Technical Dashboard acting up.

[Albert Alfvag]

Hello all.
I went in with my panda 4x4 for an MOT and got a fail on two points; too low driving light beam and windshield washer not working.
I started by clearing the nozzle with a needle and indeed it was just clogged. But, when I used the wiper controll arm just to get some fluid moving, the whole thing started acting strange.
Now the window washer doesn't activate at all when I pull the controll arm, and the temp gauge and fog light indicator comes on as I pull the lever.
Now I know almost nothing of electronics so I don't know what's going on. Broken column control group? Bad ground somewhere?
I didn't do anything exept clear the nozzle with a needle, but did get some overspray when testing the washer. I don't think any washer fluid ended up an any wiring though.

Help and insights appreciated!
Cheers,
Albert

 

[the green vanper]

Hello,

It's an old car, wire insulation could be broken somewhere. Or the lever can have a short.

I had a similar problem in my 17 or 18 years old non-FIAT, the insulation disintegrated completely on a piece of wire on the indicator / lights lever. Luckily I've noticed it early enough, before I got any problems.

 

[Albert Alfvag]

Thank you for the reply. I'll have to pull the dash of and give the wiring a visual inspection. As you say it's and old car. And to boot it hasn't been on the road for over ten years so there's that.

 

[the green vanper]

So you can potentially add to the age also mice, rats, martens and all other viscious rodents...

 

[Dragon Man]

it sounds like it could be an earthing issue. depending on the year of your panda, you could have corroded spade terminal earthing points. its also possible that the wire could have rotted out at the earthing points. check out this post on the locations of them:

Common Causes of Electrical faults in Panda classics | FIAT Panda (Classic)

Earths. Don't worry it is not as bad as it sounds! the panda classics have 4 Earthing points. the locations are: note that the following pictures are from a panda 4x4 that has had a Punto engine installed. the earthing points are all in the same place as before the engine swap. Near battery...

www.fiatforum.com