  
3.    Transmission  
4.     Suspension system 
5.     Steering system 
6.     Braking system
    

• Body – technical information and body and paint repair manuals divided into component groups
  
• Equipment – technical information and repair manuals for equipment and lighting components 
  
• Electrical components – technical information and repair manuals for electrical components in the car
• Accessories – technical information and repair manuals for components that the car can be or has been retrofitted with  
   

Diagnostics  
 

• Functions – summary of information on the functioning principles of technical solutions divided into groups of systems in the car
• Symptoms – summary of common symptoms reported by the customer and their solutions, divided into groups of systems in the car 
• Socket arrangement (free) – indicates the DLC (data link connector) socket location in the car and its wiring diagram  
   

Maintenance 

• Inspection plans – generating inspection cards and inspection synthesis cards  

Every group from the above division is organised into components for which the activities are displayed:

• Parts – access to the parts catalogue  
  
• Repair times – list of working times for individual service activities 
  
• Diagnostics – diagnostic procedures, operating principles and TSBs (technical service bulletins) for individual components 
  
• Repair methods – repair manuals (disassembly and assembly), torques of individual components 
  
• Diagrams – access to wiring diagrams (it is recommended to search for wiring diagrams by VIN No.– in the absence of a VIN No. provide the car equipment and OPR vehicle equipment code) 
• Accessories – accessories available for installation with price and installation manual 
  
• Special tools – a set of special tools used in the Repair methods and Diagnostics tabs

It is recommended to search for documentation by VIN No. Every document displayed is then selected based on the vehicle equipment code, i.e. its factory completeness. However it is still possible to select a vehicle without the VIN No.

Access to documentation is chargeable with the exception of the DLC socket location and inspection synthesis. Please note that documentation is offered per specific brand, which means that if you purchase access to Citroen documentation you will not be able to access Peugeot, DS or Opel documentation.  
In order to purchase documentation access, select “Order documentation subscription” from the Order tab on the Service Box home page. A page will load where you can select the brand for which you want to purchase technical documentation (Fig. 10).  

After selecting the brand, choose subscription period and vehicle versions. The cost of access to documentation depends on the duration of access, brand and vehicle type, as shown in the tables below: 

The access time for purchased documentation starts from the moment the documentation is attached by entering the VIN No. or is started manually from the Technical information tab.

DiagBox software is intended for diagnostics on Citroen, Peugeot, DS Automobiles and Opel (after 2019) cars that comply with the EU5 standard introduced in 2008. However this does not mean that every car manufactured after that year can be diagnosed with DiagBox software. Only the vehicles with engines complying with the EU5 standard and above can be diagnosed with DiagBox, operating in Pass Thru mode on tokens (e.g. it is not possible to perform diagnostics, programming, etc. on a Citroen Jumpy 2011 with an EU4 engine as the software will not recognise the VIN No.). In order to download the DiagBox software you must first have an active token for diagnostics (teletransmission). Tokens are purchased in the ServiceBox portal: select Diagnostics in the Order tab and a window will be displayed where you can purchase a token (Fig. 11). 
First select the brand for which the token will be purchased. Available brands are Citroen, Peugeot, DS and Opel/Vauxhall (PSA). Once you have purchased a teletransmission token for one brand you cannot use it for another brand. Tick the box to indicate that: 

 

1. You have purchased time-limited access    
2. You understand that a VCI unit compliant with the SAE J2534/2 standard is required  
3. The computer station is compatible with the requirements (as provided above)  
4. The person operating the device has been properly trained in the device operation
   

 

Then enter the number of tokens to be purchased and add them to the basket.  Accept the terms and conditions in the basket and make the purchase. It is not possible to add two tokens for two different brands at the same time. You need to complete the payment for the first one before you can buy the second one. 

The cost of purchasing a diagnostics token for each brand is shown in the table below. 

Please note that the purchased diagnostics token applies to a single VIN No. for 7 calendar days. The access time begins after logging in to the DiagBox software and starting diagnostics. 
After you have made your purchase, the number of available tokens is displayed on the ServiceBox home page in the Diagnostics tab on the left (Fig. 12). 

Next, on the page where the diagnostics token was purchased (i.e. the Order tab and then Diagnostics), a new window called Teletransmission will appear by default (Fig. 13). The option to download DiagBox via the “Executable DiagBox” button will appear. 

The system requirements for DiagBox are as follows: 
    

1. 1.9 GHz x86 processor 
   
2. 4 GB RAM  
3. 11 GB free hard disk space  
   
4. Currently only Windows 10 (64 bit)  
   

 

In summary, access to the PSA Group ServiceBox portal provides diagnostics and maintenance for this group’s vehicles at Authorised Service Station level. Other brands use a similar method to each other for purchasing documentation subscriptions,  but purchasing a diagnostics token is entirely different. Purchasing a token for a single VIN No. for 7 calendar days covers car diagnostics, fault verification, and component replacement, adaptation and coding. Please note that periodic maintenance of PSA Group vehicles must be performed in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines, according to the inspection list generated for the specific vehicle VIN number and declared mileage. This ensures that the manufacturer’s warranty for the vehicle is maintained, regardless of the lack of periodical maintenance at ASS.