i´ve been having a lot of battery problems recently, due to the fact that my battery was in need of replacing and i didnt have the money to do it right away, the car has been hard to start and requierd a couple of push but in the end it started.

now i got a new battery turn the car on (still hard to start) and when i turned the ignition switch the engine (and instruments) remained on.

posible causes (that come to mind) are;

maybe the dead battery shorted something

maybe the ignition switch got damaged cus of the hard to start problem

maybe the fuse box got damaged to to water leaking due to corrosion under the battery leaking water

Any ideas will be greatly apreciated

I'll say the ignition switch is now faulty, due to the constant attempts to start the car. The switch is a common weak point.

ok, what happens if you disconnect the battery, then re-connect it?? does the instruments come back on again?

Trying to turn over the engine for long periods may have melted the cable insulation allowing the conductors to touch inside the wiring loom that goes to the ignition switch. I had this happen to an old Renault 18.

What do you mean by hard to start?

Takes a long time to fire?, engine turns over slowly?

Need more info before guessing what the underlying problem might be; usual suspect is the cold start system.

Do you have the Haynes manual??

BTW 11.9/100 is a bit high, my sons 1998 1.3 gets about 5.5-6/100; 45-50 MPG ; and that is rush hour and town driving; most other Felly owners I know say 35-45 MPG (UK Gallons, but the litres per Km tells you everything you need to know.)

ok, what happens if you disconnect the battery, then re-connect it?? does the instruments come back on again?

Hi TeflonTom, it´s been a long time.

Yes, disconecting the battery an re conecting it does not change the situation, also ther are times when turning of the ignition does turn off the car, but only briefly, then the it turns On Again (except the engine ofcourse cus it doesnt crank the starter)

Trying to turn over the engine for long periods may have melted the cable insulation allowing the conductors to touch inside the wiring loom that goes to the ignition switch. I had this happen to an old Renault 18.

What do you mean by hard to start?

Takes a long time to fire?, engine turns over slowly?

Need more info before guessing what the underlying problem might be; usual suspect is the cold start system.

Do you have the Haynes manual??

BTW 11.9/100 is a bit high, my sons 1998 1.3 gets about 5.5-6/100; 45-50 MPG ; and that is rush hour and town driving; most other Felly owners I know say 35-45 MPG (UK Gallons, but the litres per Km tells you everything you need to know.)

yes, it quite hy for a fely, now im getting 38 - 42 km/g (9.9- 9L/100Km or 29-32MPG imp) but i haven´t update my fueling for a long time, i only do town driving, on one of the most congested citys in the caribbean, i know when i change the timing chain and get a decent blue spark (now is orange) i´ll get a little better F.E.

When you turn on the car it takes a long time to tick over, so it has to crank for a while, this is dued to a little leak in the carburetor´s power diapham that lowers the Fuel level inside the carburetor witch then has to refill to have normal operation, the diafram will be changed next monday.

i have the Autodata CD 3, but i dont have the haynes manual

my 306 did this, was told normally something to do with a solanoid, but not mine, mine turned out that all the wiring was burnt out,

I think they advise that you only crank for 15 seconds; then wait 2 minutes to allow the cables to cool down.

Get that carb fixed asap and you should see a big improvement all round.

Haynes manual is handier when you are working on the car, you can take it out with you!!

it is probablt either a dodgy ignition switch, or the x-contact relay is sticking on

it is probablt either a dodgy ignition switch, or the x-contact relay is sticking on

indeed, relay seems to be an idea, but i took out all the relays 1 by 1 and the car did not shut down, so im gessing is the ignition swtich, but will verify latter on

car will be fix tomorrow, all i need is to buy the part

BTW 11.9/100 is a bit high, my sons 1998 1.3 gets about 5.5-6/100; 45-50 MPG ; and that is rush hour and town driving; most other Felly owners I know say 35-45 MPG (UK Gallons, but the litres per Km tells you everything you need to know.)

One other thing to bear in mind here is that his felly is a carburetter model with it being in Dominican Republic. For some reason they didn't sell any fuel injected Fellys there and many other countries as far as I am aware.

Definately sounds like ignition switch to me. Should be able to swap just the electrics over for it so you can keep the same key I think.

Phil

Agreed, it is either the switch or the cable loom near the switch, but just because it is a carb model does not mean it should drink fuel like it is going out of fashion; anyone with the carb version of the felly or fav care to offer up their average L/100Km ??

I doubt if the Dominican Republic is any worse than trying to get through Wolverhampton during the rush hour, so he should be getting nearer 8/100Km at least.

dont forget you will need to buy a new set of sheer bolts for the ignition barrel if you are going to change the switch

checked tyhe ignition switch, disconected it and the car still sayed on, i took of the fuse box, disasembled it and cleaned it out, now everything is working perfect (but im not sure if i wired the switch ok