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Fabia 1.4 MPI (electrical problems)


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I wanted to ask about my Fabia 1.4 MPI. It's a great car, about 10 years old and we live in a tropical climate. So all sorts of things can go wrong. I've got some problems though and I wanted to get some advise from people who have the same car.

-About a week ago I lost my headlights, rear wiper, and the blower on the A/C system. (The A/C doesn't work just blows air from outside) Checked and changes fuses, nothing. Light bulbs were tested and are good. I can see a very faint light in the low beams but it's extremely low and not visible unless you are very close. I'm sure all these are somehow connected but I have no clue where to look.

-My doors lock but three of them do not unlock. I have to push them quite hard or give them a good hit to unlock them. I'm thinking that this is also electric?

-Finally I want to start changing my own oil and filter. How easy of a job is that?

Hope I can get some help!</p>

Edited by chris collins
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Ok.

Check your earthings. One could have worked loose meaning a bad earth connection.

Because it's multiple systems that have gone a bit iffy, it'll be the underlying electrical systems that supply them all that'll be at fault. What i'd also do if you have vagcom/vcds is do a full scan and see if anything is complaining of a short to ground... You could be getting drain from one of those things.

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I'll see if I can get into a shop for a diagnostic. Do you know if there is anywhere I can get a wiring diagram? I'm not sure where to look for the problem. It seems to be behind the steering unit some place but I don't know how far to dig around in there.

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Found something for a 2000 fabia 1.4 . Looks almost identical. I am however not an electro-mechanic so I'm a bit worried about touching things. I do see however that the areas I need to get to are right under the steering column and it seems like a pretty easy job to get to. Maybe about 5 screws or so. So I may dig around myself before I call an electro-mechanic to have a look.

I also noticed that my battery cable is becoming quite corroded under some tape that was on the line. I looks like it had been resting on top of the battery and has been eaten through partially. I'll be changing that soon as well.

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Good call.

As for touching things... If you disconnect the negative lead on the battery - At that point it's pretty much like lego. If you take pictures of it before taking it apart, and make sure when it's back together that it matches your pictures (or even do a checklist as you unplug them, then tick them as you re-plug them in so you don't miss anything) then you should be fine.

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Today I poked around under the the steering column. The good news is that the car still works and I'm still alive. I also found that the previous owner (I bought it preowned) had some type of alarm system that is inactive. Thus there was an array of stray wires. It looked like a spider web in there. I successfully removed the mess and it's much tidier now. However I didn't see anything that would point to my problems. I did notice that the wires become quite recessed and therefore almost impossible to get to unless the car is on a lift. I also noticed that I can pull the lever for the headlights towards me and I am getting my high beams but I imagine that's on a different line than the other beams.

In my battery compartment I saw that the line labeled "1"; which according to my documentation is the "dynamo"; seems to be burnt. Instead of a copper color wire at the end, it is black and the bolt looks to be almost rusted. All the others seem fine. Are there any symptoms that I should be aware of to show that this may be causing a problem? I'm also unsure of the correct gauge for my battery cable. It looks quite thick and the thickest I can find at the shop is a 2 gauge. Any ideas?</p>

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