General Blown fuse on Cigarette lighter caused airbag and mileometer to fail.

[Dethleffs Globe4]

Hi I would Like to post this subject because I feel Fiat have major floor in there electrical systems.
I am the owner of a Dethleffs Globe 4 with a Ducato 130 multi jet 2.3 engine.
Last Sunday I was preparing my Motor home for its yearly trip to Spain.
I checked tyre pressure and they were all slightly low so I plugged in the compressor which was supplied by Fiat with motor home. I plug it in and it run for about 2 mins and then stopped, I assumed it was a blown fuse,
I then check the 20 amp fuse in the foot well( drivers side) and fuse appeared to be ok . I also noticed the airbag light had illuminated and the mile-ometer was flashing.
I then called a local Mechanic to take a look and he found two main fuses had blown in the engine fuse box ,but he was unable to to communicate with the air bag to reset it with his diagnostic equipment. He look at the error codes and advise i would have to take it to Fiat main dealer and ask for a Proxy Alignment.
I then took the motor home to Fiat and ask for this proxy alignment to be done.
The Fiat dealer then called me and said this did not work and I need a new dashboard cost 1100 euros . what choice I have so I said go ahead , then an hour later another call we have cleared air bag warning light but the mile-ometer still flashing it need another part 570 euros.
The part for 570 euros has been ordered from Italy and should be fitted Tuesdays this going to cost me best part of 2000 euros.
I am now selling motor home in the spring and decided to rent a villa in Spain ( much cheaper)
All this from a blown fuse this cant be right ????????
Your feed back much appreciated.

 

[g8rpi]

Hi I would Like to post this subject because I feel Fiat have major floor in there electrical systems.
I am the owner of a Dethleffs Globe 4 with a Ducato 130 multi jet 2.3 engine.
Last Sunday I was preparing my Motor home for its yearly trip to Spain.
I checked tyre pressure and they were all slightly low so I plugged in the compressor which was supplied by Fiat with motor home. I plug it in and it run for about 2 mins and then stopped, I assumed it was a blown fuse,
I then check the 20 amp fuse in the foot well( drivers side) and fuse appeared to be ok . I also noticed the airbag light had illuminated and the mile-ometer was flashing.
I then called a local Mechanic to take a look and he found two main fuses had blown in the engine fuse box ,but he was unable to to communicate with the air bag to reset it with his diagnostic equipment. He look at the error codes and advise i would have to take it to Fiat main dealer and ask for a Proxy Alignment.
I then took the motor home to Fiat and ask for this proxy alignment to be done.
The Fiat dealer then called me and said this did not work and I need a new dashboard cost 1100 euros . what choice I have so I said go ahead , then an hour later another call we have cleared air bag warning light but the mile-ometer still flashing it need another part 570 euros.
The part for 570 euros has been ordered from Italy and should be fitted Tuesdays this going to cost me best part of 2000 euros.
I am now selling motor home in the spring and decided to rent a villa in Spain ( much cheaper)
All this from a blown fuse this cant be right ????????
Your feed back much appreciated.

Hi, Sorry to hear of your problems. It is difficult to diagnose this sort of issue remotely and we have to trust what the dealer is saying. A blown fuse itself cannot cause these issues, but what caused the fuse to blow might. The air compressor has a high current dc motor if this failed in certain ways it could cause damage. A single shorted winding on the armature could cause very high current pulses which combined with the inductance of the windings could cause high voltage spikes. These spikes could cause damage to other equipment. Car electronics have some immunity to voltage spikes but not sustained spikes from this sort of fault.
If the compressor is branded Fiat you could talk to Fiat customer services and see if they will contribute to cost of repair.
Check your insurance policy too, this might be classified as accidental damage and be covered.
Don't try the compressor in another car. Hang on to it in case Fiat need to see it.

Robert G8RPI