Technical Faulty Dash Warning Lights

[Anthony489]

Cartronix Richard mentions his company changing the LEDs for superior ones. But this doesn't explain to me why multiple unrelated LEDs should come on dimly when they shouldn't. There must be a fault with the way they are driven, or some common connection between them such as an earth which has gone faulty.
My own (2009) Fiat Ducato instrument panel has 4 or 5 LEDs which show very dimly (visible at night). They keep going for about a minute after the engine has stopped and the ignition key has been removed, then go out at the same time as the red illumination in the door window switches times out. If a door is then opened, they glow again, then go out slightly after the mileage display backlight times out.
I know that LEDs can still produce noticeable light with only a trickle of current, maybe 1 milliamp. Any more detail on what's really going on Richard ?

 

[inspiredron]

Cartronix Richard mentions his company changing the LEDs for superior ones. But this doesn't explain to me why multiple unrelated LEDs should come on dimly when they shouldn't. There must be a fault with the way they are driven, or some common connection between them such as an earth which has gone faulty.
My own (2009) Fiat Ducato instrument panel has 4 or 5 LEDs which show very dimly (visible at night). They keep going for about a minute after the engine has stopped and the ignition key has been removed, then go out at the same time as the red illumination in the door window switches times out. If a door is then opened, they glow again, then go out slightly after the mileage display backlight times out.
I know that LEDs can still produce noticeable light with only a trickle of current, maybe 1 milliamp. Any more detail on what's really going on Richard ?

I have been thinking about this. I suspect that the led's on the factory panel are a cheap type that will light up at any voltage but the level of brigtness varies with th evoltage applied (as one might expect). When Richard repairs the panels he may well remove all the LED's and replace them with a superior type that will only operate once the voltage reaches a threshold (probably around 10V-11V).
I suspect that you are right in thinking that theer is some leakage to earth that is occurring on the PCB. I not only get the VERY dim lights after th eignition is switched off (for about 3 minutes) but also half bright lights when cruise control is switched on. It only seems to happen on Motorhomes probably because the panel gets damp over winter layup. And they decrease in brightness and number as the panel warms up in the summer. LED's that need a trigger voltage would stop both types of phantom - I think!
Richard - am I right?

 

[corcai]

I have been thinking about this. I suspect that the led's on the factory panel are a cheap type that will light up at any voltage but the level of brigtness varies with th evoltage applied (as one might expect).

Leds only light when their forward voltage is met or exceeded they don't light up at 'any voltage'. If they are glowing slightly then fitting an led with a higher forward voltage or integrated resistor could solve the 'problem'. But that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the fitted leds - the voltage in the off state shouldn't be anywhere near the forward voltage in the first place.

 

[Crossingkeeper]

Though it is nothing to do with the problem reported by the OP, I had a similar issue with the twin LED strip lights in my van lounge.

These are controlled by a CBE dimmer switch incorporating an on/off button. Despite replacing this switch, the only way I could prevent these led's glowing very faintly when switched off was to introduce a separate on/off switch into the circuit.

I just assumed that there must have been some low voltage 'leakage' across the dimmer switch's PCB board energising the LED strips.

 

[corcai]

Though it is nothing to do with the problem reported by the OP, I had a similar issue with the twin LED strip lights in my van lounge.

These are controlled by a CBE dimmer switch incorporating an on/off button. Despite replacing this switch, the only way I could prevent these led's glowing very faintly when switched off was to introduce a separate on/off switch into the circuit.

I just assumed that there must have been some low voltage 'leakage' across the dimmer switch's PCB board energising the LED strips.

That might explain mystery parasitic drains in a lot of motorhomes if they also leak current with a low resistance load like a halogen bulb/bulbs.

 

[printspark]

Hi
I had this problem when my van was 2 years old (I bought van from new) and Fiat changed the dash cluster. Then 18 months later it went again but being out of warranty Fiat would only pay 50% of the repair and would be £360 with a 12month warranty.
There was no way I was going to pay that so I got in touch with Cartronix as mentioned above and am extremely pleased with the speed of the repair. I sent it off on Wednesday lunchtime and had it back on Friday lunchtime with a lifetime warranty.
The one man with a solution to the problem!!!
Graham

 

[Monty205]

Hi
I had this problem when my van was 2 years old (I bought van from new) and Fiat changed the dash cluster. Then 18 months later it went again but being out of warranty Fiat would only pay 50% of the repair and would be £360 with a 12month warranty.
There was no way I was going to pay that so I got in touch with Cartronix as mentioned above and am extremely pleased with the speed of the repair. I sent it off on Wednesday lunchtime and had it back on Friday lunchtime with a lifetime warranty.
The one man with a solution to the problem!!!
Graham

Same old problem; faulty/cheap kit used by SEVEL.

I have a Fiat Ducato-based Adria Motorhome, and am now on my 5th dash unit.

The vehicle is just 4 years old and I have owned it from new.

The first two changes were carried out at 11 month intervals, and were covered by the warranty, the rest were "Good Will Gestures" from Fiat via their very helpful Customer Services, I even received a complementary "£200 off your next Fiat Service" to boot.

The last replacement was carried out in late January, and I am assured that the entire stock of crap units has now been used up/binned/scrapped/whatever, and I should not see the problem again,................ but to be honest, I am not holding my breath.

According the to 'Experts" at MMM (a popular Motorhome mag) I do not hold the record, some blokes have had even more replacements than I have.

The saga is reported elsewhere in this forum but I can't for the life of me recall where.

 

[corcai]

Same old problem; faulty/cheap kit used by SEVEL.

To be fair Sevel just commissioned the cluster from magentti marelli as do audi, volvo, renault, citroen, peugeot and others. Ridiculous its not solved though, should be done as a recall and the instock units should have gone back for rework.

 

[gordongraham]

To be fair Sevel just commissioned the cluster from magentti marelli as do audi, volvo, renault, citroen, peugeot and others. Ridiculous its not solved though, should be done as a recall and the instock units should have gone back for rework.

Just found issue with warning panel when cruse control switch on giving dimly lit water in fuel warning light and empty fuel light dimly light. Never used cruise control before - accidentally switched it on.
Called out RAC who said fault in warning panel. Checked out at by fiat agent who say £ 660 for new unit.

Had vehicle from new August 2012. Swift Sundance on fiat ducato base vehicle.


Anyone got replacement under known common fault?

Suggestions please?

 

[Spookyb329]

Hi, I have a 2014 Iveco Daily, its a high specification model has Fiat canbus/modules etc. It has had the same issues;

When the van is unlocked, some faint lights appear (battery, water in fuel filter). After starting, front fog lights (centre console button) causes a DPF light and ABS light to come on. Turning on the cruise control (stalk) causes the ABS and water in fuel to go to full brightness.I also had faint EDC light and low fuel lamp warning, which was a symptom the first time around. I noticed that the average speed counter were not working either.

I have spent many hours under the dash with multimeters and power probes trying to solve this issue, and many hours researching the problem online, however frustratingly, I didn't realise the Fiat connection and missed this topic!

I couldn't repair it so the van was repaired under warranty in 2016, they replaced the 'the dashboard' (they didn't so I assume it was a dash control module or something) which didn't fix it, so they then replaced the instrument cluster. All good until 9 months later, I was using fog lights on a misty morning and noticed the lights had come back. This time it was fixed in the last week of warranty but I am just spending my life waiting for the problem to re-occur!

Has anyone got details of the re-call? I cannot see anything on the DVSA recall website. Its now been about 9 months since the last repair so I'm hoping they got to the bottom of it, the only strange behaviour I've noticed is the 'miles remaining' often reads ----- once the low fuel warning is triggered which it didn't do before...

Thanks guys
http://ivecoforums.com/topic/8956646/1/#new

P.S Just a warning, apparently if you swap instrument clusters between vehicles, or get a secondhand instrument cluster, the vehicle will see the mileages do not match, and permanently record/display the mileage of whichever component has the higher miles! Which would be a bit gutting if you have a motorhome on 15,000 miles and fit an instrument cluster from a delivery van on 150,000!

 

[Stevo101]

I have a similar problem now. There is a company out there that will repair them for you for about £150. They renew the dash components and sort the soldered joint out. They turn them around quickly too. https://cartronix.co.uk/product/fiat-ducato-mk3-van-and-motor-home-instrument-cluster-dash-repair/

 

[Ducatofunzi]

As the original issue is a "fault by fiat standard" - did nobody ever repair it by himself ??? (...instead of sending it to some specialist)... if i look to the platine design with the led`s e. g. on the left side cluster, quite few are put "in a row", each depending on its previous one, THAT is crap by factory design ! ...why? Because if one (cheapo LED) fail, the following get higher / wrong voltage - and of course will not work proper than.

Is there no way to somehow solute this crappy electronic design?