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Technical Instrument cluster dead... but an odd one this!

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Technical Instrument cluster dead... but an odd one this!

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V8burble

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I know there have been a few reports of instrument clusters dead, but here's an odd one for you.... any ideas welcomed :worship:

My wife reported that her instrument cluster had died (no rev counter or tachometer needle movement, no info or warning lights). She also mentioned that earlier the stop-start warning light had come on and the little warning triangle.

So I went and checked it out last night and found that the instrument cluster fuse (F37 if I remember correctly) had blown. I fitted a new fuse and took it out for a little test drive. All appeared well and went to bed happy in the knowledge that all was fixed and for less than £1.

However, today she reports the same problem so Out I go again and sure enough the 5A fuse has gone again. But this time there is a bit more information... The stop-start warning lights came on whilst on her way to work (about a 30 minute drive) but the instruments remained working fine until she got to work, but when she got in the car to come home the dash was dead.

So, I put another fuse in and went for another little test up and down the drive for a couple of minutes (headlights, heater blower, rear window heater etc all off) and before long low and behold the start stop lights come on and the message appears that start stop is unavailable. The instrument cluster still working fine. I turn the engine off and then back on again and no instruments and fuse blown again.

So, goodness knows what's causing it? Help!
 
I will indeed, although I would have thought that a short would blow the fuse immediately.... or at least whenever the short occurs. This appears fine whilst the car is running, but seconds later when the car is restarted the fuse blows. Odd!
 
V8burble said:
I will indeed, although I would have thought that a short would blow the fuse immediately.... or at least whenever the short occurs. This appears fine whilst the car is running, but seconds later when the car is restarted the fuse blows. Odd!
Click to expand...

I second what jrkitching says - take the wiring out of the rubber grommet and check it. With many of the car's electronic functions integrated into the instrument cluster (bulb check, etc) you never know what wiring functions might cause a cluster fault/blown fuse. Perhaps the tailgate wiring back-feeds into the earth wire just at the time after key-on when the cluster tests the bulb earthing. One thing is for certain - the fuse didn't blow for no reason at all.

-Alex
 
Yes, with sun shining I'll get out and have a good root around and see what I can find :)
 
It will be the wiring. Before I sold mine I had all the wires soldered with new wire.

My faults included blown rear brake light which kept blowing when they changed it; rear wiper coming on when starting car; boot light blown.

I paid £50 X 3 for the broken wiring to be repaired by an auto electrician.
 
go to google and type in "loom problems fiat 500"

select "my boot won't open" Fiat 500 club

You will see photographic evidence of the problem.

What year is your Fiat 500?
 
Heidi said:
It will be the wiring. Before I sold mine I had all the wires soldered with new wire.

My faults included blown rear brake light which kept blowing when they changed it; rear wiper coming on when starting car; boot light blown.

I paid £50 X 3 for the broken wiring to be repaired by an auto electrician.
Click to expand...
haha mine is still only at rear wiper turning on when i turn the car on = ) will update if/when it gets worse.
 
Ok, a quick update....

Thanks everyone for your help, I checked the wiring at the boot hinge and all looked to be fine, I checked the connector on the back of the dash cluster and again all looked fine... In fact I've checked all the earth points I can find and all the wiring I can access without finding anything.

So, I tried a bit more testing to try and narrow down the problem....

With a new fuse fitted I turned on the car and everything works perfectly. I go for a test drive and try turning on and off the start-stop which all works fine. I test the operation of the start-stop and all works fine. Turn the engine off and turn it back on with the ignition key and all works fine. Jump forward about half an hour of testing and all working fine then out of the blue whilst driving the "Start-stop is unavailable" error message comes up on the display, but the dash still works fine. Turn the car off and back on and the dash is dead and fuse blown. I tested again a few more times and the dash only dead following the start-stop unavailable error. It can take a few minutes for the error to appear or it can take hours but every time the same result.

So I looked at the costs of diagnostics etc etc and decided to try a s/h dash from a breakers (showing less miles so can be corrected later via diagnostic tool). So I've fitted the new cluster and so far so good, I've done about 30 miles of testing, stopping and starting etc and so far no problems with fuse or the cluster.

There is of course a but though! The new (second hand) cluster was obviously from a vehicle that had factory parking sensors as every time you first turn on the car it pops an error message "Parking help unavailable". I'm hoping that this can be fixed via diagnostic tool too, but I'll see when I take it to our local Fiat independent unless any of you guys knows before that?

If nothing else it's been an interesting tutorial on how to disassemble the Fiat LOL.

I'll keep you updated of course in case it helps others (y)
 
V8burble said:
Ok, a quick update....

Thanks everyone for your help, I checked the wiring at the boot hinge and all looked to be fine, I checked the connector on the back of the dash cluster and again all looked fine... In fact I've checked all the earth points I can find and all the wiring I can access without finding anything.

So, I tried a bit more testing to try and narrow down the problem....

With a new fuse fitted I turned on the car and everything works perfectly. I go for a test drive and try turning on and off the start-stop which all works fine. I test the operation of the start-stop and all works fine. Turn the engine off and turn it back on with the ignition key and all works fine. Jump forward about half an hour of testing and all working fine then out of the blue whilst driving the "Start-stop is unavailable" error message comes up on the display, but the dash still works fine. Turn the car off and back on and the dash is dead and fuse blown. I tested again a few more times and the dash only dead following the start-stop unavailable error. It can take a few minutes for the error to appear or it can take hours but every time the same result.

So I looked at the costs of diagnostics etc etc and decided to try a s/h dash from a breakers (showing less miles so can be corrected later via diagnostic tool). So I've fitted the new cluster and so far so good, I've done about 30 miles of testing, stopping and starting etc and so far no problems with fuse or the cluster.

There is of course a but though! The new (second hand) cluster was obviously from a vehicle that had factory parking sensors as every time you first turn on the car it pops an error message "Parking help unavailable". I'm hoping that this can be fixed via diagnostic tool too, but I'll see when I take it to our local Fiat independent unless any of you guys knows before that?

If nothing else it's been an interesting tutorial on how to disassemble the Fiat LOL.

I'll keep you updated of course in case it helps others (y)
Click to expand...

When you run a PROXI alignment on the vehicle this will correct the issue as the module as it stands is not "part of the car" it's like having an immigrant in the system until it is aligned!

The alignment will tell the speedo what your car has fitted etc...
 
Just wanted to add to this thread in case anybody else runs across this gauge cluster not working problem...
I had this exact same problem, plus the f37 fuse kept blowing. I replaced the brake light switch and it didn't fix the problem. After troubleshooting a bit, I saw that the 3rd brake light wasn't working. Unplugged it and problem fixed. Turns out, there was a short inside the 3rd brake light assembly. I will fix the short later in the light assembly later.. Easy fix!
 
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