tonyishuk Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Fiat x/250 Fiat Alko chassis At a recent service, my rear fog lights failed and the warning light on the dash came on. It seems that there is a live feed from the switch to the fuses and then to the terminal block where it leaves Fiats domain and becomes Rapido. Seems the problem is further down the circuit. Garage says not a Fiat problem (shame really as it could have been fixed under warranty). The wiring colour coding at the light clusters is not the same as at the Fiat-Rapido terminal block. Having taken a very quick look under the chassis, there is a terminal block in sight which is quite exposed and could be where the problem lies. At initial inspection does not seem to be a waterproof connector. But I do have to get further under the vehicle to check. The vehicle is two years old and out of Fiat warranty, but I am not sure about the Rapido warranty which seems to be more about water ingress and internal construction, limited warranty on fixed items like heating and fridge-freezer. I have not approached the dealer yet about fixing the fault. Just wondering if its easier if I trace and fix the fault myself. (If I am able to) My questions are Any other owners had a similar problem? Any advice regarding liability, as the vehicle is only two years old ? Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevina Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Not the same lighting circuit but I recently had the near side high level marker light and front 2 nearside side marker lights go out. I traced it to a (non waterproof) connection above the nearside wheel arch which had completely corroded and fallen apart see photo. Must look at the connector above the other wheel arch sometime. Sorry but no idea about warranty as mine is 2008 so I fixed it myself. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Fix it yourself and wrap the joint with self amalgamating tape to completely waterproof it. Then you know it's done right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 If a problem relates to the 'conversion' part of a motorhome (as it apparently does here), then the base-vehicle's warranty won't cover it. Certain major appliances (eg. heaters, fridges) will normally carry their own manufacturer's warranty, and there will normally be a longer-term 'watertightness' converter's warranty demanding regular checks to maintain its validity. Otherwise, one might reasonably expect a problem to be dealt with via the motorhome converter's general warranty which - in Rapido's case - I believe has a 2-year duration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elamessa Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 tonyishuk - 2012-05-02 8:38 PM Fiat x/250 Fiat Alko chassis At a recent service, my rear fog lights failed and the warning light on the dash came on. It seems that there is a live feed from the switch to the fuses and then to the terminal block where it leaves Fiats domain and becomes Rapido. Seems the problem is further down the circuit. Garage says not a Fiat problem (shame really as it could have been fixed under warranty). The wiring colour coding at the light clusters is not the same as at the Fiat-Rapido terminal block. Having taken a very quick look under the chassis, there is a terminal block in sight which is quite exposed and could be where the problem lies. At initial inspection does not seem to be a waterproof connector. But I do have to get further under the vehicle to check. The vehicle is two years old and out of Fiat warranty, but I am not sure about the Rapido warranty which seems to be more about water ingress and internal construction, limited warranty on fixed items like heating and fridge-freezer. I have not approached the dealer yet about fixing the fault. Just wondering if its easier if I trace and fix the fault myself. (If I am able to) My questions are Any other owners had a similar problem? Any advice regarding liability, as the vehicle is only two years old ? Rgds Had virtually the same thing on a 2007 Burstner, the wiring to the rear lights was rooted against the chassis quite tightly and over a period of time had rubbed the protection off the wires causing a short which then came up as a warning light on the dash. It took my local Fiat dealer a few days to find and fix the problem. Again not a Fiat problem. I wrote to Burstner but with the van being four year old at the time I didn't expect anything from them and I didn't get anything either. >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 Thanks for your replies. I managed to take a look, (getting to the age, that crawling under M/homes is no longer fun !) and found a 16 wire terminal block with no protection sitting on a chassis member in the damp crud! I waggled the connector, (for want of a better expression) checked the fog lights, Now all better and dash board warning light off. I will wait till drier weather and then follow the advice of weather proofing the block with self amalgamating tape. Rapido Build quality has taken a nose dive in my book, out of sight out of mind ! Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 It is important to get the corrosion off and then to use some form of anti-oxident / waterproofing, before using the tape to seal it all up. I would firstly separate the connector in order to clean it up, then use silicone grease as a corrosion inhibitor and finally wrap it all up nice and tight with the tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 thanks for the advice. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Tony, Why not replace the entire mess with a proper waterproof junction box something like this... Link? This is how AT have extended the wiring from the end of the original chassis to the rear lights on our MH. It is also very easy to open later if you need to add trailer wiring or any other reason. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 tonyishuk - 2012-05-04 4:58 PMThanks for your replies.I managed to take a look, (getting to the age, that crawling under M/homes is no longer fun !) and found a 16 wire terminal block with no protection sitting on a chassis member in the damp crud! ... Shonky. Shame on Rapido. The advice regarding cleaning up / waterproofing / amalgamating tape is all good. If it were mine I'd probably force myself to cut out offending block and replace it with one or more waterproof connectors - assuming there's enough slack in the wiring loom to allow this. That way you know you are getting back to clean copper and not just delaying the possibility of a further circuit failure. Corrosion raises resistance horribly. Many outlets sell waterproof connectors including the chaps at Vehicle Wiring Products - their products and customer service are excellent. http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/connectors/multiconnectors.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 Many thanks for your suggestions, Now I know the cause, I will wait till better weather and take another look. My initial feelins was that there was not a lot of slack without moving a lot of the wiring fixings, Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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