Fuego gone nuts

renaulturbo

renaulturbo

Active member
Tadpole
Joined
Oct 1, 2001
Messages
519
Location
melbourne,victoria
My Fuego is experiencing an electrical revolution. Ive always been a bit sus on the wiring techniques used by the French...but this is getting ridiculous!

The other night i noticed that when i press the brake pedal, my interior lights and parkers switch on lightly with it.

AND LAST NIGHT when i stopped for some juice at a servo, i couldnt switch the engine off!!! i took the whole key off the barrel and the engine was still runing!!! it only turned off when i took my foot off the brake pedal...!!!

It feels as if one day ill press the brake pedal and instead of activating the brakes, the wipers will activate eek! :D mallet

I just hope i live to tell the story disappro
 
Yea I'm sorta goin through some weird things like that too.

Found out I need a new alternator.

Yours could be getting a bit tired too possibly
 
Europa is right, what you have got is classic earthing problems.
If you think of the current trying to get back to earth but can't find its normal way home so it looks for another way which just happens to be the wipers or stop lights or what ever. You will cure it by finding were the particular electrical thing your turning on is supposed to go to earth and then ensuring it is a "good earth".
Have fun.
 
As Kenfuego has said, the fuse board and its multi pin connections are a source of drama once they get a bit old - clean them all up. The circutry that reno used is a little esoteric at times and is not happy when all is not right!
The parker brake light thing is a faulty stop/parker globe - replace them till it works properly (you see this on commonbores particularly all the time in traffic at night - they put on the brakes and parkers go out)
 
And yes of course earths. My last fuego did a very funky thing once. I rebuilt the front loom (due to it melting when a foglight was shorted) and forgot to tighten the loom earth behind the right headlight - so when I turned the headlights on, the left light didnt work and the right headlight wiper started - took me ages to nut out what the problem was!!!!
 
Renaulturbo
I always worry after I change components and something new
appears particularly in the electrics of the Fuego. I tend to go back
over what I have done just to make sure all connections are correctly
wired, particularly where the alternator is concerned as the wires are
bunched very close to other conductive areas and wires. Any broken
lead can short to another etc.

I also check out the main connector at the rear of the engine bay, if
it looks melted or burnt I bypass the wires around the connector. it also
pays to check the main circuit board under the dash for signs of over heating
and that all main wires, earths are tightly connected.

What amperage alternator did you refit? as usual is about 70amp I think
and of course I would also check all earths at rear of car and lamps as per
haakons advice. I also endorse that the wiring looms are a bit pernicky
and I notice that as I brake the ?current drain? causes the gauges on the
dash particularly the petrol gauge to drop slightly. A poor earth connection
or higher amperage may put the wiring system (loom) under stress.

Sorry I can't be more definitive in problem solving as each time I look at my
various fuegos wiring, I find something new or different. There is also a main
feed wire block under the dash area that should be checked to see if the
securing nuts are tight on the wires.

Good luck, I hope the information helps.

Ken
 
Another weird electrical thingy to check on Fuegos is the wiring to the rear wiper/demister - current is passed through the gas hatch struts themselves. I've found that they can rotate over time, causing a poor connection at the top electrical pickup. Simply tightening them (by turning the body of the gas strut cylinder) seems to fix it.

I've seen the parker/brake light effect before, a poor earth on the brake/parker globe holder causing problems only when the headlights are on and the brakes are used.
 
I have to confess another observation which might give a clue to anyone with electrical knowledge: My brake lights are constantly on when ive got my lights switched on which means there's hardly a change in light intensity when i depress the brake pedal with my rear lights on.

I went over some of the rear light wirings and earths today but couldnt solve the problem. I tried replacing my rear lights wiring harness with a spare but i guess the problem is elsewhere.

Ken: This problem has existed since before my alternator change so i assume its not related. I dont see this main connector at the rear of the engine bay that you refer to. Could you please tell me exactly where this connector is?

Europa: I should also connect my demister on with a wire as i took a stuffed strut out a while ago and didnt replace it. So whats the fix to the parker/brake light gremlin?

I dont know what i'd do without Aussiefrogs...
Thanks guys cheers!
 
Man, you sure do have some problems with that car!

I'd be getting out the trusty multimeter and seeing where the volts are coming from - starting by checking the two feeds at the base of the globe to see if the full 12V is coming through when the lights are on. I'd test with the globe earth, and then another body earth to see if there is a difference. I'd also check to see if the globe earth is a "good" one - poor tailight earthing can cause many strange effects.

Fuego taillights seem notorious for problems with the electrical edge connector, maybe someone has done some soldering there...
 
Renaulturbo

The connector is grey and just between the bulkhead and the rear of the motor
I just quickly counted the wires and 17 wires pass through it. On most of my cars
the grey plastic shows signs of blistering where the heavier gauge yellow wire passes
through the connectors and I just snip the wire each side of the grey connector and
make a new connection. If you unclip the grey connector it is easy to see if a poor
connection is overheating.

Hope this helps.

Ken
 
Problem solved!!

I had mistakenly( blush ) fitted the brake globes and non-brake globes in the wrong places. Everything is back to normal (as electrically normal as a Fuego can get :D ). My rear lights are glowing nice and evenly again.

Im surprised all the symptoms started substantially later than when i changed the globes....one of the globes was like soldered on, very hard to get out (used pliers).

Gees there's heaps of side
 
Problem solved!!

I had mistakenly( blush ) fitted the brake globes and non-brake globes in the wrong places. Everything is back to normal (as electrically normal as a Fuego can get :D ). My rear lights are glowing nice and evenly again.

Im surprised all the symptoms started substantially later than when i changed the globes....one of the globes was like soldered on, very hard to get out (used pliers).

Gees there's heaps of side effects to fitting the light globes wrong. I mean the engine not switching off when the key is turned and withdrawn out of the barrel - all because you've got your foot on your brakes??? :confused:

Thanks guys for pointing me in the right direction cheers!
 
sounds like a 604 my father once owned (the only pug he only had one of) he could turn the ignition off but the car would keep running till he put his foot on the brake pedal
he sold it like that as well
i wonder if they ever found the faulty diode causing the trouble :D
 
renaulturbo:
I had mistakenly( blush ) fitted the brake globes and non-brake globes in the wrong places. Everything is back to normal (as electrically normal as a Fuego can get :D ). My rear lights are glowing nice and evenly again.

Im surprised all the symptoms started substantially later than when i changed the globes....one of the globes was like soldered on, very hard to get out (used pliers).

Gees there's heaps of side effects to fitting the light globes wrong. I mean the engine not switching off when the key is turned and withdrawn out of the barrel - all because you've got your foot on your brakes??? :confused:

Thanks guys for pointing me in the right direction cheers!
Click to expand...
Not surprised it was difficult to remove, brake/taillight globes have offset bayonet pins, so to fit them into the incorrect socket would have required a fair amount of brute force - unless the sockets themselves were very worn!

Electricity is an amazing thing - it'll always find a way "home" - back to the battery...
 
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