Petrol light, radiator gauge and handbrake light on and beep!

RangeRoller dt · Jul 20, 2019

Just smell it, fusebox is a ‘if not broke don’t touch it’ kinda thing

especially if your battery won’t come off

CJMoore · Jul 20, 2019

RangeRoller dt said:
Just smell it, fusebox is a ‘if not broke don’t touch it’ kinda thing especially if your battery won’t come off

Ok will do. We had issues last year of mice eating the cables apparently! The local garage had to repair several wires into the fuse box but there has been no problems since then. The mice also ate and fluffed up the air con filter things. Bizarre as the car is driven several times a day.....no sign of mice living in engine so I suppose it was a nighttime feast. Life in France never ceases to amuse (albeit with gritted teeth).

CJMoore · Jul 20, 2019

CJMoore said:
Oh my gosh that’s awesome. It’s not solved the bulb issues but the screen I can see now goes super bright.
Thank you.

To update: we followed the video link you sent and replaced the bulbs. I can now see any messages....it’s not showing any sadly but it’s wonderful being able to see the dials and information clearly once again. Thank you. We have needed to do this for years and finally got the courage following the video precisely and slowly and job done!

ukadamwest · Jul 20, 2019

CJMoore said:
Ok will do. We had issues last year of mice eating the cables apparently! The local garage had to repair several wires into the fuse box but there has been no problems since then. The mice also ate and fluffed up the air con filter things. Bizarre as the car is driven several times a day.....no sign of mice living in engine so I suppose it was a nighttime feast. Life in France never ceases to amuse (albeit with gritted teeth).

the fusebox is regular point of replacement, mice or no mice ! usually its arcing which can be seen after pulling the relays out, I cant remember which one on mine caused it I should make it the first point of call on my trouble shooting.. its a simple job to replace, but if it is... make sure you get the right part number, there are lots of fuse boxes for the type, depending on year type etc.

RangeRoller dt · Jul 20, 2019

CJMoore said:
To update: we followed the video link you sent and replaced the bulbs. I can now see any messages....it’s not showing any sadly

No messages is a godsend ; wish mine did that.

It’s just few screws, but it’s hard to explain. Once you see it it’s easy

unless it starts to snap

Answer then, funnily enough, more screws

Grrrrrr · Jul 20, 2019

Backup car essential for P38 ownership!

CJMoore · Jul 20, 2019

RangeRoller dt said:
There is cluster bolted on front chassis leg you can see where I cleaned mine up and painted it to keep it clean with whatever I had in the shed (blue)... zoom in
View attachment 184705

one underneath thick cable going to gearbox side but I have a manual transmission so may be different to yours?

Sorry I missed the need to reply to this. Mine is automatic transmission. Off to check the earths and sniff the fuse box just now...

Grrrrrr · Jul 20, 2019

CJMoore said:
Sorry I missed the need to reply to this. Mine is automatic transmission. Off to check the earths and sniff the fuse box just now...

That should amuse the neighbours. What's next RRDT? Two fingers in the exhaust and tickle the baffles?!

CJMoore · Jul 20, 2019

Grrrrrr said:
That should amuse the neighbours. What's next RRDT? Two fingers in the exhaust and tickle the baffles?!

Yeahhhhhhh.....just discovered we can’t do anything as alarm goes off constantly. Can’t get the battery out as terminals welded rod however they do lift off easily! The battery is running at 12v so no problem with the actual battery. Getting really stuck...

CJMoore · Jul 20, 2019

ukadamwest said:
the fusebox is regular point of replacement, mice or no mice ! usually its arcing which can be seen after pulling the relays out, I cant remember which one on mine caused it I should make it the first point of call on my trouble shooting.. its a simple job to replace, but if it is... make sure you get the right part number, there are lots of fuse boxes for the type, depending on year type etc.

Ok so we got into the fuse box, we found a wire hanging by the smallest thread, which was hanging from the relay 2, we fixed it. The trip out caused no faults however it stalled once out of about ten stops and starts.! So....:not sure yet if we have solved the problem and are back to the original problem of it stalling and perhaps needing new HT leads or what.... I’ll write again soon....

brianp38dse · Jul 20, 2019

You said battery is running at 12v, 12.?v
under 12.4 is bad should be nearer 13, check with volt meter engine off then check at 2000rpm with all lights and heater on and let us know the results.

Grrrrrr · Jul 20, 2019

Think they're right in sorting those terminals first. Sort the faults you know about before looking for more!

Datatek · Jul 20, 2019

brianp38dse said:
You said battery is running at 12v, 12.?v
under 12.4 is bad should be nearer 13, check with volt meter engine off then check at 2000rpm with all lights and heater on and let us know the results.

Battery voltage engine off should be 12.6 to 12.8 volts, engine running it should be a minimum of 13.8 volts if the alternator is original, but 14.7 is better

CJMoore · Jul 20, 2019

Datatek said:
Battery voltage engine off should be 12.6 to 12.8 volts, engine running it should be a minimum of 13.8 volts if the alternator is original, but 14.7 is better

Hey Datatek. Hi.
Ok this is a weird one. At standstill without switching on it’s 12.7v however after turning on all lights and engine and reviving to 2000 it became erratic.... most of the time around 14 v but for a second or two 2 or 3 volts ....then around 14...then down to 2 0r 3 the. 14....etc etc

For us it feels like a bad connection somewhere but we are lost to be honest

Is there a test using a meter for the relays?

Thanks in advance

Datatek said:
Battery voltage engine off should be 12.6 to 12.8 volts, engine running it should be a minimum of 13.8 volts if the alternator is original, but 14.7 is better

RangeRoller dt · Jul 20, 2019

And we have a winner....

CJMoore · Jul 21, 2019

RangeRoller dt said:
And we have a winner....

but what does it mean. Dying Battery? Alternator? What do we do next oh learned gurus?

Datatek · Jul 21, 2019

CJMoore said:
but what does it mean. Dying Battery? Alternator? What do we do next oh learned gurus?

CJMoore said:
Hey Datatek. Hi.
Ok this is a weird one. At standstill without switching on it’s 12.7v however after turning on all lights and engine and reviving to 2000 it became erratic.... most of the time around 14 v but for a second or two 2 or 3 volts ....then around 14...then down to 2 0r 3 the. 14....etc etc

For us it feels like a bad connection somewhere but we are lost to be honest

Is there a test using a meter for the relays?

Thanks in advance

If that erratic voltage is at the battery terminals, either the battery is defective or possibly the alternator. I have just had to swap the alternator on my project P38 for a similar problem where the voltage was jumping around.

CJMoore · Jul 21, 2019

Datatek said:
If that erratic voltage is at the battery terminals, either the battery is defective or possibly the alternator. I have just had to swap the alternator on my project P38 for a similar problem where the voltage was jumping around.

That sounds expensive

Is there a process to finding out which is the issue? Maybe borrow battery and drive it on that? Or a test or something? Any ideas gratefully received.
Thankyou

Datatek · Jul 21, 2019

CJMoore said:
That sounds expensive
Is there a process to finding out which is the issue? Maybe borrow battery and drive it on that? Or a test or something? Any ideas gratefully received.
Thankyou

If you can borrow a battery, that would narrow things down.

CJMoore · Jul 21, 2019

Datatek said:
If you can borrow a battery, that would narrow things down.

Ok thanks, I’ll see if I can find one. Quick question....how do I take the battery off without the alarm going mental please.

Petrol light, radiator gauge and handbrake light on and beep!

Well-Sprung Member

Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Sprung Member

Technician, Bodgit & Scarper Ltd

Member

Technician, Bodgit & Scarper Ltd

Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Technician, Bodgit & Scarper Ltd

Well-Known Member

Member

Well-Sprung Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Similar threads