Weird dashboard lights and gauges.

[maxcaddy]

In the past whenever I've gone to start it and the battery was too low, the gauges (water/fuel/revs/speed) all did a full sweep and back to stop. At that point I knew it wasn't going to turn over, but always tried just in case. Sometimes after disconnecting and charging the battery, it did a 'full sweep' when it was back on, but then always started. As I've had a 'battery drain' for the last 3 years I always disconnect the earth when its to be left overnight. 

Now, after fitting the replacement Alternator and charging the battery, the first thing is that the remote locking doesn't work. Key on to Ignition, and the gauges do a full sweep each time its turned on and off (battery always connected). None of the internal door switches now work without the key onto ignition setting. The central locking tries to unlock the already unlocked doors when flicking the switch on the door card, but it won't lock them. Internal top of windscreen switches open/close rear doors and lift tailgate only when the Ignition is on, whereas before they would work without even having the key in.

Back to the dashboard its also doing a wobbly whereby turning it on gives no dash warning lights at all, but turning it off makes the oil warning light come on even with the key out.

So, some fault associated with odd dashboard sequencing and door locking - does that mean anything to anyone ?

Lastly, worn batteries in the remote could be causing the remote locking to fail, but shouldn't affect the car controls for it ?. Have to say that I really don't want to play about too much with the alarm bits, as doing it wrong and having the alarm go off and bringing the neighborhood out to see what's going on (done that too many times) is somewhat embarrassing.

 

Edited June 6, 2022 by maxcaddy

[RichardM]

Silly idea, but will suggest it anyway as it doesn't cost anything. Disconnect the battery for 15 minutes, reconnect it with all doors etc. closed and light switches etc. off, when I do this I also shove a bulldog clip over the bonnet microswitch and if you've got a heavy leakage current, which I think you mentioned previously, pull the audio fuse (pink 30A).

Reconnect, wait a minute for the demon(ic) computer to check itself out and switch on the ignition......hopefully it may solve some of the problems, if not suggest you get your meter out and check the alternator wiring (continuity etc) , the wire colours I attached to the last reply will I hope help with this.

Best of luck, keep us informed of progress, or lack thereof.

[bignev]

Hi guys,

I was going to suggest more or less what Richard has, but by pulling the IOD fuse, in the past I have had that reset some very strange behaviour!

[maxcaddy]

Well many thanks chaps, however.......

It's not the IOD fuse cos I took that out many moons ago.

It's not rebooting the system cos that happens every morning when I reconnect the Battery.

It's not Fuses Nos 5 and 20, cos they're now both out, and its not better.

It's not (as someone else said to me) a dicky battery, as I changed that, and it's exactly the same.

What I have discovered is :- that to lock it (noting the key fob now doesn't do anything) you have to sit in it with all doors closed and Ignition on. Then Lock it by pushing the switch on the door panel down, and it all locks. Turn ignition off, use the inside door handle to unlock the drivers door, and then get out. then lock the drivers door manually outside, and it's all then locked. A right pain......

Anyway, all the time it's running it's useable, even though this latest scene of events is somewhat annoying. I did read the riot act to it a couple of years ago after when I replaced the Thermostat and Radiator, with the threat that it would be going to meet the great recycler in the sky if it went wrong again, and in fairness it has behaved itself until very recently. 

I'm just optimistic that there's something silly that has failed, and that I can easily/cheaply sort it out, otherwise I can see my patience wearing thin if it continues to mess about. 

 

[bignev]

Well yep that's a pain in the posterior!

 

I've warned mine a few times too, behave or else.

The AC no longer works, and I am NOT replacing that front to rear pipe run, I did it about 6 years ago with a new Chrysler part, very reasonable at the time, all 4 (2 cool 2 heat) pipes for about £150.

The rear heater coil leaks so its capped off.

It uses (don't know how or where!!) coolant - just regularly top it up.

Folding mirrors cocked up years ago. 

Electric sliding door drivers side cable track has broken a wire, it also had a new one about 5 years ago. No - my electrical soldering isn't any good, I've tried it.

Handbrake is predictably garbage.

Built in DVD player has a mind of its own, but my girls are a bit older now have other devices to keep them entertained, thankfully.

3 water pumps, 2 power steering pumps, 2 ignition coils, radiator, rear calipers stick then get replaced (possibly another on the cards now!), a couple of door lock actuators, 2 complete front suspension struts (springs / dampers / top mounts), at least 2 sets of front suspension drop links, anti roll bar bushes, front wheel bearings, and I'm sure lots of others I'm blanking from memory!

All minor, but still slightly annoying, given how much effort and parts I put into it when we bought it 8 years ago to make it pretty mint.

Like you, though, we think it is still a great car when it's behaving for family !

[maxcaddy]

.

Wow, a bit like comparing scars and bullet wounds .

The biggest problem for me is that A, they don't make them any more, and B that there isn't anything similar on the market to replace it.

In this day and age I struggle to understand why if you  have something which was successfully marketed around the world, then why did they (FIAT Chrysler) stop making it ?, seems totally dumb to me.

But hey in the words of many, what do I know .

 

 

[bignev]

Yep, cracking analogy!!

Oh I forgot about the charcoal canister fault that makes it a total pain putting petrol in, doesn't vent properly so takes forever once you get over about 6 litres, put its no big deal as we don't use much petrol, we're on LPG !!

Indeed, the only close things we fancy are Japanese import Toyota Vellfire, but still too pricy for us just yet!

And as for what do we know?? Well, me and my work colleague reckon, compared to the ones who are supposedly in charge of such things - EVERYTHING !!

[RichardM]

OH Bignev... and I thought I was suffering.....

I don't want to tempt fate but the only problem(s) I have are difficult to start when engine is hot, Very very occasionally she just dies whilst driving along (bloody difficult to steer when the engine dies) have to wait an indeterminate time and then away she goes with no apology, no explanation and performs faultlessly .. until the next time.

In three? years have replace fuel filter assembly (understand this is almost an annual event).

New camshaft sensor.

Heavy battery drain (cured by pulling the amplifier fuse (must get round to fixing the fault rather than bypassing it)).

New front hub assemblies, much quieter now.

Oh and the interior mirror fell off one very hot day .. must get round to fixing that.

Have had numerous cases of the old girl having a mental breakdown (Thatcham alarm detonating .. interesting how little notice people take of a car driving down the road with the hazard lights flashing and the siren announcing itself to the world), cured by disconnecting battery (took four attempts).

Handbrake of course is working as well as can be expected under the circumstances (but it gets through the MOT (sympathy vote I think). 

I bought another GV about a year ago as a spare parts store, haven't burgled it yet, apart from removing the amplifier with the intent on replacing mine (see battery drain) but removing the rear o/s trim seems to guarantee breaking the trim's supports and until I get round to checking the unidentified (huge) diode (not shown in the manual) am not 100% convinced it's a fault in the amp itself - any ideas ? 

So it seems I should count myself lucky ??

[bignev]

Well, we have had it 8 years! But only done 50,000 miles, total up to around 136,000 now.

Yeah you've not done too badly there!!!

Oh yep, the interior mirror.... proper mirror glue, then fed up with that and super glued the sod. Then again when it fell off again.

I don't like to temp fate either, but as yet not had the battery drain...... 

Had a few incidents of weird and wonderful behaviours, not locking, strange rear lights not on, etc, cured by the infamous "turn it off" reset (take the IOD fuse out, or battery disconnect).

Driving down the road with the alarm going off? Well why on earth would that raise any concerns??? Spare parts car!! Cracking!

[maxcaddy]

Well I've poked and probed inside and out, and whatever oddity is going on is lost on me. That said apart from the 'weirdness' of it, it's actually running fine, it's just the 'what's going to happen next' is unnerving.

One thing that is curious is that whenever the Battery is reconnected, the CD player does a cycle through the CDs with the CD lights flashing even though the ignition is off. Obviously then there's some connection to make it happen, and logically some fuse to protect it, which could be where the problems are ?

 

[bignev]

Ours does the same cycle through the CD / DVD multi changer when the battery is reconnected, so my guess on that is it's a normal event.

[maxcaddy]

18 hours ago, bignev said:

Ours does the same cycle through the CD / DVD multi changer when the battery is reconnected, so my guess on that is it's a normal event.

 

Which beggars the question as to why ?, what's so special about the CD/DVD that it has to come on before other things ?

In my case with my dodgy radio that switches itself off after 10 mins, there's some fault in there and I suspect its powering something or creating a draw which flattens the battery after awhile. Hence, then why is it 'unswitched' ?, and is there a fuse protecting it that can come out ?

Okay, I could fire it up and take the fuses in and out to see if any of them stopped powering the unit, but as the old girl is on borrowed time, and that I don't want anything further to go wrong with it, I'm wary of touching too much.

At the moment it's liveable, and the faff of manually locking the doors, and have to have the engine running to open the tailgate is an inconvenience I can bare.

 

[bignev]

Oh they obviously think they're very special 

Yep sometimes it really is better to not disturb stuff, I absolutely totally agree on not tempting fate!!!

On that radio weird switch off - my Renault van radio can be put ON when there is no key in the ignition, but it will go off after a period, couldn't accurately tell you but my guess would be 15 minutes, when I'm doing oil changes, or whatever it might be, I occasionally do that. So, does your radio come on with the ignition then go off later, or do you have to switch it on manually?

[maxcaddy]

Fairly sure the radio isn't the main failure as it stopped working about 4 years ago, the same time as the GPS, and long before my recent woes started.

To conclude the weird instrument cycling I can live with, the lack of central locking is inconvenient but liveable, and the uncertainty whether it all might suddenly stop has been mitigated by the fact its still running 2 weeks later.

So unless it gets significantly worse I'll keep it running until something else goes wrong 

 

[maxcaddy]

Well, discovered another little foible, the door mirrors won't fold in unless the engine is running . There's probably some other oddities as well, but that was the last thing of note. Of course having to start the engine again on a busy Ferry with a tradition belch of smoke, wasn't what everyone else wanted .

Now the good news, it's made it to the Pyrenees (again), but I did treat her very gently on the Motorways .