Technical A few problems? Brava 1.6ELX, please help

[browuk]

Hi all, new here and have just bought my first ever Fiat! its a 1600 ELX on a P reg, bought it for my Wife to learn to Drive in, to my amazement, its a wonderful car to drive however I have a few probs with it so hope you can help.

1st prob is the Temp guage, it is sort of working but intermitently keeps going up and down then off then on etc etc, is this a known fault? and what could it be, I fugired the sender must be working but maybe dodgy or maybe guage or is there connector that plays up on these?

2nd prob is the Electric windows are also intermittent, both rear windows are fine all the time just the 2 fronts, again, sometimes they work sometimes they dont, more often they work, just annoying when you have your window open and arrive home and cant shut it lol.

3rd prob is the airbag light is on, now, I have read quite a lot of you have this problem,the 5A fuse blows for the airbag, the only thing I wonder about is in the glovebox it says the sytem dhould be recharged in 06/06, could this be the cause?

anyway, I look forward to all your replies and I thank you all for taking the time to read and reply.

Cheers

Dave


p.s I need a bright Red O/S front wing if any of you know of or have one.

 

[jug]

1st prob is the Temp guage, it is sort of working but intermitently keeps going up and down then off then on etc etc, is this a known fault? and what could it be, I fugired the sender must be working but maybe dodgy or maybe guage or is there connector that plays up on these?.

this is very common, its almost always the wiring on the back of the instument panel. there's 2 connectors, check they are clean and secure. there's also some useful advice about this problem on the fiatboo website.

2nd prob is the Electric windows are also intermittent, both rear windows are fine all the time just the 2 fronts, again, sometimes they work sometimes they dont, more often they work, just annoying when you have your window open and arrive home and cant shut it lol.?.

sounds like loose switch wiring, most likely to be on the driver's side door. pull the switch surround off and you will see the 2 connectors, one black and one white, check they are both connected correctly and securely and that no wires have been pulled out of them, its possible someone didnt get them right last time they refitted the door card, or more likely that some fool tried to reomve the door card before disconnecting the switches causing damage by stretching the wires. also check the passenger side switch. if that fails to fix it you should check the wiring leading from the switches to the fuse box. a wiring diagram (haynes) will probably save you guessing. if only both front windows are having the problem i would think it isnt an issue with power coming from the fusebox as both front and rears are fed by the same live (iirc?)

3rd prob is the airbag light is on, now, I have read quite a lot of you have this problem,the 5A fuse blows for the airbag, the only thing I wonder about is in the glovebox it says the sytem dhould be recharged in 06/06, could this be the cause??.

my airbag light was on until i pulled the led out, you could do it while you check the connections on the back of the instument panel. fiat cant fix it, their equipment will indicate many airbag issues, mostly wiring or sensor related, and even if they replace every bit of yellow wire in the car and every sensor it will almost definately come back on. just live with it or remove the led. your airbags will probably not work in an accident, so if you have loads of money and spare time take it to your dealer, but dont expect it to be cheap or to actually fix the problem. even my girlfrined's mk2 punto has several reciepts from fiat where they have replaced airbag system components and her light is still on, the previous owner spent a lot and got no where.

 

[browuk]

thanks for the reply, have been out playing, pulled the panel out and checked all wiring - all seems ok, may have been dosgy so cleaned up anyhow, I also checked the window switches, again, seemed ok but cleaned up just in case, I thought I would check the temp sender connection again seemed ok but upon doing this I have just discovered there is a very slight leak in the rad at the bottom right so looks like i'll need to get a rad now, that may also be the cause of the temp guage who knows.

anyone got a cheap rad :idea:

 

[jug]

ok if the easy stuff hasnt worked it sounds like you need to do this
http://fiatboo.co.uk/photogal/guidepics/jumpingtempdial_2.pdf

as for the radiator, make sure it isnt just a leaking pipe connected to the rad first. if it is leaking new ones dont cost much, wouldn't bother with a scrapyard radiator, its often a false economy. or you could try some stopleak additive in the cooling system, although i personally think that stuff can cause more trouble if it blocks things up.

 

[browuk]

thanks, I wont know if its worked untill I run it up which I didn't fancy doing till I have sorted the leak,

am I right in saying the rads for 1.4 and 1.6 are the same?

basically just want a cheap rad to chuck in and solve the leak and make sure everything is ok before I start spending money on it, I've only had it 2 days lol.

was going to ask your opinion on stop leak stuff as I know many cars dont like it, and yes it does block stuff e.g thermostat. do you reckon its worth chucking some in to try.

 

[jug]

i wouldn't try it, getting it in is easy but getting the stuff out is a nightmare, it can clog everything up permanently. not sure if the 1.4 and 1.6 rads are the same, i would guess they are. point to note, if you change the red when you refill the coolant system you need to use the bleed screw on the rad and also 1 or 2 bleed screws on coolant hoses near the heater matrix. a lot of ppl have had problems finding the bleed screws.

 

[Hellcat]

You sure its a 5amp fuse for the airbag system? I'm sure mine said 10amps. It may well be worth having the airbag diagnosed. I had mine done and it was found to be passenger airbag switch. Had all the connections cleaned up and zip-tied together and all was fine until a dodgy trailerboard spiked my electrics and played something dodgy with the airbag ecu.

 

[jug]

it probably wasnt a dodgy trailer board its a dodgy airbag system, they're so sensitive that starting the car with a flattish battery and your headlights on can cause a voltage dip and stick the light on, or a bulb blowing can cause a voltage spike also turning it on, its soo annoying, but most other makes are the same so we cant blame fiat this time.

 

[browuk]

ok, thanks, I already knew about the bleed screws, I will try and source a rad and then cross me fingers.

 

[browuk]

Hi, just thought i'd give an update, Rad done, bled system, heaters are good, temp guage now fixed ( dodgy wire to plug on sender so cut a plug off a breaker and replaced ) temp goes upto half way and if sitting for a while fan kicks in so I assume all is ok. electric windows problem was down to the relay in the glovebox being a dodgy connection.

just wondered, my remote locking / alarm isn't working either, if I turn it off by the key in the fusebox then turn it back on, the alarm makes a beep and the indicators flash then another beep ( no indicators ) if I turn the ignition on the alarm goes off and I cant turn off by key with button, only by key slot in fuse compartment.

I have tried the program sequence, I push and hold the button on the interior light and the led also on the interior light area flashes rapidly so far so good, then I push the remote button and the light stops flashing - isn't the light supposed to stay on untill you let go of the button to indicate that the code has been stored?

any ideas much appreciated.

thanks

 

[jug]

its common for the button on the key to snap one or both of its solders, a soldering iron sorts that in a jiffy. also its common for gunk to collect on the battery terminals, both poitive and negative, take it apart and clean it up. also the battery in the key could be flat. does the red light on the key illuminate only once when you hold the button down? thats a sign the battery is dead.

if the key is definately working ok then its probably an alarm fault. which could be replaced with scrapyard parts.

 

[browuk]

Hi, I have had a look inside and all looks ok, when yu push the button, the lights keeps flashing untill you let go, is this right?

 

[jug]

yep a good key will keep flashing if you hold the button.

so it seems the key isnt programming into the alarm. usually i'd think the reciever is broken (the bit on interior light) but if the flashing led turns off at exactly the same time you press the key button then it is obviously receiving the key's transmission, but not storing it. so i'd think the alarm is at fault. best to get the alarm checked out by fiat (£40). or if you wanna take a chance and avoid fiat you could replace the alarm with a scrapyard one, any bravo alarm can learn any key.