General Classic fiat 500 L 1970 - electrical dashboard issue

[chiarapapa]

Hi folks,

I have a bit of an ongoing issue, it happened since I changed the battery on the car.

The indicator light on the internal dashboard stays permanently on when the engine is running, the indicators on the exterior work as they should, and when activated they flash as supposed to.

I suspect there is a short somewhere but I can't see any obvious issues, any guidance would be welcome?

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Hi, I would check and clean all the connections on the flasher unit and then the ignition switch, if the light is Only staying on when the engine is running you may have a short in the ignition switch and/or indicator stalk connections.
Ian.

 

[chiarapapa]

Hi, I would check and clean all the connections on the flasher unit and then the ignition switch, if the light is Only staying on when the engine is running you may have a short in the ignition switch and/or indicator stalk connections.
Ian.

Hi Ian,
Thanks for that. I will have a look at your suggestions.
I've noticed the grounding terminal cable off the battery is looking a little frayed. Is it possible that could have something do with the issue?
Thanks

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Hi, with these cars never discount anything and change the negative cable.
Ian.

 

[chiarapapa]

Hi, with these cars never discount anything and change the negative cable.
Ian.

Good point!
So I swapped out the negative cable, checked the connections on on the flasher unit and ignition, it all looked fine. Also gave them a clean whilst I was at it. Checked the fuses, plus all the connections into the fuse box. Also checked the connections going into the back of dashboard. Basically any connection I could see I checked and cleaned. Wires also looked in tact, no open wires that I could see. I've also just noticed the main bulb light on the left headlight is not working. The bulb has been replaced with a new one and it still doesn't work, fuse is fine and the connections look fine also. Now I have 2 electrical issues. Not sure if they could be related?

 

[Goldnrust]

The headlight and indicators should be on very different circuits, but they are both controlled by the column stalks. Might be worth a quick check to make sure there’s no chaffing of the wiring from the column switches that could be causing a short?

Have you got a wiring diagram and multimeter? Trying to trouble shoot electrical issues like this without them is very much flying blind. A connection or wire can ‘look fine’ but with vehicles of this age internal corrosion or fractured wires can make for hidden issues. The only real solution is to methodically trace the signals (12v or earth) through the wiring loom till you find where they go missing.