Blackpool illuminations on start up.

[DaveDreads]

Every now and again when I start the car, all the dash lights come on and the needles die,
as soon as the engine's started they all go off and the needles return to normal.

I plugged in my RSTuner but there were no faults present, well none that it could find anyway,
the car runs fine with no problems of any kind.

Other than a full diagnostics check, does anyone have any ideas what's going on?

 

[DaveDreads]

Turns out it was a flat battery, damn thing was dead this morning
even though it's less than 6 months old, knowing my luck it'll be the alternator.

 

[DaveDreads]

Right it's not the battery, i've hooked that up to a charger and it was almost fully charged,
when I tried to start the car this morning, all of the dash lights were flashing on and off and clicking like hell.

I've done a search and similar problems by other members turned out to be an immobiliser issue,
i'll try the spare key after i've left the battery on charge for a while.

The only other thing I can think it would be is the starter motor, but I don't know what syptoms to look for with that.
Anyone got any other ideas, or am I on the right line with the immobiliser?

 

[DaveDreads]

I've not a clue now, just put the battery back in and it fired up using both keys,
I swear the cars pissed off with me because it's not been cleaned in a few months, I think the things haunted.






Talking to myself FTW!!!

 

[Don]

Dave, I would think its either an earthing problem...or a faulty alternator. My car did same and would kill power pretty quickly.

 

[DaveDreads]

Bit worried about driving it to work tomorrow now,
i've got visions of going back to my car and it not starting.

I'll try and get hold of a multimeter to check if the alternator's charging the battery,
other than that i'll need a grease monkey to look at it.

Bloody French, good engines.....sh*t electrics.

 

[Don]

Bit worried about driving it to work tomorrow now,
i've got visions of going back to my car and it not starting.

I'll try and get hold of a multimeter to check if the alternator's charging the battery,
other than that i'll need a grease monkey to look at it.

Bloody French, good engines.....sh*t electrics.

Have you had issues whereby when the lights all come on, if you were to use the wipers...would they go slow? That was most obvious thing that I noticed when my alternator was playing up. Remember Dave, your car is several years old...things will fail on older cars, whichever make or model it is (French or not!) :rasp:

 

[DaveDreads]

The wipers are a little slower with just the ignition on and sometimes the windows are really slow,
or do you mean when the headlight are on? I which case no, they work fine.

The odd thing is, this is the car i've enjoyed the most,
but also had the most problems with, it's like being married sometimes.

 

[Don]

The wipers are a little slower with just the ignition on and sometimes the windows are really slow,
or do you mean when the headlight are on? I which case no, they work fine.

The odd thing is, this is the car i've enjoyed the most,
but also had the most problems with, it's like being married sometimes.

She is like a fit wife who knows how to make sure she's the centre of your attention.

My wipers started to run slow, but got worse to the point that if I drove with auto wipers and it was raining, each swipe was slow and lights on dash would come on. It may be that the alternator is still doing something, but not fully charging battery back up.

 

[DaveDreads]

When the car's running, it's perfect with no electrical problems,
all of it problems in the past and present are on start up. :dapprove:

I'll get a multimeter on it and see if the alternator's the problem, then go from there.

 

[MicKPM]

Earthing is the most likely cause and fairly simple to check with a multi-meter so if you don't already have one, buy one

Mick