P38 throwing a tantrum?

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Paul Coddington

Active Member
Posts
125
Location
Derbyshire
Hi All, it's the P38 DT with a manual gearbox. So apart from the ongoing ABS issue which is awaiting a space at the mechanics.
I've fired it up this morning just because it looked like a snowball. And no instrument panel! Checked fuse 1 which was fine, reinserted it and the panel has partially come to life. I've got a message electrical fault, fuel gauge fault etc. Rev counter is working. Then all of a sudden it sprung back to life. Now I changed the battery at the weekend. And it did a very similar thing. Any ideas, I'd like to sort this before it can get worse.
 
Hi All, it's the P38 DT with a manual gearbox. So apart from the ongoing ABS issue which is awaiting a space at the mechanics.
I've fired it up this morning just because it looked like a snowball. And no instrument panel! Checked fuse 1 which was fine, reinserted it and the panel has partially come to life. I've got a message electrical fault, fuel gauge fault etc. Rev counter is working. Then all of a sudden it sprung back to life. Now I changed the battery at the weekend. And it did a very similar thing. Any ideas, I'd like to sort this before it can get worse.
Was the car humid inside, windows misted up?
 
Did you charge the battery before fitting ?
No, I didn't. I got it from a company I've used a lot over the years. Never been an issue before.
yes but it's been 4 days in the freezing cold. what's the battery voltage looking like with engine off ?
Just checked it 12.53v. Interestingly the instrument panel is now fine. All the warnings lights, fuel gauge working fine. The electrical fault, airbag fault messages have gone. It's never had these issues before the battery change. It's been out in much colder weather than this morning, so l have no idea what could have changed.
 
No, I didn't. I got it from a company I've used a lot over the years. Never been an issue before.

Just checked it 12.53v. Interestingly the instrument panel is now fine. All the warnings lights, fuel gauge working fine. The electrical fault, airbag fault messages have gone. It's never had these issues before the battery change. It's been out in much colder weather than this morning, so l have no idea what could have changed.
Frosty on the outside, but was it wet and/or frosty on the inside? I suspect that the problem is/was just due to damp.
 
Frosty on the outside, but was it wet and/or frosty on the inside? I suspect that the problem is/was just due to damp.
Covered in a frost, misted windscreen, nothing more serious than that. It did throw this wobble when I changed the battery, but turning it off of and restarting cured that.
As I said it's not done this before, even on much colder and damp days. It must not like Exide batteries.
 
Covered in a frost, misted windscreen, nothing more serious than that. It did throw this wobble when I changed the battery, but turning it off of and restarting cured that.
As I said it's not done this before, even on much colder and damp days. It must not like Exide batteries.
I don't like Exide batteries either, nor Varta. Hankook mf31-1000 or the Yuasa equivalent every time.
 
Bit of an update, The vehicle is still having a tantrum, I decided to replace the battery connectors as the positive terminal was the original one, and given enough of a twist did have some slight movement. Still the same issue, I've tried a suggestion of disconnecting the battery for 20 mins and then connecting the positive lead to earth before reconnecting. It's been suggested by a very knowledgeable mechanic that it could be a stored error. Anyone else any suggestions as to an error that would only affect the instrument panel, but not affect the starting, lights etc
 
Bit of an update, The vehicle is still having a tantrum, I decided to replace the battery connectors as the positive terminal was the original one, and given enough of a twist did have some slight movement. Still the same issue, I've tried a suggestion of disconnecting the battery for 20 mins and then connecting the positive lead to earth before reconnecting. It's been suggested by a very knowledgeable mechanic that it could be a stored error. Anyone else any suggestions as to an error that would only affect the instrument panel, but not affect the starting, lights etc
I'm not aware of any stored error codes for the instrument cluster. I would suggest that you have a problem with corroded connectors either at the panel or at the BECM always assuming that the battery voltage is good, the fuse box does not smell of burning and the earth strap from engine to chassis is intact.
 
I'm not aware of any stored error codes for the instrument cluster. I would suggest that you have a problem with corroded connectors either at the panel or at the BECM always assuming that the battery voltage is good, the fuse box does not smell of burning and the earth strap from engine to chassis is intact.
Thank you for the input, battery voltage is fine, 12 5 v alternator is charging at 14.4. The straps seem okay but a clean up can't hurt, and I can't smell anything suspicious.
I'm going have to go over the connections. Interestingly when, I first turned it on, only the srs light came on and went. Then the fault warnings appeared and shortly after that the full panel appeared. All the clocks were working just as you would expect. Took it for a run round no problems, I'm expecting it to be back to errors next time.
 
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