Well I've ordered the crank(RPM) sensor this morning and decided to start with the most difficult first.

The permanent lights thing. I suspected the body computer so I removed it this morning and found what looks like white water marks on the PCB.

I'm not 100% sure but it looks like I may be on the right track so I gave a it a quick squirt of electrical cleaner and use a soft brush on it, looks like new now.

Can the body computer be replaced with one from a breakers if it turns out this one is unrepairable?

cris1117 said:

3. Check front crank pulley, common fault lots of threads covering this.

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I'm sure your spot on, seems like the noise is deffinately coming from the pulley.

Had the car runing now for almost 45 minutes, no loose conection and its still running so could me cleaning the crank(RPM) sensor have cured it?

Shadeyman said:

Can the body computer be replaced with one from a breakers if it turns out this one is unrepairable?

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Not sure on that one.

I read somewhere that if you order a BC from Fiat, it's pre-programmed to the specific VIN before leaving the factory.

If that's the case, it would suggest that it's not possible to program it for all the optional NODEs via the proxy alignment procedure.

OR.... perhaps the VIN is stored in both the engine management ECU and the BC and the two have to match.

We need to hear from someone who's actually fitted a second hand one successfully.

Yes, it can, needs Proxy Alignment though .

You can use on Stilo , a 147 BC and a Stilo BC on 147.
Tested ! Although eper numbers are different.

Shadeyman said:

Well I've ordered the crank(RPM) sensor this morning and decided to start with the most difficult first.

The permanent lights thing. I suspected the body computer so I removed it this morning and found what looks like white water marks on the PCB.

I'm not 100% sure but it looks like I may be on the right track so I gave a it a quick squirt of electrical cleaner and use a soft brush on it, looks like new now.

Can the body computer be replaced with one from a breakers if it turns out this one is unrepairable?

Click to expand...

Is this the body computer? I thought it was more robust, I had the same white marks on the PCB of the numberplate bulbs which was making a short circuit on the board. Isn't the casing of the ECU water tight?

neonglow said:

Is this the body computer? I thought it was more robust, I had the same white marks on the PCB of the numberplate bulbs which was making a short circuit on the board. Isn't the casing of the ECU water tight?

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No. I guess because it's inside the car they didn't bother?



I cleaned and refitted the body computer and it seems ok so no need to replace it( i think). So whats causing the lights to stay on?

Could a bad earth/connection somewhere at the rear of the car be the cause? I'm sure I read a thread on here where permanant lights were caused by a combination of poor earths and connections?

Preheat fault is solved. Used Argonauts guide, the glow plugs of cylinders 2 and 4 are faulty so just ordered a full set.

Shadeyman, just want to say your MW really looks good

Stealth123 said:

Shadeyman, just want to say your MW really looks good

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Thanks.

She's a lovely beasty, perfect for our needs.

Ok now I'm really confused.

Fog light has now gone off but the righthand side brake light has come one in its place.

I must have desturbed something while I've been messing and the fault has moved.

Shadeyman said:

Ok now I'm really confused.

Fog light has now gone off but the righthand side brake light has come one in its place.

I must have desturbed something while I've been messing and the fault has moved.

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I was really puzzled the same way when I first got my "Number Plate Bulb.." error. It turns out that there is a PCB in every electrical component on that car, I guess these are the nodes that connect to the BC. The one that feeds the numberplate bulbs was heavily corroded and besides giving random error messages on the dash it also made the bulbs go on and off all the time. It was really a struggle getting to that, because it's all capsulated and I had to melt the casing to get to that board which eventually I just bypassed and now I get no errors regarding bulbs and numberplates

neonglow said:

I was really puzzled the same way when I first got my "Number Plate Bulb.." error. It turns out that there is a PCB in every electrical component on that car, I guess these are the nodes that connect to the BC. The one that feeds the numberplate bulbs was heavily corroded and besides giving random error messages on the dash it also made the bulbs go on and off all the time. It was really a struggle getting to that, because it's all capsulated and I had to melt the casing to get to that board which eventually I just bypassed and now I get no errors regarding bulbs and numberplates

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I have random number plate errors too havent noticed any wierd light problems tho and the number plate bulbs work. I cant get at them tho because the screws are rusted where is the pcb?

Thats good news about the bc being interchangeable this cars def goin back on the road I can see you making a very tidy profit too.

Update.

Crank(RPM) Sensor should be here Thursday.

New Glow Plugs should also be here Thursday.

I've spent the whole day trying to trace this electrical fault.

Eventually traced it back to the only place with a permanent live that could cause the lights to stay on even with the key removed.

Yes you guessed it, the Body Computer.

It looked ok to me but after 6 hours of elimination it had to be the body computer so I unplugged it and swopped it with the body computer in our Multiwagon.

BINGO!

Our Multiwagon now had the exact same lights permanently on.

So, what to do now. Are they repairable?

Shadeyman said:

.

BINGO!

Our Multiwagon now had the exact same lights permanently on.

So, what to do now. Are they repairable?

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Shadey I might not be able to give you advice on cars but generally a PC I can.

The photos show basically a motherboard, all sorts of sensitive points and as complicated as hell. Likely there is a software fault on the board and these things are not really reprogramable. A PC motherboard can be done with a BIOS update but this I don't think so.
Generally if your "motherboard" is kaputt, throw it away and get a new one.

Edit sorry one capacitor, take a close look at it

Wish you all the luck on the car and I am happy to see our resident expert asking for help...long live Fiat Forums!!!!!!!!

When I removed the board from its plastic case I noticed one corner of the board was warm/hot so I just took a really close look at it and this is what I found.

Looks like 2 of the chips have over heated?

Any electronic wizz kids want to give me their verdict?

The heat seems to have melted some see though brown stuff around the pins of the chips?

Edit.
Just cleaned the brown stuf off incase it was causing a short.

Cant tell really but the connections seem ok. Heat is normal, check the underside for heat damage, you can get the chips for $6 but you need an expert to replace them (if it can be done). Normally you buy a chip so you can build your own board and not to repair damage on an existing one.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/D...s)&WT.srch=1&WT.content=text&WT.source=google

Stealth123 said:

Cant tell really but the connections seem ok. Heat is normal, check the underside for heat damage, you can get the chips for $6 but you need an expert to replace them (if it can be done). Normally you buy a chip so you can build your own board and not to repair damage on an existing one.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/D...s)&WT.srch=1&WT.content=text&WT.source=google

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I'm not sure these chips are the cause of the lights staying on, its just the only visual thing I can see that might be the cause.

As you say, I need an expert.

silly question and i wouldn't blame you if you didn't for risk of buggering up your mw but did the mw start with the fugly BC in it. Did you try the mw BC in fugly.

this would answer your question about whether a BC from another jtd will work.

rattystilo said:

silly question and i wouldn't blame you if you didn't for risk of buggering up your mw but did the mw start with the fugly BC in it. Did you try the mw BC in fugly.

this would answer your question about whether a BC from another jtd will work.

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I already knew the car wouldn't start due to the details of the key transponder being stored in the BC. Swopping the BC means the key atleast would have to be reprogrammed to the car and I think thats a dealer only trick.

I'm also sure there is a different BC for each body type so swopping the BC with another from another car with the same body type may work if the key is reprogrammed.

Shadeyman said:

I'm not sure these chips are the cause of the lights staying on, its just the only visual thing I can see that might be the cause.

As you say, I need an expert.

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Generally I am saying you need a new board!
I know from experience with computers that it is not worth the time and effort to do a repair on a motherboard, most of the time there are other problems that you cannot see. My wife forced me to throw away the 4 motherboards I had lying around, even she knew they were useless.
If someone does come up with a way to check the firmware on the board and update it, I will listen

Stealth123 said:

Generally I am saying you need a new board!
I know from experience with computers that it is not worth the time and effort to do a repair on a motherboard, most of the time there are other problems that you cannot see. My wife forced me to throw away the 4 motherboards I had lying around, even she knew they were useless.
If someone does come up with a way to check the firmware on the board and update it, I will listen

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The body computer is a very simple computer so you'd expect a price similar to this:
http://www.shop.bt.com/products/asu...le&utm_medium=product+search&utm_content=RR00

But no, Fiat charge £455 for it, so its worth repairing if its possible.