Technical Ducato 180 multijet Motorhome in Australia

[Ausnomad]

Went to start Motorhome yesterday and the instrument panel was blank no lights or dials worked. The engine did start ok. I moved it a few metres and switched it off, went to start it again and this time nothing happened not even a click all fuses are ok so could it be a relay if so which one. Maybe the ignition. has this happened to anyone here.

regards Kevin

 

[varesecrazy]

Went to start Motorhome yesterday and the instrument panel was blank no lights or dials worked. The engine did start ok. I moved it a few metres and switched it off, went to start it again and this time nothing happened not even a click all fuses are ok so could it be a relay if so which one. Maybe the ignition. has this happened to anyone here.

regards Kevin

Hi,

Not sure of the age of your Ducato

But the battery to Chassis tootir Earth link cables can break down internally

No connection will start cutting services

Try a battery to Motor booster cable to see if things come back to life

Even the cab interior light as a 1st test

 

[Ausnomad]

2012 model 3litre, thanks for the suggestion

 

[varesecrazy]

No problem

Let us know what you find

 

[Ausnomad]

Forgot to say, wipes work, indicators dont, headlights work, hazards work. Sorry not up to scratch in auto electrics what does battery to motor cable mean, and will the battery to charger cable be close to the battery

Kevin

 

[varesecrazy]

Forgot to say, wipes work, indicators dont, headlights work, hazards work. Sorry not up to scratch in auto electrics what does battery to motor cable mean, and will the battery to charger cable be close to the battery

Kevin

Oh.. I thought you had lost ALL POWER

But the jumper cable is still worth a try

Look at battery:

Negative terminal will have a thick Black cable running down to Chassis.. And on to the metalwork of the motor

Clip the booster cable onto a good chunk of bare metal at one end then lay the other end of the cable onto the Negative battery terminal

Does this bring anything back to life?

 

[Communicator]

I am sorry that due to my wife being ill in bed, I am not currently able to donate much time.

The vehicle will be an x250 model, with starter battery under cab floor.

The battery will have a short earth cable from negative to chassis, and a fuse board clamped to the positive terminal.

One of these fuses, a bolted,150A mega fuse in the corner, supplies the engine bay fusebox via a 6mm stud on that box.

In the engine bay fusebox 30A fuse F3, again in a corner, supplies the ignition switch and hence the starter solenoid as well as essential engine supplies.

 

[Ausnomad]

I am sorry that due to my wife being ill in bed, I am not currently able to donate much time.

The vehicle will be an x250 model, with starter battery under cab floor.

The battery will have a short earth cable from negative to chassis, and a fuse board clamped to the positive terminal.

One of these fuses, a bolted,150A mega fuse in the corner, supplies the engine bay fusebox via a 6mm stud on that box.

In the engine bay fusebox 30A fuse F3, again in a corner, supplies the ignition switch and hence the starter solenoid as well as essential engine supplies.

 

[Ausnomad]

Varesecrazy, thanks for that will check tomorrow

 

[Ausnomad]

Hi there, fuses and cables checked, this morning and are ok, when I switched the ignition on the lights around the steering wheel came on also the hazards and lights either side of hazards came on . On the dash the battery and oil lights came on and stayed on even after I switched the ignition off, as I live 120 kms from Bendigo I will find it hard to get an auto electrician to come out to look at it,That last bit was for any Aussies that maybe be on this Forum.

regards Kevin.

 

[Tallykissangel]

Hi there, fuses and cables checked, this morning and are ok, when I switched the ignition on the lights around the steering wheel came on also the hazards and lights either side of hazards came on . On the dash the battery and oil lights came on and stayed on even after I switched the ignition off, as I live 120 kms from Bendigo I will find it hard to get an auto electrician to come out to look at it,That last bit was for any Aussies that maybe be on this Forum.

regards Kevin.

Hi Kevin. Im just North of Shepparton. 2015 Ducato MHome.

If you can go online and download MULTIECUSCAN to your laptop. The paid version E50 is well worth it.
Then go online and buy the set of OBD cables that you need for your year Ducato. Buy the cables from the MULTIECUSCAN recommended WEBSITEs as I did.
https://www.multiecuscan.net/SupportedVehiclesList.aspx (this program allows you to see everything with the vehicle)
https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_FESCBL.html (Cables needed)

1. This setup will stop your heart being broken when the van plays up...mostly.
Before i used MES I had no idea what was going on with my MHome not starting. Drove me crazy for months. Starting fine one day then not starting for another week.
2. When you can get your van down to Sebastian (and his wife Julia) at HID in Campbellfield. Fiat geniuses. If they cant fix it no one can. They fixed my issues up real good. They also do servicing of heaps of FIAT and IVECO motorhomes.

3. No I dont work for HID or the MES but it took this forum to show me how good MES was.

And yes I think either fuses or likely corroded earth straps behind your 'lights out' or both. But if they dash lights came back on it something not contacting somewhere. And I did blow that 150 A fuse by shorting it out, and the van ran but I quickly got a replacement on line.

Get back to me on the forum if I need to clarify anything anything and good luck. Bendigo's not that far from Shepparton

 

[Ausnomad]

Thanks Tallykissangel I will look into that. You seem to be Irish with a name like that.

 

[Ausnomad]

Is this the package I need. 2011 Ducato 180 3.0 Multijet

tia. Kevin

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[Tallykissangel]

Thanks Tallykissangel I will look into that. You seem to be Irish with a name like that.

We live in Tallygaroopna and adopted the name Tallykissangel after Ballykissangel the Irish TV series ...and yes indeed we are Irish. Hope the advice helps . I know i carry my small laptop everytime we go tripping in the Ducato. Have had occasion in the past where i need to figure out what's going on as well as resetting the oil change mileage counter.

 

[Ausnomad]

Thought so, us too

 

[Anthony489]

Hi Ausnomad

The symptoms you describe suggest that you have a problem fairly high up in the electrical heirarchy, as it is affecting multiple items. With most vehicle electrics, the power starts at the battery and then divides down in stages to the individual items. There are fuses and divisions on the battery, then the engine bay fuse box and finally the under dashboard fuse box. Think of a tree trunk splitting into branches and then twigs !

You are looking for bad/corroded contacts (which includes plug-in style fuses and their holders), bad bolted joints etc. Don't discount the possibility that it's a problem with the ignition switch itself. Note that the electrical switch can be detached from the end of the lock barrel and replaced, you don't need a new lock and keys etc

Earth connections gather up all the return currents from the body/chassis and the engine/gearbox and take them back to battery negative. A fault with the engine/gearbox to body/chassis earth strap will affect anything that returns to the engine block, which includes alternator, starter motor and glow plugs. Usual symptoms are sluggish starter turnover or the battery not charging properly. Forget about checking any of these high current connections with an ordinary multimeter, they should have maximum resistances measured in thousandths of an ohm so different techniques are needed. Often cheaper to just replace anyway.

Diagnostic software including MultiECUscan is a useful thing to have, and is cheap compared to garage labour. However, with the sort of problem you are experiencing I fear that you will just get a long long list of fault codes as multiple electrical items all bleat about not getting enough power.

Hope you find a good auto electrician. I attach a few schematics for earlier models, they won't be exactly right but might act as a guide.

 

[Ausnomad]

Hi Ausnomad

The symptoms you describe suggest that you have a problem fairly high up in the electrical heirarchy, as it is affecting multiple items. With most vehicle electrics, the power starts at the battery and then divides down in stages to the individual items. There are fuses and divisions on the battery, then the engine bay fuse box and finally the under dashboard fuse box. Think of a tree trunk splitting into branches and then twigs !

You are looking for bad/corroded contacts (which includes plug-in style fuses and their holders), bad bolted joints etc. Don't discount the possibility that it's a problem with the ignition switch itself. Note that the electrical switch can be detached from the end of the lock barrel and replaced, you don't need a new lock and keys etc

Earth connections gather up all the return currents from the body/chassis and the engine/gearbox and take them back to battery negative. A fault with the engine/gearbox to body/chassis earth strap will affect anything that returns to the engine block, which includes alternator, starter motor and glow plugs. Usual symptoms are sluggish starter turnover or the battery not charging properly. Forget about checking any of these high current connections with an ordinary multimeter, they should have maximum resistances measured in thousandths of an ohm so different techniques are needed. Often cheaper to just replace anyway.

Diagnostic software including MultiECUscan is a useful thing to have, and is cheap compared to garage labour. However, with the sort of problem you are experiencing I fear that you will just get a long long list of fault codes as multiple electrical items all bleat about not getting enough power.

Hope you find a good auto electrician. I attach a few schematics for earlier models, they won't be exactly right but might act as a guide.

Thanks Anthony I have someone coming to look at it next week, apparently are very good. Thanks for the info, I will show it to him in case it is helpful

Kevin

 

[Ausnomad]

Thanks Anthony I have someone coming to look at it next week, apparently are very good. Thanks for the info, I will show it to him in case it is helpful

Kevin

Well I had an experienced auto electrician look at the Motorhome and he practically took the dashboard apart as everything else was ok. Still can’t find the problem. He asked me if I had a spare key as key might be the problem. I can’t for the life of me find it,and he said if it is a key problem the Motorhome is virtually useless without a key. Can I get a new key even if the original is faulty.

regards Kevin.

 

[Anthony489]

Hi again

If the factory fitted immobiliser chip in the key is not recognised, you will get a red "padlock" symbol lit up on the instrument panel. The engine will crank over but the ECU won't trigger the injectors to supply fuel so it won't start. However, that doesn't seem to fit with the symptoms you have described.

Does the vehicle have a non-Fiat alarm or alarm/immobiliser fitted by the motorhome converter ?

In an earlier post you said "the battery and oil lights came on and stayed on even after I switched the ignition off". This behaviour is very odd, and suggests to me that: 1) There is a fault with the ignition switch or 2) Something is "back feeding" 12 volt power to a point downstream of the ignition switch and keeping circuits alive that shouldn't be. Given that this is a motorhome, it will have a separate habitation battery in addition to the vehicle/starter battery. These two are only supposed to be joined when the engine is running and the alternator is charging both batteries, at other times they are automatically isolated from each other. However, it's possible there is a fault with the motorhome control panel which is causing them to be linked. I guess there is an outside chance that one of your starting attempts involved the habitation battery supplying at least some of the starter motor current, which it should never do. I'd therefore advise that the habitation battery (and any solar panels if fitted) are isolated whilst troubleshooting is being carried out.

As you will appreciate, it's hard to do diagnosis from my armchair 10,000 miles away ! Keep us posted though.