PAS light plus wipers not stopping plus ext indicators both sides on all the time (not flashing)

[ah29]

Car is Fabia 1.4 mpi 52 plate.

Problem is:

PAS light has come on

The wipers are going constantly (even with the ignition key removed) and the wiper relay is clicking continuously

The outside indicator lights are permanently on (not flashing)

 

Disconnected negative lead and then reconnected all okay for a while but started again.

 

Has anyone seen this before or have any ideas!?

 

Thanks for your help.

[ah29]

Problem gone away today.

 

Checked resistance from battery negative to negative conductor at power plug for steering pump and found at 0.5 ohm. Steering pump can demand a lot of current so 0.5 ohm high enough for a voltage drop? Anyway thoroughly cleaned earth point of car / eye piece of cable of steering pump and now have 0 ohm. Will see how it goes!

 

While "messing about" in the wheel arch area took out screws all way around both front liners and removed a bucket of cr*p from behind them. Loverly!

[Updown789]

That's definitely going to be an improvement, 0.5 ohms will be causing a large volt drop

[Breezy_Pete]

That's excellent work ah29 on both the electrics and the crud removal. First time the arch liners came off ours there was a horrible lump of damp 'soil' tucked down the rear corners of each.

Does your battery light come on with ignition, then go off at engine start?

[ah29]

Hi Wino,

Yep, works okay. While I had bumper off, under tray, etc I checked the connectors and wiring to do with that and all seemed good.

[Breezy_Pete]

 

Since you have a multimeter and know how to use it, have you looked at battery voltage before and after start-up?

 

Just wondering if your other weird happenings might have been symptomatic of low battery voltage (though I've never heard of them happening before!).

Both wiper function and indicators are controlled via the Onboard Supply Control Unit above the accelerator pedal, for what it's worth.

Edited 2 October, 2016 by Wino

[ah29]

I think I will be replacing the battery before winter gets going. Last winter had to keep trickle charging every few days else it would go flat. Car is my daughter's and although she's now past her test last winter she hadn't and the car was not used for days at a time and after around 5 - 6 days it would be too discharged to start the car.

[Breezy_Pete]

Fair enough, but it's worth making sure that the charging voltage is good before any such replacement.

[ah29]

I will check, but I've not had to charge the battery since the car has started to be used daily.