On the motorway today my speedo started to swing wildly.
The Rev counter was rock solid and the engine sounded fine. It was responsive to the throttle.

Then the speedo started to drop to zero and the radio would start to die out.
I started to get power steering error messages on the dash and the trip computer died only to normal operation again
This problem continued regularly for the remainder of the journey.

I suspected a dodgy battery or alternator.
When I got home I whipped out my multimeter and measured 12.3 volts across the terminals of the battery when the engine was stopped. I measured 13.4 volts when the engine was started. From this I assume the battery is OK.

I still suspect alternator problems.
I may have access to a generic handheld EODB diagnostic tool. Will this be of any use to me.

Any suggestions please.

The car is a 1.2 litre Panda Eleganza. 57 Reg with 2000 miles on the clock.

If it's under warranty, let Fiat fix it for free

It's a personal import in to Ireland from the UK so FIAT dealers might be unwilling to honour the warranty even though it is valid E.U. wide.

dipole said:

It's a personal import in to Ireland from the UK so FIAT dealers might be unwilling to honour the warranty even though it is valid E.U. wide.

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Ask at dealer, sounds like speed signal problem.

T14086 said:

Ask at dealer, sounds like speed signal problem.

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Thanks, but would that explain the radio loosing volume/dying?
I'd understand assistance on P.S. being dependent on the speedo speed signal sender.
I did wash my car before setting out on trip. Perhaps water got in to something.

radio gets speed signal to increase volume the faster you go (in radio menu its called AVC)

Oh yes, that's right. I remember now.

Can I shut off this feature successfully. It'd help me to troubleshoot if this is the case.

Ah - I wondered how the radio 'knew' -- a few years back, Philips made a car radio that 'listened' to the inside of the car to adjust the volume. So not only speed but noisier road surfaces would turn the radio up. The 4x4's tyres are quite noisy on some surfaces and I'd noticed the radio didn't compensate for this. Now I know why. (By the way, its 'SVC' in my radio's menu). Thanks
Pete

dipole said:

Oh yes, that's right. I remember now.

Can I shut off this feature successfully. It'd help me to troubleshoot if this is the case.

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See above! (simultaneous replies) - find 'SVC' in radio menu, and set to 'off'

Pete

Is this speed sensor easily accessible?
If I had the choice I'd have no powersteering in a car the size of a Panda.
My Punto 60S from 10 years ago didn't have PS and I can't say I missed it much.

Herts Hillhopper said:

By the way, its 'SVC' in my radio's menu

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I stand corrected,Ford use AVC.

dipole said:

Is this speed sensor easily accessible?

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Do you have ABS?

T14086 said:

I stand corrected,Ford use AVC.



Do you have ABS?

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I assume so. It's a 57 Eleganza so I'd have expected it would come as standard but haven't been in a situation where I've felt the ABS pumping under my foot yet.

speed signal would come from abs then onto CAN system if abs fitted.

Not saying this is the problem but first impressions would tend to make me look here first.

dipole said:

It's a personal import in to Ireland from the UK so FIAT dealers might be unwilling to honour the warranty even though it is valid E.U. wide.

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Being an import doesn't matter, Fiat dealers will repair under Warranty. ( Doesn't have the 3rd year warranty though, only two years)

dipole said:

I assume so. It's a 57 Eleganza so I'd have expected it would come as standard but haven't been in a situation where I've felt the ABS pumping under my foot yet.

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It will have ABS.

I took the car to a FIAT dealer.
They found that a cable in the engine way which is meant to earth the electrics was loose.
They have replaced the bolt. Haven't had an opportunity to test it on the motorway to see if that fixes the issue.

you mean engine bay

bay

12.3v on the battery seems a little low to me.. Normally I think they are a little over, even off charge. (engine running).

Could be wrong though!!

Using a multimeter is really only a rough guide...each cell is 2.2v so in theory you should see 12.6 volts across a good battery but you rarely do...even so what you are probably measuring is surface charge anyway so it might look 'healthy' but try & turn the engine over & it will just flash cluster lights/reset clock etc.....the only reliable way to test a battery is under load. Another reason to avoid cheap batteries & get one of correct rating.