Omega Owners Forum

Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: zippo on 28 March 2008, 11:17:41

Title: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 28 March 2008, 11:17:41
the car lost power for a split second ,the instrument lights and gauges have packed up and the battery light is illuminated MID doesn't work
either .Any ideas folks
 TIA Darren
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Dazzler on 28 March 2008, 11:40:00
Has the alternater given up and is only running on battery power???? :-/
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marie on 28 March 2008, 11:51:22
Quote
Has the alternater given up and is only running on battery power???? :-/

This was my thoughts
Check to see if the battery is flat.

Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: humbucker on 28 March 2008, 12:05:16
check the connections on your battery, something similar happened to me and it was cos i got a load of cak around the terminal connector when i reconnected the battery. cleaned it up and hey presto, works properly again! might be a similar problem?
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 28 March 2008, 12:06:20
the alternator was what i thought ,but why has the dash (lights gauges) stopped working .Its under warranty but i don't have much faith in the people who i bought the car off . Has any body have an idea the cost of an alternator for a 2.2 auto
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Kevin Wood on 28 March 2008, 12:06:23
The other possibility is that the fuse powering the instrument panel has failed.

Kevin
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 28 March 2008, 12:07:39
Quote
The other possibility is that the fuse powering the instrument panel has failed.

Kevin

i'll go and check them now  :y :y
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: MutantCav on 28 March 2008, 12:08:24
Same alternator as the 120amp ones on the older Omega v6??
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 28 March 2008, 12:47:54
Quote
Same alternator as the 120amp ones on the older Omega v6??

No.

Check fuse F15......
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 28 March 2008, 14:43:24
Quote
Quote
Same alternator as the 120amp ones on the older Omega v6??

No.

Check fuse F15......
checked fuse 15 and it had blown, replaced it, 5mins later that had blown any ideas Mark
  reversing light had blown if that has any bearing on anything
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Weds on 28 March 2008, 15:45:33
Check fuse F15......[/quote]
checked fuse 15 and it had blown, replaced it, 5mins later that had blown any ideas Mark
  reversing light had blown if that has any bearing on anything [/quote]

I'm sure I've had that fuse go, If i remember correctly it also feeds the relays for the A/C, self levelling suspension and other stuff, you'll need a wiring diagram to see what else it does, just start isolating the various circuits it feeds till it stops blowing fuses
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: bruce on 28 March 2008, 17:52:41
Hi Zippo,
Try this link, it will show you what fuse 15 covers.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1161602008

Bruce
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marie on 28 March 2008, 18:01:37
Did you get any luck?

hope you sort it soon :)
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Andy B on 28 March 2008, 18:04:03
15-15A Reverse lamps, cigarette lighter, glove compartment lamp,automatic transmission, automatic level control system, cruise control, ventilation for rear door windows, position memory for seat and mirror adjustment

Ciggy light would be my first port of call. 5p's fit nicely!  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Gaffers on 28 March 2008, 18:11:38
Quote
15-15A Reverse lamps, cigarette lighter, glove compartment lamp,automatic transmission, automatic level control system, cruise control, ventilation for rear door windows, position memory for seat and mirror adjustment

Ciggy light would be my first port of call. 5p's fit nicely!  ;D  ;D

I was thinking that too, they also have a tendancy to twist and short out...  :o :o
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 30 March 2008, 09:08:32
Quote
15-15A Reverse lamps, cigarette lighter, glove compartment lamp,automatic transmission, automatic level control system, cruise control, ventilation for rear door windows, position memory for seat and mirror adjustment

Ciggy light would be my first port of call. 5p's fit nicely!  ;D  ;D

 the car has never had a cig lighter while Ive owned it , but i took it all out anyway and the fuse still blew. But everything the fuse is meant to protect still works apart from the instruments themselves i.e  fuel /temp gauge .The only warning light i do have that works, is for the battery Ah well the joys of motoring  :D
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 31 March 2008, 11:03:17
the wife has called in at a former dealers to see if they could shed any light on the problem ( iam house bound for a bit) .Mrs Zippo has just been charged £64.63 for tech 2 and been told the car needs a new battery and alternator , 10-15 minuets work £65 quid robbing git
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Kevin Wood on 31 March 2008, 11:08:26
Quote
the wife has called in at a former dealers to see if they could shed any light on the problem ( iam house bound for a bit) .Mrs Zippo has just been charged £64.63 for tech 2 and been told the car needs a new battery and alternator , 10-15 minuets work £65 quid robbing git

Sounds dodgy to me. Neither battery nor alternator would cuase the symptims. They have seen the battery light and jumped to the first conclusion they could.

First job is to find the reason the fuse blows and fix that. I suspect there'sd nothing wrong with the battery and alternator. The battery light is on because its' supply fuse has blown!

Kevin
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 31 March 2008, 11:13:07
Quote
Quote
the wife has called in at a former dealers to see if they could shed any light on the problem ( iam house bound for a bit) .Mrs Zippo has just been charged £64.63 for tech 2 and been told the car needs a new battery and alternator , 10-15 minuets work £65 quid robbing git

Sounds dodgy to me. Neither battery nor alternator would cuase the symptims. They have seen the battery light and jumped to the first conclusion they could.

First job is to find the reason the fuse blows and fix that. I suspect there'sd nothing wrong with the battery and alternator. The battery light is on because its' supply fuse has blown!

Kevin
would the tech 2 not pick up the blown fuse
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Kevin Wood on 31 March 2008, 11:30:21
Quote
would the tech 2 not pick up the blown fuse

No. I wouldn't say the Tech 2 would be as much use as a multimeter in this instance. If a fuse keeps blowing the reason needs to be identified first, and only once that's fixed should any further diagnosis be carried out, if necessary.

As I said, I believe the reason for the battery light on, is that the supply to the dash has failed, and this is confirmed by the fact that the fuse has blown.

The garage were wrong to charge you for a Tech 2 session, IMHO, because that was never going to help them find a short circuit.

Kevin
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 31 March 2008, 13:44:19
well that's an auto electrician baffled ,he's totally stumped as to what the problem is
      I FEEL A NIGHTMARE COMEING ON
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 31 March 2008, 13:48:41
One step back to start with.

Has anything been disturbed, removed, installed recently?
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 31 March 2008, 15:31:01
Quote
One step back to start with.

Has anything been disturbed, removed, installed recently?
no Mark, not a thing
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 31 March 2008, 22:15:04
Quote
Quote
would the tech 2 not pick up the blown fuse

No. I wouldn't say the Tech 2 would be as much use as a multimeter in this instance. If a fuse keeps blowing the reason needs to be identified first, and only once that's fixed should any further diagnosis be carried out, if necessary.

As I said, I believe the reason for the battery light on, is that the supply to the dash has failed, and this is confirmed by the fact that the fuse has blown.

The garage were wrong to charge you for a Tech 2 session, IMHO, because that was never going to help them find a short circuit.

Kevin
the garage sort of admitted that they might not have investigated the problem properly and want to see the car again ,which they will if the sparky doesn't come back  ::)
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 31 March 2008, 22:22:34
Well the next stage is to unplug the ancillaries one by one to narrow it down further inspecting the wiring around them as you go.
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 31 March 2008, 22:26:15
This fuse actulay powers:

15-20A Reverse lamps, glove compartment lamp, automatic level control system, cruise control, seat and mirror adjustment, radio, heated rear seats, sun roof, instrument illumination, window operation, cooling fan, headlamp range adjustment


So check the reverse light bulbs, glove box bulb etc as they are easy to do.
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 09:03:45
Quote
This fuse actulay powers:

15-20A Reverse lamps, glove compartment lamp, automatic level control system, cruise control, seat and mirror adjustment, radio, heated rear seats, sun roof, instrument illumination, window operation, cooling fan, headlamp range adjustment


So check the reverse light bulbs, glove box bulb etc as they are easy to do.
morning Mark ,even with the fuse blown the reversing lights glove box lights still work .The only symptoms are the battery light permanently on and no warning lights/rev counter fuel/temp gauge not working
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 01 April 2008, 09:09:21
What year and I will pull up the specific circuit diagram.
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 09:20:26
Quote
What year and I will pull up the specific circuit diagram.

it was registered January 01
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 01 April 2008, 09:23:04
Is it DEFINATLEY F15 blowing becasue that powers loads of stuff....

Do the wipers operate (looks like it would only affect the rain sensors)
Does the backlight in the headlight switch operate?
Does the engine store/indicate a fault?
Rad fans operating?
Mid operational?

The favourite place to check would be in the engine bay around the ecu box

I guess yours is an auto and hence why the reverse lights are not affected.
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 09:28:42
Quote
Is it DEFINATLEY F15 blowing becasue that powers loads of stuff....

Do the wipers operate (looks like it would only affect the rain sensors)
Does the backlight in the headlight switch operate?
Does the engine store/indicate a fault?
Rad fans operating?
Mid operational?

The favourite place to check would be in the engine bay around the ecu box

I guess yours is an auto and hence why the reverse lights are not affected.
back in a mo just check
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 09:38:08
Quote
Quote
Is it DEFINATLEY F15 blowing becasue that powers loads of stuff....

Do the wipers operate (looks like it would only affect the rain sensors)
Does the backlight in the headlight switch operate?
Does the engine store/indicate a fault?
Rad fans operating?
Mid operational?
when i check around the engine fuse box etc apart from blown fuses what else am i looking for
The favourite place to check would be in the engine bay around the ecu box

I guess yours is an auto and hence why the reverse lights are not affected.
back in a mo just check
headlight back light u/s
wipers  are ok
mid/engine management don't light up mid/ will light if i turn the side lights on
and its defo fuse 15
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 01 April 2008, 09:46:39
Ok, does the fuse blow with the climate off?

If it doesn't, try it set to eco....
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 09:51:52
Quote
Ok, does the fuse blow with the climate off?

If it doesn't, try it set to eco....
go and try it now


it blows the fuse  with the climate off or on ,what ive just noticed is that the fuse doesnt blow straight away it takes it a good 10 seconds to blow
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 10:10:09
ive just phoned the sparky to see if he is going to bother to get back in touch,To$$er said he couldn't get any info "how long did it take Mark to find the wiring diagram"
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 01 April 2008, 10:17:54
Quote
Quote
Ok, does the fuse blow with the climate off?

If it doesn't, try it set to eco....
go and try it now


it blows the fuse  with the climate off or on ,what ive just noticed is that the fuse doesnt blow straight away it takes it a good 10 seconds to blow

Can you remove K60 and K52 from the fuse box and re-try?

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b394/Marks_DTM_Calib/Maintenance%20Guides/2-1.jpg)

I hope that image is the right one, the relay colours are correct!
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Weds on 01 April 2008, 10:29:50
Quote
Quote
Ok, does the fuse blow with the climate off?

If it doesn't, try it set to eco....
go and try it now


it blows the fuse  with the climate off or on ,what ive just noticed is that the fuse doesnt blow straight away it takes it a good 10 seconds to blow


You could replace the fuse with a 12v bulb, if the bulb is on then you have a short somewhere (you already know this), this will save you replacing the fuse every time. When the lamp is off then the fault has been removed.
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 01 April 2008, 10:31:56
Quote
Quote
Quote
Ok, does the fuse blow with the climate off?

If it doesn't, try it set to eco....
go and try it now


it blows the fuse  with the climate off or on ,what ive just noticed is that the fuse doesnt blow straight away it takes it a good 10 seconds to blow


You could replace the fuse with a 12v bulb, if the bulb is on then you have a short somewhere (you already know this), this will save you replacing the fuse every time. When the lamp is off then the fault has been removed.

Ah yes, the old TV diagnosis trick

It would need to be a pretty high wattage one though as this fuse drives a few relays so we need some current getting into the circuit to diag...
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Kevin Wood on 01 April 2008, 10:37:23
Couple of headlamp bulbs in parallel or some 12v home halogen lights might do it. Work on one circuit at a time and try to keep everything else on that fuse turned off.

Kevin
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 01 April 2008, 10:38:32
Quote
Couple of headlamp bulbs in parallel or some 12v home halogen lights might do it. Work on one circuit at a time and try to keep everything else on that fuse turned off.

Kevin

Pretty much impossible to keep things on it turned off as its basically the ignition on indication line so feeds lots of bits!
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Kevin Wood on 01 April 2008, 10:47:04
Quote
Quote
Couple of headlamp bulbs in parallel or some 12v home halogen lights might do it. Work on one circuit at a time and try to keep everything else on that fuse turned off.

Kevin

Pretty much impossible to keep things on it turned off as its basically the ignition on indication line so feeds lots of bits!

The other option is to fit the bulbs, turn on the ignition and work through the wiring diagram unplugging things until the bulbs go dim.

If you keep the major loads turned off I'd have thought most of the ignition feeds would just be driving relays.

Kevin
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 10:52:38
Quote
Quote
Quote
Ok, does the fuse blow with the climate off?

If it doesn't, try it set to eco....
go and try it now


it blows the fuse  with the climate off or on ,what ive just noticed is that the fuse doesnt blow straight away it takes it a good 10 seconds to blow

Can you remove K60 and K52 from the fuse box and re-try?

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b394/Marks_DTM_Calib/Maintenance%20Guides/2-1.jpg)

I hope that image is the right one, the relay colours are correct!
i dont know what iam looking for Mark or where to look I know jack about car electrics
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 01 April 2008, 11:00:29
Sorry, my fault.

In the engine bay ECU box (triangular thing on the right of the engine bay).

Pull

Item 5 in the above diagram  - K60 - Colour Green  
Item 17 in the above diagram  - K52 - Colour Brown  
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 12:11:03
Quote
Sorry, my fault.

In the engine bay ECU box (triangular thing on the right of the engine bay).

Pull

Item 5 in the above diagram  - K60 - Colour Green  
Item 17 in the above diagram  - K52 - Colour Brown  
iam going to try it now Mark (i had to get some more fuses)
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 12:41:09
tried them both Mark the fuse still blows
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 01 April 2008, 16:19:26
i should have another sparky coming tomorrow , all things being equal and the wind blowing in the right direction
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 02 April 2008, 16:56:13
Thanks to all who offered advice and pointers.
In the end it was a short on the heated seat  :y
Thanks again
Darren
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: zippo on 03 April 2008, 15:13:44
Quote
Quote
would the tech 2 not pick up the blown fuse

No. I wouldn't say the Tech 2 would be as much use as a multimeter in this instance. If a fuse keeps blowing the reason needs to be identified first, and only once that's fixed should any further diagnosis be carried out, if necessary.

As I said, I believe the reason for the battery light on, is that the supply to the dash has failed, and this is confirmed by the fact that the fuse has blown.

The garage were wrong to charge you for a Tech 2 session, IMHO, because that was never going to help them find a short circuit.

Kevin
the wife mentioned your thoughts Kevin to the garage and they said its procedure to check for a short with tech 2 . The wife shouldn't have said anything really until i found out more about tech 2 and its uses , but that's blonde's for you :D :D :D
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Kevin Wood on 03 April 2008, 16:50:40
Quote
Quote
Quote
would the tech 2 not pick up the blown fuse

No. I wouldn't say the Tech 2 would be as much use as a multimeter in this instance. If a fuse keeps blowing the reason needs to be identified first, and only once that's fixed should any further diagnosis be carried out, if necessary.

As I said, I believe the reason for the battery light on, is that the supply to the dash has failed, and this is confirmed by the fact that the fuse has blown.

The garage were wrong to charge you for a Tech 2 session, IMHO, because that was never going to help them find a short circuit.

Kevin
the wife mentioned your thoughts Kevin to the garage and they said its procedure to check for a short with tech 2 . The wife shouldn't have said anything really until i found out more about tech 2 and its uses , but that's blonde's for you :D :D :D

 ;D

I'm not fully conversant with the Tech 2's capabilities. TheBoy / Mark'sDTM could shed more light, but I'd say a code reader would be about as much use as a choccy teapot for finding shorts. :-/

Well, glad it was sorted out in the end.  :y

Kevin
Title: Re: Driving along and.....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 03 April 2008, 16:52:57
Quote
Quote
Quote
Quote
would the tech 2 not pick up the blown fuse

No. I wouldn't say the Tech 2 would be as much use as a multimeter in this instance. If a fuse keeps blowing the reason needs to be identified first, and only once that's fixed should any further diagnosis be carried out, if necessary.

As I said, I believe the reason for the battery light on, is that the supply to the dash has failed, and this is confirmed by the fact that the fuse has blown.

The garage were wrong to charge you for a Tech 2 session, IMHO, because that was never going to help them find a short circuit.

Kevin
the wife mentioned your thoughts Kevin to the garage and they said its procedure to check for a short with tech 2 . The wife shouldn't have said anything really until i found out more about tech 2 and its uses , but that's blonde's for you :D :D :D

 ;D

I'm not fully conversant with the Tech 2's capabilities. TheBoy / Mark'sDTM could shed more light, but I'd say a code reader would be about as much use as a choccy teapot for finding shorts. :-/

Well, glad it was sorted out in the end.  :y

Kevin

And you would be correct..........and TIS guides you through resistance and voltage measurements as a diag procedure for such things as well.

So they are a bunch of bloody muppets!