# rapido electronics problems



## ulixiservi (Jun 24, 2008)

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My Rapido motorhome on Fiat engine/chassis is only two years old and just out of warranty, and I wonder if any one has had a similar problem as the following with a Rapido motorhome

Starting our travels around Europe and travelling on Saturday 10th July around the circular road of NANTES in France the following happened
1. All the dash board warning lights came on and the indicator needles for speed/fuel/revs/engine temp stopped working likewise the passenger electric window would not work .
2. These lights then went off and indicator needles came back on but the airbag alarm light stayed on.
3. This happened a few times as I was driving off the ring road.
4. The lights then stayed off except for the airbag warning light which stayed on. The indictors worked but the dash boards lights did not activate to show they were working.
5. On parking up I checked all the fuses which seemed to me to be all ok.
6. Switching the engine on it was noticed that the airbag warning light stayed on and that there was a loud clicking noise coming from the relays on the side of the drivers panel likewise a loud clicking noise coming from the relays under the bed and the 12v system for the 'fridge' kept coming on and off and then staying off. The trip meter etc went back to zero.
7. Rescue was called out and I was informed it was the relays but as no one was open I would have to wait until Monday and that it should be ok to drive to a near camp site.
8. On Monday I visited a Fiat dealer who, two and a quarter hours later and them being 196 odd euros richer and me being poorer (my warranty had run out!!!! One month previous though for some reason I had thought it was a warranty for three years) told me that there was a problem with the fuses as they were corroded and maybe the fuse box needs replacing as that could be corroded. (The fuses they returned to me did not seem to me show any signs of corrosion!!) 
9. They then said they cleaned the connections and replaced 12 fuses 8 x 7.5 and 4 x 10 amp did a test drive and told me all was ok.
10. Two days later driving into Spain all the dash board warning lights started flashing on and off and then completely stayed off - again no dash board indication that the indicators nor the dipped headlamps were working (though they were) and the indicator needles stopped working and I was driving using the speed indicator from my sat nav.
11. Stopping at an Aires I and a friendly lorry driver checked ( with a fuse light pen) all the fuses again and again all seemed to be working ok.
12. The only exception to the above was that this time there was not loud clicking noise from the relays and that the 'fridge' on the 12v system kept on working.
13. I drove to a friends house again with every thing coming on and off randomly then after a while all lights went off and the indicator needles came on and stayed on and as previously the airbag warning light came on and stayed on in all of above the data (trip etc) kept on going back to zero and the total mileage stayed the same .
In Spain I finally managed to get my vehicle into a Fiat garage who after a week have informed that they have changed the fuse boxes and dashboard unit and checked all the electrics none of which has sorted out the faults - the faults still are there with the changed units.

It is their opinion that the fault is in the onboard computer which they say is behind the dashboard and that this unit is nothing to do with Fiat but a Rapido unit.

I would be most grateful for any guidance help advice on this problem.

Regards

Graham Jenner

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## aultymer (Jun 20, 2006)

> nothing to do with Fiat


Why am I not surprised at this statement from a Fiat garage?


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

Hi,

No converter control unit has anything to do with electric windows, air bag lights or dash board indicators, they are all part of the cab and not habitaion which is basically what the converters unit controls ( the fridge picks up a signal from the engine management sytemn)

Having spoken to Paul at Caravannes Rapido Wokingham, he asures me its a FIAT problem as I thought in the first place.

Peter


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## trek (May 1, 2005)

Could be an earth fault !


check ALL the earthing points are clean & done up tight


recently had one hell of a battle with my sons Citroen car (SPEEDO & all instruments would stop working , wipers would start going on their own Heater fan would not work intermitantly - funny noises from relays & power steering pump in engine bay.)

we had worked out it was an earth fault but just couldn't find the faulty earthing point - the faulty earth point wasn't shown in the diagrams / Haynes book as it was a right hand drive car ! eventually found it in drivers side foot well

the earth bolt had slowly undone itself over the years from the body earthing point and the earth cables were therefore very loose underneath causing these odd intermitant faults


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## trek (May 1, 2005)

was it raining when these faults occurred or the vehicle wet / damp?

did the garage say there were any fault codes recorded in the ECU ?


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## trek (May 1, 2005)

have a search on the web for ideas eg :-

http://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/223921-speedometer-2006-2-8-jtd.html

http://www.fiatforum.com/punto/231092-instruments-gremlins-total-blackout.html


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