Technical Warning Lights

[Mick F]

Our Baby Panda has some warning light issues.

Any ideas about what is going on?
All on the same afternoon. Switch off, and try later.
Yes, the oil level is fine, and yes, the car drives well.
107,000miles.

I plan on taking it to the local garage so they can check out the warning system.

Mick.

 

[koalar]

Random warning lights

Where to start isn't going to be easy

Oil pressure switch ---> ECU - - - > BSI - - - > dash

Airbag + switch - - - > airbag control unit - - - - > BSI - - - - > dash

ECU engine management computer
BSI body computer

I see the time and date is kept so battery isn't falling below the threshold to keep the real time clock alive

Dirty or slightly corroded connector dash or body computer would be my guess

We had some heavy rain lately, has any water entered the fuse box. Is the carpet wet near the accelerator pedal

 

[Mick F]

Thanks for that Koalar

We had a 500TA some years ago, and I bought the OBD leads and the MultiECUscan program. It solved quite a few issues, especially turning off the awful wailing noise if you weren't wearing your seatbelt down the drive to the front gate!
At least Baby Panda doesn't shout at you!

The 500TA was a 2014 car (we bought it before it's 1st MOT) with the OBD under the dash to the right of the steering wheel.
Where is the OBD ........ if there is one? ............ on an elderly 2001 Mk3 Panda?

I still have the PC laptop and the program and the leads from all those years ago somewhere. We're AppleMac people here, so I had to buy an old PC running Vista. Awful!!!!!!

Whether I can be bothered to do any of this, is another issue. I'd rather get the local garage to sort it.

Mick.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The oil warning light would be the one that would "worry" me. Is it illuminated when the engine is running? If so I'd advise caution. It should illuminate when the oil pressure drops to such a low pressure that damage to the engine can be expected. The advice therefore would be not to run the engine until checks have been done to ascertain whether it really is low oil pressure or an electrical fault.

OBD socket is inside the removable panel to the right of the steering wheel:



Hopefully you'll find fault codes posted which will help with the airbag problem lights.

 

[koalar]

Where is the OBD ........ if there is one? ............ on an elderly 2001 Mk3 Panda?

2001 are you sure it's a mk3? Typo maybe

2003-2012

The obd port is to right of the steering wheel behind a plastic cover

 

[Mick F]

Oops!
My mistake!
It's a Mk3 2004 Dynamic.
I was reminiscing about our 2001 Clio. Lovely car and owned it from brand new, and sold only five years ago.
Also, I remembered this morning that I sent the PC laptop for recycling. I no longer have a PC.

Also, as well, I'll be going out to the car in the next hour and fire it up again and see what lights are showing.
If the oil light was the only light that had come on, I would believe the oil pressure was low, but as the airbag lights were on without the oil light being on, and after re-starting, they didn't show and then the oil light came on ............... I somehow think it's crying wolf.

Back soon with an update.

Mick.

 

[Mick F]

Update.

Do you believe these lights are telling the truth?
I don't.

I'll be popping in at the local garage this morning driving our Yaris. I'll show them my photographs of the lights and they can book it in for a scan.

Mick.

 

[Mick F]

Booked in for a week today. Earliest they can do.

Meanwhile, I'll be disconnecting the battery ......... I know the radio code! ............. and see if that cures it.
After all, cars are one big electronic device, and the best way of fixing anomalous errors, is to switch off the power and do a reset.
So, I'll be disconnecting the battery.

If it's ok, I'll cancel the booking, if it isn't, the car won't be used until I take it the half mile to the garage.

Mick.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

As long as the radio is original the BCM (Body ECU) should remember the radio code and reconnect when you reconnect the battery. I've had the battery on both our 2010 169 model Panda - so much like yours - and my boy's 2012 Punto disconnected for hours when working on them and both reconnect to their radios as soon as the battery is reconnected.

Resetting the lights by disconnecting the battery for a while (by tradition people used to do it overnight) I don't think works any more. You need a scanner like our MES, or something similar, to reset DTCs now a days.

 

[Mick F]

Update.

Disconnection of the battery seems to have cured the oil light issue, but not the airbag issues.

The clock needed to be re-set, as did the radio/cassette needing its code. The car did not remember the code, so I had to manually input it. The clock can only be advanced by pressing and holding the "up" button, and it increases by the minute from 00:00. It took a few minutes of holding the button for it to advance to 11:07 after I got into the driving seat.

Repeatedly switching off and restarting, the airbag lights didn't go off. However, by leaving the ignition off for the count of ten seconds and then restarting, all the warning lights were off.

I went for a drive with the doggie on the back seat (clipped in) and went for an hour's walk in Blanchdown Woods, and then driving back, both airbag lights came on. Stopping for the count of ten seconds and then restarting, they were off.

The oil warning light wasn't showing throughout.

Blanchdown Woods and the Tamar Trails, if you're interested!

http://www.tamarvalley.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Welcome-to-TT.pdf

Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Mick.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Glad to hear you're getting there. Is the radio/cassette the original - only the original will be "remembered".

It's not unusual to have to drive a wee distance for the ABS warning light to illuminate, probably you do have something needing looked at there and probably there's a code posted which will be helpful.

Mrs J gets annoyed with me if I've had our battery disconnected and forgotten to reset the clock - it does take a bit if time to reset.

A question for anyone "in the know". Does the oil warning light/sensor circuit go through a processor or is it just a straight to earth through the pressure switch on the block? I thought it was just a "good old" straight to earth?

Edit. If you really do have a genuine low pressure problem and you're continuing to drive it about as you are, I think we'd have some "nasty knocking noises" making themselves known by now?

 

[AILURUS LAPIS]

Is the passenger air bag switch in the OFF position?
The one in the glovebox where you use the ignition key to turn it on/off.

Thanks. Ailurus Lapis

 

[Mick F]

The radio cassette is the original.
Definitely. No argument.

The key switch has the switch in the normal position.
When our daughter sold us the Panda, she said that the passenger airbag light was intermittent, so she had turned it to off to get it through the last MOT. I left it like that, and turned it back on and took the car to the local garage and they cleared a code via OBD.
From then on, the light would flash as the car started up, and then within a second or two, go out.

Some weeks - months? - down the line - both airbag lights are coming on occasionally.

As for the oil light, I suspect that it's connected to a pressure switch as the car starts up. As our drive points uphill, the oil level could be high.
Point it downhill, and the level is lower. This is a point worth considering methinks.

This afternoon, I topped the oil up to the Max mark with the car on the level at the bottom of the drive. Hopefully, this is the end of the oil pressure problem as since then, it's fine.

As for the airbag lights, that come on, and then later after restarting, are not on, that is a subject I haven't a clue about !!!!!

Mick.

 

[koalar]

The most common fault the airbag is the passenger switch in the glovebox

A read of the code would confirm

It just flicks out with a credit card or similar

Punto switch also fits

 

[Mick F]

Sorry for not getting back to this.

Turning the switch to ON after it's been in the OFF position for a few days seems to stop the alarm lights on the dash.
The car passed its MOT in early September and there were no airbag warnings.
Since then, it's come on and I turned the switch to OFF. Left it like that for a few days, and this morning, turned it back ON again. I've been through this procedure a few times. and at this moment there is no alarm showing.

So, I reckon I'm in agreement with Koalar (above). I wonder if the switch is intermittent? Or maybe a bad connection?

If the switch comes out ok, I'll have a look-see later today.

Mick.

 

[varesecrazy]

Sorry for not getting back to this.

Turning the switch to ON after it's been in the OFF position for a few days seems to stop the alarm lights on the dash.
The car passed its MOT in early September and there were no airbag warnings.
Since then, it's come on and I turned the switch to OFF. Left it like that for a few days, and this morning, turned it back ON again. I've been through this procedure a few times. and at this moment there is no alarm showing.

So, I reckon I'm in agreement with Koalar (above). I wonder if the switch is intermittent? Or maybe a bad connection?

If the switch comes out ok, I'll have a look-see later today.

Mick.

Hi Mick,


The wiring to the passenger switch is awkward..

I broke mine getting the glove box out all those years ago..

That's when I had to buy my MES


I found a Mk2 punto easily back then.. Yards were full of them

 

[koalar]

Don't take the glovebox out

The switch just pops out with a credit card or similar

I swapped mine for one from a Punto

This part takes seconds

I also swapped the cylinder over so the key still worked, bit of a faf but not strickly necessary if you never use a child seat

 

[varesecrazy]

Yes.. I swapped the barrel too..
Just a spring clip... I seem to recall

The plug was a bit fiddly ( small) iirc

Probably a GUIDE on here somewhere

 

[Mick F]

Hi guys and good afternoon.

Soon after my last post, I climbed into the passenger side and prised the unit out with a penknife. It came out easily.
The plug on the back had a two-core wire, and it seemed fine. Nothing suspicious at all.
I squirted a bit of WD40 into the key-hole and worked the key back and forth a dozen times.

Refitted the unit, and this afternoon been out in the car, and back again, then out again and back again - again.
At no time did the airbag warning lights stay on after starting up.

Sod's Law states that now I've said all this, the next time, the warning lights will remain on !!!! Ha! Ha!

I'll get back to this thread tomorrow with an update.

Mick.

 

[Mick F]

Update.
Drove Baby Panda four times today. Each of the four drives, the airbag warning lights extinguished after start-up.

Maybe I've said, that Baby Panda was owned by our daughter, and she'd had it from brand new. It's a 2004 Panda and now done 107,500 miles or more.

I was thinking today, that she maybe had her young lad in the front when he was little and she turned off the passenger airbag. Maybe after turning it back on, the warning light became intermittent, so she turned it off again. Since then, the airbag warning has continued to be intermittent so she left it in the OFF position. That's how it was when she sold it to us. It's only my inquisitive mind that wants to get to the bottom of this.

I have yet to talk to our daughter about my idea that it was fine until she turned it OFF, and not fine after she turned it back ON.

Any road up, it's all fine at the moment ........... Sod's Law dependent, and hopefully WD40 dependent too.

I'll keep this tread updated if there's a change.
Mick.