Hey everyone.
This is my first post so forgive me if I am posting in the wrong place or this has already been answered!
My 57 plate Fiat GP (5 door, 1.2 ltr) has had fusebox issues in the past, and more recently my headlights have just started to flicker during a drive, then go out all together for long periods of time, making it undrivable at night.
I've changed all the fuses and even changed a relay.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

If you wiggle the multi function switch that turns the lights on what happens?

Mine went bad but fortunately in my case only for the sidelights

DGPunto said:

If you wiggle the multi function switch that turns the lights on what happens?

Mine went bad but fortunately in my case only for the sidelights

Click to expand...

Tried that, they don't do a lot. I turn them off, then to side lights and side lights come on fine. Twist again to dipped beam and they either stay off or have a slightly delayed response coming on. Have tried the switch in loads of different ways with no joy.

Thanks!

Remove battery clams clean the posts up and refit the battery making sure the clamps are tight
Had. Problem with lights going off before when battery terminals were loose

Hi, I had similar symptoms and fixed mine around a month ago. Search for a thread with title "Headlight's won't turn off".
In particular the last post helped me hugely,

hi ..the fault is due to a broken wire in the indicator stalk remove the indicator switch assembly complete. Remove torx drive screws and split the switch into two.the p.c. board inside has a white two pin plug on it with a red and black wire attached to it pull on these one of them (possibly the black)will be broken as it goes into the indicator lever. Remove the stalk (it will come out of the switch housing) split the cup at the base of the stalk with a small screwdriver then the rear of the the stalk can be removed for the wire to be repaired

It took me around an hour and solved all my headlight issues. If you aren't willing to repair the stalk through soldering a new wire, you can replace the unit for £30 used or £60 new. My advice to you would be to disassemble the unit and check that it functions correctly (A free Job, should only take an hour) so that you can disregard the headlight stalk as the source of the issue. Also check for moisture in the fuse box, this can cause the electrics to become dodgy until dried.
Cheers

KendricksLlama said:

Hey everyone.
This is my first post so forgive me if I am posting in the wrong place or this has already been answered!
My 57 plate Fiat GP (5 door, 1.2 ltr) has had fusebox issues in the past, and more recently my headlights have just started to flicker during a drive, then go out all together for long periods of time, making it undrivable at night.
I've changed all the fuses and even changed a relay.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

The problem are the switches around the steering wheel, or wiring system:

When the only wire that controls headlights sends 0v, it means that lights on the car are on, when you send other voltage, depending on what voltage is (it is managed with voltage-divider system) you will enable low beams, side lights, and so on.

Most common issue is that the switch is damaged due to the extreme temperatures, dirtyness, use, and quality (how much Miles and years do you have your car approximately?). Maybe there is a short-circuit, or voltage-divider resistors are damaged or not well welded.

If problem persists, try replace the switches or open them (really carefuly) and try to fix them.

Best regards,
Julio.

Thank you so much!

anyzunstudios said:

The problem are the switches around the steering wheel, or wiring system:

When the only wire that controls headlights sends 0v, it means that lights on the car are on, when you send other voltage, depending on what voltage is (it is managed with voltage-divider system) you will enable low beams, side lights, and so on.

Most common issue is that the switch is damaged due to the extreme temperatures, dirtyness, use, and quality (how much Miles and years do you have your car approximately?). Maybe there is a short-circuit, or voltage-divider resistors are damaged or not well welded.

If problem persists, try replace the switches or open them (really carefuly) and try to fix them.

Best regards,
Julio.

Click to expand...

Hi Julio,
thanks a lot for your reply. My car has done 102,000 miles, so quite a lot! The car is just over 10 years old but I have only had it 2. Does the switch mean the twisty mechanism on the indicator stalk?

Thanks!

anyzunstudios said:

The problem are the switches around the steering wheel, or wiring system:

When the only wire that controls headlights sends 0v, it means that lights on the car are on, when you send other voltage, depending on what voltage is (it is managed with voltage-divider system) you will enable low beams, side lights, and so on. Best regards,
Julio.

Click to expand...

Hola Julio, You're not 100% right :

the external lights switch is divided in two parts, sharing a common ground wire at pin #10 .
The twisty part controls if the light is either OFF (no ground), sidelight ON (direct grounding) or main beam ON (grounded thru resistor), @ pin #3 .
The pully part controls if the main beam is low (no ground), high (direct grounding) or "pulsed" (grounded thru resistor), @ pin# 2.

Attached are ther two circuits...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

Bernievarian said:

Hola Julio, You're not 100% right :

the external lights switch is divided in two parts, sharing a common ground wire at pin #10 .
The twisty part controls if the light is either OFF (no ground), sidelight ON (direct grounding) or main beam ON (grounded thru resistor), @ pin #3 .
The pully part controls if the main beam is low (no ground), high (direct grounding) or "pulsed" (grounded thru resistor), @ pin# 2.

Attached are ther two circuits...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

Click to expand...

Hello Berine,
*
Yeah! You're right, I forgot it, I did not have the eLearn when I wrote that.

Anyway, I think the best solution is to replace the switches around the steering wheel. It is a common issue in some vehicles. In my car happened the same when I reached those miles, but in my case it was the airbag wire, that also on some models got damaged after reaching that amount of miles.

You can also try to fix it, because it is not hard to open the switches and fix the wires and metal plates on them, but I dunno how much will it resist until they got damaged, so it is, in my opinion, (a bit) waste of time.

Best regards,
Julio.

KendricksLlama said:

Hi Julio,
thanks a lot for your reply. My car has done 102,000 miles, so quite a lot! The car is just over 10 years old but I have only had it 2. Does the switch mean the twisty mechanism on the indicator stalk?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Yes, as I said to Bernie on previous message, you can fix the mechanism, but in my opinion is a waste of time, even more if you don't know how much it will resist. So, if it is failing, the best solution is to get a new ones, and if your car hasn't have Cruise Control, you can buy a new mechanism with CC and install it on your car, so you will have 0 problems with steering switches and also new function that you will enjoy when you go to work a few miles far away form your home like me

Another thing that I have to tell you is that you don't need to replace all the column, just the switches around it. It is not hard at all, the worst thing is to remove steering airbag, with battery disconnected and with 2 screw drivers behind the steering wheel, there is two small circles, you have to press them and then you will open the holes, press those small plates inside the holes carefuly and then airbag is out (but after removing airbag, remove also the wires behind it before pulling it out completly). The rest of work is jut remove screws and connectors, replace the switches, and then the same work backwards.

If you are interested on add Cruise Control, I will expain to you how to do it and activate that funcion.

There are some photos of the switches on the attachments. Sorry for bad quality images from chinese phone

Best regards,
Julio.

Hola Julio,

I believe a lot of forumers will be interested in your CC upgrade , I definitely am !!
To avoid spending huge money for a CC combo stalk, one can replace it by a few push button and resistors; do you happen to know the resistors values that build the voltage dividers ??

Thanks in advance, Bernie