Technical multijet starter and ignition switch burnout

[blod65]

Hi
just recently I noticed when starting the starter would momentarily slow so I thought the battery must be on its way out,then one morning I tried to start the panda and the starter motor just turned slowly as if battery was low, but when I turned the ignition key back off the starter continued to turn even with the key out(about a minute) until a small amount of smoke came from the steering column then all went quiet.
So put key back in ignition switched on and everything working fine except no starter.
Sooo took the ignition switch off,which now smells of burnt components and replaced,£47 from fiat which I thought was not unreasonable.
With new ignition fitted tried again....no starter but solenoid was clicking.
Took starter off and checked it,solenoid was clicking but not throwing the starter,checked motor and it was turning over so slowly it wouldnt have pulled the skin off a rice pudding.....bought and fitted new starter motor and all was well with the panda again....except we now have ABS and brake warning light on signifiing EBD failure.
Battery voltage is 12.4 vlts with engine off and 14.4 vlts with engine running.
Plugged in diagnostics reader but computer says no faults so any suggestion would be appreciated.

 

[Pandablues]

Pull the battery, leave it out long enough to reset the system - time period varies dependant on who else answers, I've been told anything from one hour to overnight - refit and take the thing for a 20 minute/one hour run - distance/time varies dependant on who else answers..... - to retrain the system. Fingers crossed that'll do it.

 

[blod65]

Thanks for replying I'll try doing that.

 

[blod65]

Diconnected the battery for an hour and then went for a nice long drive but no change, EBD warning(ABS + brake warning light) still on.
Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

 

[Pandablues]

Poo, where's Most Easterly when you need him? - he probably knows the answer

 

[Matthen]

What ampage are you getting? On Crank and Normal running? Sounds like the battery is at fault here... Possibly can't cope with the draw of the ABS, A/C starter etc

 

[blod65]

I suspected the battery was'nt up to scratch so I bought and fitted a new one today but it has'nt made a difference to the warning lights.
If I release the handbrake before starting the car the ABS light and brake warning light go out as they should when the engine starts but then 2 or 3 seconds later they both come back on, if I leave the handbrake on just the ABS light goes out and back on again with the brake light staying on all the time.

When we changed the starter we had to remove the battery,battery carrier,ECU and related plugs to get at the top starter motor bolt as it screws into the starter from the opposite direction to the bottom bolt. so I will be spending the weekend double checking connections and fuses etc.

by the way I dont have air con so thats definitely not an issue in this case.

Again thanks for replying and any thoughts are always welcome !

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Like you say I'd check the connections. Might be worth disconnecting the wires to the ABS ECU (on the pump) and checking they're clean and then reconnecting them.

Another thing to note is I think if like the Stilo it'll take 3 clear runs without an issue for the light to extinguish (or that might just be the engine MIL).

 

[blod65]

Problem solved....good old human error!

When the ignition switch burnt out my trusty sidekick and myself both checked all the fuses to make sure none had blown and somehow one of us managed to leave out the "Braking node valves and ABS fuse F23".

Where it went I dont know but a new fuse was inserted and normal service has been resumed.

Thank you for your help anyway !

 

[panda4x4x4x4]

Problem solved....good old human error!

When the ignition switch burnt out my trusty sidekick and myself both checked all the fuses to make sure none had blown and somehow one of us managed to leave out the "Braking node valves and ABS fuse F23".

Where it went I dont know but a new fuse was inserted and normal service has been resumed.

Thank you for your help anyway !

it's good when a plan comes together, good result for you

 

[lol55]

i have just replaced the ignition switch as i thought this was the reasonn my multijet had an intermitent starting problem when it was warm,,,, now looks more like the starter i have a 55 multijet any ideas how i take old motor out and replace for a new one

 

[lol55]

oh and mine is the air con model... would appreciate any ideas

 

[ivantate]

Check the connection on the top of the starter too, I remember someone had a problem with the copper washer corroding making the connection very poor.

From memory its at the back of the engine on the right hand side near the bottom.

Disconnect the battery before taking it off.

 

[blod65]

Hi
you have to get at the starter from underneath the car,as its been pointed out disconnect the battery first.

The battery lead and the starter activation wire all connect on a single post at the rear of the starter and are held on with one nut, I believe some people have had problems with the cable connectors corroding here although mine were not corroded.

If you want to remove the starter motor disconnect these cables from the starter motor and that leaves you 2 bolts holding the starter on, the bottom bolt (allen key head) is accessable from underneath but the top bolt attaches to the starter from the gearbox side accessable via the bonnet.

To gain access to the top bolt we removed the battery,battery box and the ECU, its not as big a job as it sounds as the ECU is mounted on the side of the battery box.(about 10 mins)

Now finding the bolt is a little tricky as you can't see it as its round the back of the engine just out of sight and as Fiat chose to set the bolt flush with the engine casing its very difficult to feel, we used a small mirror to locate the bolt (this was the most time consuming part believe it or not) once the bolt was located it was a very quick job to remove the starter motor (it must be the smallest starter motor I've ever seen on a car).

Refitting is obviously reverse of the above.

I bought my starter from "The starter motor and alternator company" (www.startermotor-alternator-store.co.uk/)

I hope this helps and you get the problem sorted.