General Newbie with MK1 Ulysse Problems

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General Newbie with MK1 Ulysse Problems

wez_fiat

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Mar 7, 2008
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Hi all, just got a 1996 Ulysse 1.9TD - seemd to drive very very well, but has a few 'niggles'

Both Speedo & Rev counter dont work at all - but temperature/fuel gauge do - would you say this was probably a faulty set of clocks rather than a wiring/sensor issue (i have searched this forum and found many posts on the speedo sensor faulty/connector - but with both rev and speedo not working i'm thinking clocks?)

Also my heater blower isnt working at all - are the switches prone to going faulty?

Any help greatfully appreciated.
Cheers.
Wez
 
I traded in my 1996 1.9TD Ulysse a few months ago, with the speedo and rev counter not working. The rev counter died some years ago, but the speedo went intermittent and then failed only last year. I didn't get to the bottom of the problem. :)idea: I wonder if you bought my old car ? No, my blower was working when I sold it).

The blower switch (on the manual heater) is a wiping contact switch, consisting of a sprung metal wiper and contacts on the printed circuit board. My switch was intermittent so I opened up the control panel and bent the wiper legs to increase the contact pressure. This worked most of the time, but it still played up sometimes. I think that part of the problem was a lack of electrical grease on the contacts.
 
thanks for the reply

the heater switch was fine - after removing the bottom half of the dashboard, i found the wiring for the electrics had totally butchered, random wires pulled from fusebox, extra wires and relays added (incorrectly wired too may i add)

i have tried a set of known good clocks - and they also dont work in my vehicle, so it must be a wiring issue

I now have heaters - but theres wiring missing from the fuesbox for rear heated screen, front & rear fogs and a few other things!
 
Last edited:
Hello.
This appears to be a design fault with the speedo & rev counter, the mechanisms which are virtually identical. The problem arises because the spindle, that one of the tiny cogs revolves upon is moulded in one part. It looks to be of transparent plastic, and very prone to break.

I repaired mine with a Dremel, a large paperclip amd some Araldite. This repair was made 2 years ago, and is still holding strong.

Firstly, you need to remove the entire instrument cluster using the right sized torque screwdriver. Once safely on the kitchen table, in a good light, you can see what has occurred.
Basically, you need to drill a small hole where the spindle has snapped off. Then drill a hole with the Dremel, in which to mount a replacement section of spindle, made from the chunky paper clip. This is carefully secured in place with the Araldite, and re-assembled a day or two later.

I found a repair to be virtually free to undertake, as chasing a replacement part was time consuming and looked to be very expensive. This I assume is due to the fact that they fail so frequently. It is a fairly fiddly job to do, but I found it well worth the effort.

I hope this helps in some way.

Regards...John
 
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