Multiple electrics not working, possibly same cause but struggling to find it.

[Mashley_1]

Hi, I have multiple electric issues with my Clio 197 that I have a feeling could be related but I'm struggling to find it. They are,

• alarm goes off all the time when locked, it does four beeps when opened so I think it's some thing to do with the ignition, as the manual says four beeps (or flashes of led, but can't see an led) is an attempted starting of the car.
• The display doesn't show any radio information.
• The radio stalk controls don't work and recently the file guage is iffy, it works sometimes but often shows nothing in the tank when I've just filled it up, or it will show half when I just start it when I know its full.

I was wondering if anyone knew a single connector or something similar that all these things go through, possibly under the dash as it did have a bit of water ingress. I've had a look but can't seem to find it.

Thanks for any help in advance

 

[RSRowe]

Water ingress can usually affect the multiplug which is to the left of the passenger seat on the floor (underneath the carpet)

 

[Mashley_1]

Thanks, I'll go and have a look at this now and let you know what I find

 

[Mashley_1]

Found it and it looks pretty good to me, no sign or corrosion or snapped wires, pictures attached, I have taken it apart and reseated it to see if it makes any difference to the alarm and the fuel gauge as I found a circuit diagram that shows it has the fule gauge signals and the engine protection unit control related to this connector. No luck with the stereo issues yet though. If I get some spare cash soon I may just upgrade it to a third party one so I can bluetooth to it.

Thanks for pointing that out to me, any other input would be muchly appreciated.

 

[burrellbloke]

Check your battery is okay as low voltage can play havoc with the electrics.

 

[Mashley_1]

The battery has been suggested to me before, so I tried charging the old one for ages with no change, so I brought a brand new one and still no change (the battery I got was this one Exide Premium 075 Car Battery (61Ah) - 5 Year Guarantee).

Yesterday I reseated the multiplug to see if there was a possible bad connection and the alarm went off about an hour later, then I tried putting blu tack over the sensors on the rear console just to see and it still went off. I am ripping my hair out at this problem I just can't seem to solve it.

How would I disconnect the alarm speaker so I can at least lock it until I can get to the bottom of this issue? Can I just disconnect the cable going to the speaker behind the rear seats, or will that just set the alarm going constantly, or cause other issues like not being able to start with the immobiliser noticing it has been tampered with?

 

[Frank Perry]

Remove the boot lining on the left side (if looking into your boot from the rear). The alarm unit/speaker is placed here.

You will also find 2 grey cables going to both rear sensors. Check these are in-tact and not broken on either end (sensor end and connection to the alarm unit).

The alarm unit is from Cobra - I recently damaged both my sensors because I stripped mine totally and the alarm kept going off every @10 minutes or so. As it's a track car, I just ripped the alarm unit out totally butI have already purchased 2 new sensors (original genuine Cobra sensors) to fit back into the car and connect the alarm unit back up. Not available anymore but I paid £15.99 for the new sensors with all the clips etc from Ebay (see THIS link).

Replace the Stereo with an aftermarket unit with BT - simple job and shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. You'll lose the ability to control music via the stalk but that's not really much of an issue, although there are some adaptors that can retain the use of this stalk, I'd argue the effort required and additional cost just to have this working is not worth it.

Hope this helps and keep us updated.

 

[Mashley_1]

Cheers for all the advice, it sounds like if I touch the alarm it will start going off every ten minutes which I don't want to happen, I haven't the money at the moment to take it to a dealership to fix it if anything happens so I am going to put up with it at the moment while continuing to investigate.

I have just been looking at some old paperwork from when an auto electrician came to look at it a while ago and there is a fault on there saying "Card reader circuit, Short circuit to ground". This seems like it could be a good lead to what is causing it, I'm a bit annoyed he/I didn't spot it at the time as it seems to make sense with the four beeps saying it had an attempt to start.

I am going to have a look through the maintenance manual to see if I can find any lead of where to look and investigate but any information about this that you lot have would be nice, thanks.

 

[Frank Perry]

If your alarm is already popping off randomly then you've nothing to lose by checking the cabling in the rear and on the unit...

You have asked for some help/advice and I have given you some things to try and identify what is causing the issue (which cost nothing)... seems a tad pointless coming on here asking for help if you're simply gonna take it back to a dealer to diagnose.

Anyhow, good luck and I hope it's a quick and inexpensive fix for you!

 

[Mashley_1]

The dealership is the last option as I am not a millionaire, I only mention it as it has been happening for quite a while now and I am unsure where to go next, I am going to continue to investigate and hopefully, I/we can resolve this without me having to fork out a fortune for a dealership to look at it.

I didn't state above but I already looked at the wiring at the back and on the unit and it all looks fine. No sign of corrosion or rubbing so don't think that is the issue. Also, I have looked at the wiring in the multiplug and all looks fine there as well.

I am interested if anyone has seen the fault I posted above (UCH: "Card reader circuit, Short circuit to ground") and if they managed to fix that issue. I have also noticed another one on the report that could be related, UPC: "+12V after ignition relay control circuit, Relay seized".

Any advice on the faults above would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Frank Perry]

Have a gander at the fuse box under the bonnet, these can get water ingress and slowly corrode/damage the electrical components which may be the cause here... it's relatively common and if not caught early enough, could result in a new fuse/UHC unit being required!

 

[Frank Perry]

Gander = pull each fuse and relay out and inspect for damage, melted plastic or corrosion. Also any water or humidity within the box.

I think it has a rubber-like seal that can perish over time which doesnt help when trying to keep water out of this fuse box!

 

[Mashley_1]

Still trying to find time (and the tools) to get in there to have a look, moving house and looking for work is taking most of my time at the moment.

I'll let you know when I've had a look and what I find in there.

 

[burrellbloke]

I bought a full fat which I knew had an electrical fault. The symptoms I had were:

• Boot release would not work even when physically pressing the rubber button on the boot lid
• Radio did not power up
• Display did not power up
• Electric windows did not work
• The car will not start unless the key card is inserted in to the card reader
• Cruise control did not work but the speed limiter did.

I had issues with the alarm going off but that turned out to be a bad battery.

The multiple in the footwell of my car did show signs of water damage so most of the wires were pulled out and resoldered and repined.

All fuses are relays throughout the car have been checked.

I sent the BCM off to be cloned on to another unit.

So far I have been unable to solve the problem, other than installing areocatches to get round the boot release issue and replacing the door looms to make the windows work.

I have not had an auto electrician look at the car. If I was going to get it looked at I would take it to a Renault specialist rather than a dealership.

I am resigned to the fact that either the BCM (even the second hand replacement) is not working, or the loom is corroded somewhere that I cannot see. I have a spare loom from a 200 Cup that I am going to use to replace the entire full fat loom at some point. In fact I have a steering column, immobiliser and ECU from 200 Cup so I will convert the electrics of the full fat to a Cup and see if that makes things work any better.

 

[youngarthur]

I have developed a similar problem on my R26. ( Admin please remove if inappropriate.) Car starts, runs for around 12 miles, flashing immobiliser light engine cuts out, comes to stop. car turns over but won't start.. Set immobiliser, and you get a continuous bleep. After 10 minutes, car will start, run for around12 miles, and repeat the problem. Does the immobiliser cut the electrics to the fuel pump as well, as it might be the fuel pump running out of fuel?. It's very frustrating, as no codes are thrown up. If I solve it, I will post .