Technical 2.3 X290 Dead *Fixed*

[Alex_gregory_uk]

A quick bit of background:
It's my parents 2015 Swift Bolero Motorhome on a Fiat Ducato and on Friday they set off down south. They got three and a half hours from home and stopped at a petrol station to put more diesel in. My mum stayed in the drivers seat with the engine off but key still in the ignition I believe. My dad filled up and when they tried to start it again there were no lights on the dashboard and no signs of life. They tried numerous times but nothing would get dashboard lights to come on. The Time/mileage showed when they opened the drivers door. A nice member of the public helped them and luckily managed to get it to fire into life by just turning the key lots of times. My parents set off and 100 yards down the road it died and back to how they were with no power.
They called recovery who checked it and on one occasion managed to get the dash lights on, plugged his scanner in which showed numerous fault codes (mainly due to not being able to talk to control units it seems) but he believed it was an immobiliser issue.
They were recovered back to their home address and I had a look at it yesterday. They have a Phantom tracker on it. They were spoken to and confirm their tracker only does not interfere with the immobiliser.
Problems I was seeing:
Keyfob working fine to lock / unlock van.
Clock / mileage came on the dash when drivers door opened
Sidelights, interior cab light, hazard warning lights all working
Engine battery was showing 12.7v and leisure battery similar
Put key in ignition and turned but no lights on dash and no noises from engine bay / cranking of the starter motor
Things I tried but didn't fix:
Checked the Earth strap, appeared fine. Connected a negative jump lead between engine and chassis - Still no life.
Things I tried that fixed it:
Removed positive from engine battery and left off for 20 mins - I did notice a few rust particles from the clamp bolt
Removed Cal5 fuse and checked it - appeared fine
Checked engine bay fuses - Removed most and reseated them
Reconnected battery and all worked fine. I have started and stopped numerous times with no issues

Reason for the post:
1st of all incase anyone sees similar problems and things for them to check to hopefully get them up and running again
2ndly my parents have slightly lost confidence in it. I checked for fault codes and now none were showing. We discussed taking it to a garage to have it checked but not sure they will be able to find much with no fault codes and it now seeming to be working ok? Anyones thoughts on whether they should take it to a garage?
All I can work out may be the fix is either a fuse coming loose which I don't think will be the case. My most likely fix is a reset of the BCM? Anyone any other thoughts?
Any advice would be much appreciated to hopefully get to the bottom of the cause.

 

[Anthony489]

Hi Alex

This doesn't sound like an immobiliser issue. If the van can't read the key, you will get a "padlock" warning light and the engine will crank normally but will not be allowed to fire. It won't stop the dashboard lights from working.

I attach the starting schematic for the previous generation X250 model, yours won't be greatly different. The starter solenoid path is via Fuse F70 next to the battery, Fuse F03 in the engine bay fuse box, the starter switch (3rd section from the left) and then a medium sized cable to the starter solenoid. The main starter path is via the Cal4 fuse next to the battery, then a heavy cable via the "jumpstart" junction and then to the starter motor. This is all very straightforward wiring with no electronics.

The number one suspect is a loose/tarnished positive battery terminal. This gives a high resistance, which may allow some low-power loads to work (ish) but as soon as you make a big current demand like turning the key to activate the starter solenoid, the voltage collapses. However, I would expect you to see dash lights with the ignition on, which may then go out when you try to start. If the connection is really poor, you may get no dash lights but I wouldn't expect you to get any other things like sidelights working either. Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery terminal may have improved the connection and cleared the fault, but I recommend you revisit this and give it a thorough clean and tighten.

The number two suspect is the ignition switch (or at least the 3rd section of it) or its connector and wiring. The switches themselves are normally pretty reliable unless the van is old or you have covered a huge mileage. I suggest you visually scan along the relevant wiring/looms looking for chafing

 

[Alex_gregory_uk]

Hi Alex

This doesn't sound like an immobiliser issue. If the van can't read the key, you will get a "padlock" warning light and the engine will crank normally but will not be allowed to fire. It won't stop the dashboard lights from working.

I attach the starting schematic for the previous generation X250 model, yours won't be greatly different. The starter solenoid path is via Fuse F70 next to the battery, Fuse F03 in the engine bay fuse box, the starter switch (3rd section from the left) and then a medium sized cable to the starter solenoid. The main starter path is via the Cal4 fuse next to the battery, then a heavy cable via the "jumpstart" junction and then to the starter motor. This is all very straightforward wiring with no electronics.

The number one suspect is a loose/tarnished positive battery terminal. This gives a high resistance, which may allow some low-power loads to work (ish) but as soon as you make a big current demand like turning the key to activate the starter solenoid, the voltage collapses. However, I would expect you to see dash lights with the ignition on, which may then go out when you try to start. If the connection is really poor, you may get no dash lights but I wouldn't expect you to get any other things like sidelights working either. Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery terminal may have improved the connection and cleared the fault, but I recommend you revisit this and give it a thorough clean and tighten.

The number two suspect is the ignition switch (or at least the 3rd section of it) or its connector and wiring. The switches themselves are normally pretty reliable unless the van is old or you have covered a huge mileage. I suggest you visually scan along the relevant wiring/looms looking for chafing

Thanks for the informative reply Anthony. A few things for me to check. I planned to check the ignition but from a quick look couldn't work out how to get the steering column cowling off. Will check that area out next.

 

[RS3100]

There was a recall to replace the ignition switch on some 2014 and 2015 vans due to a fault causing electrical systems to be randomly deactivated.

You can check if your parents van is affected and if the work is outstanding by entering the VIN in the "Chassis Check" box here:

https://www.fiatcamper.com/en

 

[Alex_gregory_uk]

There was a recall to replace the ignition switch on some 2014 and 2015 vans due to a fault causing electrical systems to be randomly deactivated.

You can check if your parents van is affected and if the work is outstanding by entering the VIN in the "Chassis Check" box here:

https://www.fiatcamper.com/en

Thanks, sounded like the answer. I've checked their VIN mind and is coming up with no recalls sadly.