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General Fiat ritmo, lights on when choke active

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General Fiat ritmo, lights on when choke active

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Dalleb1001

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Hello everyone! I just bought myself a fiat ritmo 70 cl.
The problem is that when i turn ignition to on i can’t turn on any lights, only radio, and this is when i activate the choke. But when choke is off i can only turn on radio but nothing else! I checked the fuse box and i saw that one of the relays have been burned at one of the inputs. Could this cause this problem? Or what can
 

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Used to be a commoon issue many years ago, that if the main earth cable failed, or the connections got poor, all engine electrics would find an earth through either the accelerator or choke cable, sometimes they'd get very hot during starting.

First thing I'd do is check the engine earth cable. Not just the end connections, but also for continuity along its length. Then check all other earths you can. Fiats of this era often had several little connectors bolted to the body, like an upside-down spider, to which many earths were connected. When these get dirty, current travels anywhere it can, giving interesting results.

Your relay damage could be a victim, or possible a cause. It will need fixing along with all the tedious connection checking.

Good luck with such a rare car, not seen one for a long time.
 
As portland_bill suggests poor earth can cause havoc.

This would be my starting point.

Should you need help finding the various earthing points then I can help but you first need to start with the main batter negative lead which goes down to the front chassis rail and then onto the engine block/gearbox. There is only this one main lead and all other earths are taken off "tag strips" and "earth posts" on the vehicle chassis.

If you can tell me what the relay number/position is that was burnt out then I can tell you what that relay was used for.
 
s130 said:
As portland_bill suggests poor earth can cause havoc.

This would be my starting point.

Should you need help finding the various earthing points then I can help but you first need to start with the main batter negative lead which goes down to the front chassis rail and then onto the engine block/gearbox. There is only this one main lead and all other earths are taken off "tag strips" and "earth posts" on the vehicle chassis.

If you can tell me what the relay number/position is that was burnt out then I can tell you what that relay was used for.
Click to expand...

Hello! Thanks for the answers, i just replaced the earth cable because the previous was damaged! It’s connected to the gearbox, few inches from the left tire. When i get the new fuse box i will try to clean the area where the earth cable is connected to the gearbox with a metal brush.
The relay that is burned out is the bottom one, it says 5H or H5

You can see it on the image i uploaded!
 
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On the Ritmo/Strada 130TC then the relays (top to bottom - 1 to 3) on your fuse/junction box are:

1) Horn Relay
2) Heated Rear Windscreen Relay
3) Front and Rear Windscreen Wiper Relay Feeds

The above are all high current devices so makes sense.

If required I can check the earlier Ritmo 70/75/80 workshop manuals (would need to dig them out) but Strada/Ritmo base wiring from the main fuse/relay panel remained pretty much well unchanged. The later models just added relays/etc. wherever and whenever some other circuit was added to the base vehicle.
 
I tried to buy a new earth cable and fuse box, but the choke still needs to be activated before anything works, where would the error be?
 
As you have just recently bought the Strada has it always required the choke to be pulled out before anything really happens?

Apart from the lights does the engine run OK? Do the brake lights works? And when you say lights are you referring to the instrument panel lights or the side lights, headlamps, indicators etc.

If the car has behaved like it does since you have had it then there is a small possibility that the previous owner deliberately modified the choke cable operation to perform as an additional security mechanism. Being an old car then "hot wiring" for theft is easy so a hidden switch, or not so obvious use of something else, would help with security.
 
s130 said:
As you have just recently bought the Strada has it always required the choke to be pulled out before anything really happens?

Apart from the lights does the engine run OK? Do the brake lights works? And when you say lights are you referring to the instrument panel lights or the side lights, headlamps, indicators etc.

If the car has behaved like it does since you have had it then there is a small possibility that the previous owner deliberately modified the choke cable operation to perform as an additional security mechanism. Being an old car then "hot wiring" for theft is easy so a hidden switch, or not so obvious use of something else, would help with security.
Click to expand...

Engine runs just fines and all that, havent checked brake light and it’s both instumental and lights outside that turns on when choke is pulled out. The previous owner haven’t done anything to the wiring
 
OK - We have to break this down.

Ignore the dashboard. If you turn the ignition on and turn the side lights and headlamps on to they illuminate on the outside of the car? Same for indicators, hazards and brake lights. NOTE with choke in.

If all the external lights are working then this is probably a dashboard earth connection problem.

The choke cable will have two nero/black wires. One will go to ground/earth and the other to the dashboard choke light. When you pull the choke cable/switch the dashboard is finding it's earth bath via the choke light wiring.

The dashboard wiring connections are a known problem. Basically there is a flex circuit board system with the copper tracks going to the connector positions. As such the connector is not a normal "pin" type but the flex copper tracks go over a raised central ridge. The vehicle wiring connector consist of female opposing wiper contacts that slide over the flex tracks thus pinching the raised flex tracks.

The flex copper tracks tarnish/oxidise and need cleaning. Also the connector opposing female contacts can get separated and weak over time. The need to be check that they are close enough together that they will correctly pinch the flex circuit.

So you are going to have to remove the instrument cluster and clean/check as above. Also check for broken wires.

the job will take 30 minutes to and hour to do.
 
s130 said:
OK - We have to break this down.

Ignore the dashboard. If you turn the ignition on and turn the side lights and headlamps on to they illuminate on the outside of the car? Same for indicators, hazards and brake lights. NOTE with choke in.

If all the external lights are working then this is probably a dashboard earth connection problem.

The choke cable will have two nero/black wires. One will go to ground/earth and the other to the dashboard choke light. When you pull the choke cable/switch the dashboard is finding it's earth bath via the choke light wiring.

The dashboard wiring connections are a known problem. Basically there is a flex circuit board system with the copper tracks going to the connector positions. As such the connector is not a normal "pin" type but the flex copper tracks go over a raised central ridge. The vehicle wiring connector consist of female opposing wiper contacts that slide over the flex tracks thus pinching the raised flex tracks.

The flex copper tracks tarnish/oxidise and need cleaning. Also the connector opposing female contacts can get separated and weak over time. The need to be check that they are close enough together that they will correctly pinch the flex circuit.

So you are going to have to remove the instrument cluster and clean/check as above. Also check for broken wires.

the job will take 30 minutes to and hour to do.
Click to expand...

As im not English i have a little hard to understand you sadly. But i’ve tried to clean the connection on the wires that goes directly from the choke, but nothing happend. Maybe i need to change many of my wires ? Because some looked a bit “rusty”.

I also just found an earth cable hanging and not connected to anything? I’ve checked up on it but couldn’t finde where it should be and it’s not the radio. I’ve marked it with a black circle where it was sitting and the female pin was not connected anywhere

I also cleaned the wires connection that leads to caburator as shown on images.

There is an image that looks like an earth bridge, i cleaned all the pins and the bridge itself.

And when ignition is on nothing lights up, i need to pull the choke first before the light comes on, but ignition has to be on same time.
The choke can be pulled out 2 times like it has 3 stages, off - middle and full out
 

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Any wires that you can check and clean is good but your problem I am still trying to understand.

Dalleb1001 said:
And when ignition is on nothing lights up, i need to pull the choke first before the light comes on, but ignition has to be on same time.
The choke can be pulled out 2 times like it has 3 stages, off - middle and full out
Click to expand...

You say when the ignition is on nothing light up. What is "nothing"? Do you mean the lights in the instrument cluster?

If so the you need to take the instrument cluster out and check and clean all the connections as I detailed in my previous post.
 
s130 said:
Any wires that you can check and clean is good but your problem I am still trying to understand.



You say when the ignition is on nothing light up. What is "nothing"? Do you mean the lights in the instrument cluster?

If so the you need to take the instrument cluster out and check and clean all the connections as I detailed in my previous post.
Click to expand...

No lights at all but cabin light is on when ignition is on but choke is not pulled. No instrumental or outside lights
 
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