Technical Electrical mayhem

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Technical Electrical mayhem

yellowbrick

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hi,


I have some theories on why my battery light comes on, then the revometer goes, along with water and fuel guage but not speedometer!

This is on my cinqucento sporting abarth 95. It has an ecu so I am going to disconnect and re connect that to try reset, also same time as battery . . .

Obviously, I am hoping it is not a failing alternator!

It only seems to happen in lower gear, ie, when I have not go enough revs, say, going around a roundabout etc, so I keep the revs high and usually the battery light does not come on.

When it is on, it is brighter when I apply the brakes. Indicators alos stop working although the hazard lights still work


Also, there is no drop in performance of the engine, everything runs fine. So If it is just an electrical malfunction, its nothing too serious, then why does it start when I run in lower revs . . . :confused::eek:

Any ideas appreciated! Is this a Cinq thing!?:D
 
On a cinq the speedo is direct drive, not electrical.

First start by having a good look around the earths, engine and dash specifically.

A meter on the battery will tell you what the state of charge is. Earth the meter at different points just to check.

D
 
On a cinq the speedo is direct drive, not electrical.

First start by having a good look around the earths, engine and dash specifically.

A meter on the battery will tell you what the state of charge is. Earth the meter at different points just to check.

D



Ok thanks for this, I actually noticed a slight static buzz when I closed my door yesterday, never noticed this before.

Ive not got a battery meter unfortunatley but it looks to be fairly new.

Thanks for the info on the speedo.

Also, since I got the car, about 6months ago, the wiring underneath the steering wheel, it hangs down, the piece of plastic keeping it all in place sadly as not included when I bought the car:) I inspected them the other day and one has some plastic insulation missing, not much, about half a cm, so will patch that up.
 
Brief update, after leaving battery disconnected overnight, the next day no problems at all with about 2 hours driving, then right at the last few miles, again in low revs, warning light came on . . . I guess I am going to need to rule out some possible loose wiring and battery first.
 
hi, bit of a slow update here but it is Portugal after all . . .

I got a multi meter, spent 10 euros more than needed on one, (shouldve jsut got the made in china job!)

Anyway, the battery is good and the reading with the car running is around 14.60, so the alternator must be good, right!?

So I am leafing through the Haynes manual. Looking to check out fuses situation or loose wiring. Any fuse check tips?!

It is odd it is intermittent, I hope to get the bottom of it soon
 
Hi Yellowbrick.
There was probably some electrical issues before you bought the car ,with the wires hanging down.
Now this may seem daft but there could also be a low resistance in a connection somewhere.

I had somewhat similar issues, the answer was a bad connection in the rear light cluster. I cleaned the connecters and all the bulbs, getting rid of all the crud.
Again I know it seems daft, but it worked for me. It is a long shot.
 
thanks Arthur, will check that out, I wondered if this might be a possiblity
 
Some news, apparently the high beam does not work, just found this out at the car inspection in Portugal. I only drive in the day so never checked this.

at any rate, the switch is knackered, in that, high beam only works at the midway point of the switch arm, this failed the car test (like the MOT).

I have checked all fuses and relays, all seem good. Cant see any major wire problems, ive not disconnected them all to check though . . . thats the next task
 
Just to addendum to my last post.

I have found the Haynes manual not so full of info when it comes to fuses and so forth.

Looking around the web I see it may be an ecu thing and also, I want to make sure the next step is the right one, before I start fiddling around checking wires. The grounding is good, battery is good, alternator is good . . .

So, I think maybe I will check this high beam arm switch. Is it possible that this would cause such problems in the rest of the electrics? Seems like it should not, so the faulty high beam swtich arm seems like a separate problem to the lack if indicators, guages and warning light coming on for no (apparent) reason . . .

If anyone cane help with how to check the swtich arm?!

Can anyone shed some light on this, would be really grateful!

Thanks
 
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MEGA UPDATE> (if anyone is still reading!) Ive located the cause of the problem to be some loose connection / connectors behind the ignition key.

If I push this (white plastic block) then all lights indicators work as normal.

So, maybe this is usefull to know if someone has a similar problem . . .

Well, Im going to try and wedge it all in place as temporary fix but, if anyone has got some experience of this problem or fixing it on a Cinquencento, be glad to hear!
 
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