General Electric Gremlins/Not Starting/Odd Fault Warnings

[ockysmith]

Hi all,

Hoping somebody on here can help us with our 53reg Diesel Ulysses.

Around 6mths ago we started getting warnings saying we had a "Handbrake Fault" - local mechanic checked it out - handbrake all fine. A couple of months ago we started getting "Airbag Fault" warnings, again checked - all fine, no problems found. Big service carried out last month too.

3mths ago the car went crazy one day stating "Economy Mode Active" full beams on constantly, brake lights not working, wipers on constantly and the car wouldn't start once turned off. After 30mins of just sitting around it started just fine, all problems disappeared.

We now get this intermittently. The airbag and handbrake warnings are pretty much always there, but occassionally the car won't start (had Greenflag out, he couldn't find anything wrong) and it's always accompanied by crazy electrics and "economy mode active", in between it runs just fine and the only way to rectify it seems to be to just turn the engine off and wait.

Does this ring bells with anyone? we'd be ever so grateful if somebody could help as we really can't afford to take it to a main dealer to get fixed.

Thanks in advance for any answers

Sarah

 

[BusDriver]

Classic Fiat electrical problems. Would you ever buy in Italian PC?
I do hope you find out what the problem is. Is everything earthing OK?

 

[wurz1974]

The fuse box in the engine bay can become waterlogged and this results in similar symptoms such as false warnings. I had similar problems and a new fuse box sorted it out for me. £100 from Citroen (no Fiat dealers near me)

Check out your fuse box for water damage and take it from there.

 

[jasonh131]

hi
could be battery weaking, when mine haz a cold mornimg sometimes
goes dolaly , after a warmed up trip starts up fine , econ mode comes on when i left the radio on and shuts all the electrics off after a couple of minutes
jay

 

[lanketward]

Great to know it is not just my Ulysee that does things like this....I have a 53 petrol version. Absolute nightmares with the central locking. The boot keeps flashing up as open when it is locked - the rest of the car is unlocked and will not lock as it thinks the boot is open when it isnt (if you follow me).

I did some research and found that by disconnecting the battery for a short while it cleared the problem (usually for a few weeks) and we moved on.

I have also had airbag warnings when nothing was wrong.

All in all I am getting so sick of it I am thinking of changing the car..dont want to spend the winter messing about with it.

 

[madham]

ockysmith did you ever resolve this problem ?

 

[digger58]

I had much the same fun with my 03 Eleganza, airbag light etc, fuse bos was def to blame, cleaned and dryed then sealed it properly, all OK from then on.
hope that helps,
T