Battery Isolator Caused Catastrophic Instrument Cluster Failure. (1 Viewer)

[Gorsecover59]

Hi All,
Just a word of caution.
I fitted a £5 ebay battery isolator to the neg terminal of the cranking battery to ensure no voltage drain when vehicle not in use.
As time went on suffered problems with elec windows seeming to stall, Put this down to stiff winding mechanism.
Recently noticed issues with fuel gauge being erratic.
Final straw ,parked vehicle and fuel and temp gauge going ballistic.Switched ignition back on............nothing,zilch,nowt.
Removed battery isolator and reconnected normal connection to Neg terminal.
Fuel gauge went to full,the wrong way round and when vehicle started rev counter went to 6000 rpm on tickover (revcounter,not engine).
Sent inst cluster off for repair only to find it`s terminal.
New fiat replacement..................sit down for this one please...........£850.
Ebay replacement £38...............only prob is my mileage has gone from 15000 miles to 179,000 overnight as you inherit the previous vehicles mileage.
Be warned and ditch those damned isolators that appear to have a good connection but can deteriorate over time causing intense make/break votages that fork yer instruments.
Martin

 

[jonandshell]

Quite a few modern vehicles have set procedures for battery connection/disconnection.
Your experience is a good example of why.

Sporadic disconnections can upset software in ECUs.

 

[chaser]

Quite a few modern vehicles have set procedures for battery connection/disconnection.
Your experience is a good example of why.

Sporadic disconnections can upset software in ECUs.

That's what I thought but no expert, not the isolater at fault but the switching on and off , how does the radio and clocks and stuff work without constant power.

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[Gromett]

Ouch, Thanks for the warning.

 

[Lenny HB]

Sorry to hear about your problems, any chance a fiat dealer can reset your mileage, probably won't be interested but worth asking.
Fiat recommend when changing a battery to connect another battery to the jump terminals so that the electronics all remain powered up to avoid problems, so to me that gives a clue that fitting an isolator is not a good idea.

 

[steviebouy]

These people may be able to help with resetting your mileage - http://digidash.co.uk
Sorry that's not a link - just discovered something else everybody else seems to be able to manage that I can't. Apart from construct a sentence, that is.
Steve

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[EthnGeoff]

These people may be able to help with resetting your mileage - http://digidash.co.uk
Sorry that's not a link - just discovered something else everybody else seems to be able to manage that I can't. Apart from construct a sentence, that is.
Steve

Tis a link.....and it works.

 

[gus-lopez]

many of the new vehicles shutdown /start up/disconnect/connect/jump start procedures are like secret handshakes for the masons. One for Citroen I posted the other day is.

 

[steviebouy]

Well I never - it must do it automatically!
Steve

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[Gorsecover59]

Thanks for your replies..................very helpful
Martin

 

[maison]

Sorry to hear about your problems, any chance a fiat dealer can reset your mileage, probably won't be interested but worth asking.
Fiat recommend when changing a battery to connect another battery to the jump terminals so that the electronics all remain powered up to avoid problems, so to me that gives a clue that fitting an isolator is not a good idea.

My Fiat Ducato 2014 has built in battery isolating switch. I have used this to "reboot" the radio when it developed a fault.

If fitted by Fiat surely it is OK to use the switch to isolate the battery when vehicle is not in use?

The comments from Fiat that you quoted suggest it may cause problems. Doh!