Hymer Duomobile Indicator Woes

[Lafant]

Two years ago, we bought a Hymer Duomobile. The thinking was that with an almost new van (2017), we would have trouble free motoring. We’ve spent happy times touring in northern Spain and stayed in provence for five weeks last year.

But..... We SORNed it this spring due to COVID, and when the situation eased, and we needed to use it again, drove it confidently to an MOT station for its first MOT. It’s almost new, right? But it had developed a left indicator fault.

It’s no longer a quick change of bulb. The garage that did the MOT wouldn’t even try to fix it. Mike (husband) who’s pretty good with mechanics attempted a Heath Robinson fix with an LED strip, only to find the wiring inside is part of a canbus. So we have a vehicle with no road fund tax, and no nearby garage willing to fix it.

We contacted the Hymer dealership which is nearly three hundred miles away. They suggested swapping the light fittings over. No joy. We then sent the candidate parts by courier to the dealership for testing on a similar vehicle. They all worked.

That leaves the wiring. We contacted a Fiat Ducato garage, which had just reopened after furloghing its staff. They have no appointments till end September due to the backlog.

So, newish Hymer, slight pause in R rate, but we are off the road till autumn. And spitting rivets.

PS Don’t use DHL as couriers. Long story. Suffice it the package containing a fragile headlamp appeared to have been used as a football. It didn’t arrive when expected. It was almost impossible to get a human to contact within the organisation. Another turn of the screw.

 

[peterc10]

No point using a Fiat dealer. It's an A class so most of the wiring for the indicators will have been installed by Hymer not Fiat. Fiat will not know what Hymer have installed. First have you checked the fuses? If not suggest you could get a mobile engineer, preferably specialist in electrics, to come and look at it

 

[Wilderbeast]

If you have the operation manuals take a look and it will tell you which fuse box protects which piece of equipment,I suspect the indicators will be protected by the fiat fuse box rather than the Schaudt self healing fuses which protect the habitation electrics.
D

 

[TheBig1]

now I may be wrong here, but if the lamps all light up ok on the bench but not on the van, I would first suspect an earth fault at the light cluster. If Mike owns a multimeter, test to see the positive pulse is getting to the light. Then fashion a new link to the van chassis (inner wing) and connect to the other wire at the cluster. See if that solves the issue and make it so it can be reverted to original to send to the dealer to fix properly

 

[Detnor]

There is a running issue with this unit. May not be the same as yours, but some people are having wiring issues. Have you checked the Hymer owners group on facebook, there is info there

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[SandraL]

You dont say which indicator. If its the led side indicator that would have been in the door mirror then heres the info.

Go to the Resources section, tab at top of page, might need to scroll right past Classifieds.
Look for Manuals for Motorhomes stuff
Fiat 2016 Converters manual
Download it.

Page 3.30 and 3.31

Plug Y001LA. Pin 2 is signal,. Pin 10 earth

Similar plug on other side

Our lhd hymer, this fiat plug was behind panel that extends fiat dash to wall at ankle height. Would be where fiat door hinge on panel van was ish.
Hymer pick up their mirror motor, mirror heater, external temp sensor leads from here.

The body computer sends signal to that plug.

There is a similar plug the other side but I have not needed to find that one.

Mind you if its not the side indicator all the above is no use at all........

 

[Lafant]

Thank you all for your comments.
This is what Mike has to add:


hymer woes

To confirm, the defect is only with the lhs turn/run light strip. All other indicators at all points do work. The dealership have tested the led module and our headlamp on another mh in their yard and the parts were good. Where does that leave us? Am at the point of asking the autoelectrician to rewire the lhs indicator via a relay to ordinary 12V VCC and tolerating the canbus fault indicator.

Will we have to drive to Germany to get it fixed?

1. Fiat won't know Hymer wiring.
There are five black equally uniform wires (WTF?) feeding the module (led controller). Me, I would interrupt them with colour coded spade connectors for metering. A master Fiat autoelectrician should be able to deduce the feeds using a meter. Hoping he can do this at the September appointment.

2. Fuse?
Initially if the motor was left running for some time, the led strip would come on, flickering wildly and the turn indicator work occasionally. A fuse is either open circuit or good, I would think, so maybe not the fuse?

3. Earth?
As for fuse but will check.

 

[peterc10]

Thank you all for your comments.
This is what Mike has to add:


hymer woes

To confirm, the defect is only with the lhs turn/run light strip. All other indicators at all points do work. The dealership have tested the led module and our headlamp on another mh in their yard and the parts were good. Where does that leave us? Am at the point of asking the autoelectrician to rewire the lhs indicator via a relay to ordinary 12V VCC and tolerating the canbus fault indicator.

Will we have to drive to Germany to get it fixed?

1. Fiat won't know Hymer wiring.
There are five black equally uniform wires (WTF?) feeding the module (led controller). Me, I would interrupt them with colour coded spade connectors for metering. A master Fiat autoelectrician should be able to deduce the feeds using a meter. Hoping he can do this at the September appointment.

2. Fuse?
Initially if the motor was left running for some time, the led strip would come on, flickering wildly and the turn indicator work occasionally. A fuse is either open circuit or good, I would think, so maybe not the fuse?

3. Earth?
As for fuse but will check.

Good luck with finding a "master" Fiat auto electrician! Knowing Fiat Pro you will probably get a standard technician who knows no more about the the lighting than he has read in the workshop manual.

I am still not sure what you mean by "turn/run light strip. My 2015 Hymer A class has three indicators for each side. Looking at the 2017 brochure your Duomobile is similar. One is built into the front headlight assembly, one is built into the rear light assembly and one is on the side of the motorhome just in front of the front wheel. Are all of these not working? Or is it just one not working and, if so, which one is it.

I am also not sure what you mean by an LED controller module. What module is that and where is it? Do you mean the indicator stork or the indicator relay module?

The intermittent nature of this problem suggests that it could well be an intermittent earth failure.

 

[Landy Andy]

Do you have a tow bar fitted? If so this could be causing the issue.

 

[Speve]

Lafant Is it on one of the headlights? As we have 2018 B678DL and had a fault with the LH headlight the whole unit had to be replaced there have been lots of problems with the Hella with integrated LED running/ indicator type. I think around £700 if you have to buy one.

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[Speve]

On the HOG on FB there has been talk of making Hymer aware of the major problem? I think it should be a recall but i don’t suppose it will be?

 

[Terry242]

I see that you live in Cardiff.......
I've had a wipermotor issue with my Hymer since the week before lockdown. I contacted Travelworld at the time and needless to say they have still not resolved the situation. Like you, because most of the fittings originate from Hymer, I was reluctant to go to Glenside in Caerphilly- the local Fiat Professional garage.

In desperation, I went to a local garage where part of their business is in transport so they have experience in working on bigger kit. Also, the owner is a motorhomer and I'm sure that helps.

They were excellent. Issue was with the connectors between the Fiat and Hymer wiring looms.
Sorted....... 71 quid and that included new wipers!

Account Suspended

If you're stuck, give them a try and ask to speak to Paul. (I have no links to them but will be going back there for all my work)

Terry

 

[Speve]

I think that all Hymer Are on holiday shut down In Germany although I could be wrong

 

[Lenny HB]

We have a similar problem on our LHD 2017 Dynamic Line.

A few weeks ago the left side DRL light and front indicator started being intermittent and have now stopped working.

I spent a whole day swapping over headlamps and ballast units (ballast unit fixings were rusted), headlamp and ballast units appear OK.

So it looks like the problem is on the Fiat side. There aren't any fuses on the indicators on a Fiat they are controlled by an electronic module. I've checked the earth connections.

I have been thinking it could be a relay supplying power as both the DRL and Indicators are not working. I can't find any info of the relays and I've found it impossible to unplug relays in the under bonnet fuse box.

I will have a look at info SandraL mentions.

 

[Lafant]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
firstly, yes - difficult to find an auto electrician. Most don’t want to know.

Secondly, we don’t think it’s th3 tow bar Landy Andy as it has an isolating bridge.

Thirdly, could be we have to resort to a new headlight, but it worked on a similar vehicle on the Norfolk dealer’s forecourt.

Terry 242 - thanks for the contact. We’ll phone them. It’s provisionally booked into Glensides at the end of September. That’s a long time away. Frustrating.

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[SandraL]

Lenny HB

The info I mentioned was only for the repeater lamp that would normally be in wing mirror, ie the tiny led hymer mount on the wing. Does not refer to main indicator in headlamp.

 

[Lenny HB]

Lenny HB

The info I mentioned was only for the repeater lamp that would normally be in wing mirror, ie the tiny led hymer mount on the wing. Does not refer to main indicator in headlamp.

Side repeters are working, appears to be a power or earth problem as both DRL & indicator are out.

 

[Speve]

Sorry link not available

 

[Speve]

Side repeters are working, appears to be a power or earth problem as both DRL & indicator are out.

Lenny HB hi Lenny take a look on HOGs on FB they seem to have identified it’s the loom between headlight and transformer on the wing.

This is posted by Paul

Roger wait for the post which goes live Saturday morning concerning these lights, I’ve found a “large contributing factor” to the issue.

 

[Lenny HB]

Lenny HB hi Lenny take a look on HOGs on FB they seem to have identified it’s the loom between headlight and transformer on the wing.

This is posted by Paul

Roger wait for the post which goes live Saturday morning concerning these lights, I’ve found a “large contributing factor” to the issue.

Struggle to find anything on HOG Facebook is crap when it comes to searching.

I've just been looking through the Converters manual that SandraL mentioned and found there is a round multipin plug & socket that feeds DRL & indicator but it doesn't say where it is. I think comest out of the loom just behind the headlamp.
I will have a look tomorrow too windy today can hardly stand up outside.

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[Speve]

yes know what you mean the link says out of date but it does work on FB.
If that is the LED headlamp it’s the little loom from the controller to the lamp.. Paul covered it in a recent post about this very problem...

Becoming a common problem...

Here’s the post

 

[Speve]

DRL & indicator but it doesn't say where it is. I think comest out of the loom just behind the headlamp

You are in the right area I have messaged the author to see if I can get more info will keep you updated.

 

[Geo]

If I had a pound for every fuse and connection that tested good and still failed to operate what it should I would be a good few pounds richer.
Simply open circuit or closed circuit right
Not on your life.
They do pass muster with a test lamp or meter but the sneaky ones faint when asked to perform.
Bear that in mind always when circuit testing

 

[Speve]

Sorry can’t get link to view

 

[Speve]

Lenny HB Taken with thanks and credits to Paul’s post founder of HOGs


Hymer Headlights

If you have the type of headlight pictured I would suggest you read this, and take action.
Mine as pictured was worse on the near side (UK).

Picture numbers;
1. When checking the headlight wires for issues I noted one of the light cables sheathing was brown with road dirt.
2. When then checking a plug for same I noticed the water, it shouldn’t be wet there 24 hours after arriving home (we drove home in rain the day before)!
3. Further looking around I found this key earthing bank already degrading, and these are fitted on both sides, this is not good !
4. As the plugs are waterproof, all was ok, for now.....
5. I found it to be quite obvious that the driven water goes in here, and is forced and funnelled through, directly onto all the wires and plugs, as pictured on Pic 1 !

There is next to nothing to stop the water going in there, this is just a ticking time bomb waiting to happen to both present and future owners.

Therefore I strongly recommend;
1. You have a good look behind each headlight, to then cable tie any cables up to a higher point than level with the bottom on your headlight.
2. You invest in some water repellent spray, and use it where indicated on the earth points etc etc
3. You possibly source and fit some seal around the base of the headlight, this i plan to do.

This fault clearly lies with Hymer, the fibreglass moulding around the headlight is just open with the headlights screwed in, there are no seals to protect the engine compartment wires/earths/plugs directly behind same.

With issues starting to surface with the wires on the led side of these headlights (a Hella issue), this will certainly accelerate it if any issues are left ignored, and at over £700 new, don’t take to long !

So, the earlier model year, the lights can shatter, this type the led lights can fail.
Methinks Hymer/Hella haven’t learned from their mistakes.

This isn’t conclusive by any means but it’s certainly a contributing factor.

Please advise your findings on this ?

The actual fault as to why the Led Sidelight/DRL/indicator fails has now been discovered, more work is now needed to confirm the actual cause and so another post will follow once fully understood, and confirmed.

We have now taken the issue up, robustly, with Hymer.

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[MIJOBA]

Hi, we have a similar problem with our 2017 DL. Given the fact we were quoted £803.17 plus VAT + fitting for a replacement unit (Hymer don’t do parts, only full units) we decided to track down the manufacturer (Hella) to see if they could assist with a parts breakdown. They responded by saying that as these units had been developed with Hymer they can not give out the information. Seems excessive to replace a full headlight unit if there is only a problem with an LED. Next step will be to check wiring before we’re forced into a long trip and and expensive replacement.

 

[Speve]

Hi, we have a similar problem with our 2017 DL. Given the fact we were quoted £803.17 plus VAT + fitting for a replacement unit (Hymer don’t do parts, only full units) we decided to track down the manufacturer (Hella) to see if they could assist with a parts breakdown. They responded by saying that as these units had been developed with Hymer they can not give out the information. Seems excessive to replace a full headlight unit if there is only a problem with an LED. Next step will be to check wiring before we’re forced into a long trip and and expensive replacement.

My vans headlight failed on its way to the UK having just picked it up from the dealer brand new so luckily covered by warranty, however someone on HOG has discovered there is a fault as you can see in my post#25 above.

 

[Lenny HB]

Lenny HB Taken with thanks and credits to Paul’s post founder of HOGs


Hymer Headlights

If you have the type of headlight pictured I would suggest you read this, and take action.
Mine as pictured was worse on the near side (UK).

Picture numbers;
1. When checking the headlight wires for issues I noted one of the light cables sheathing was brown with road dirt.
2. When then checking a plug for same I noticed the water, it shouldn’t be wet there 24 hours after arriving home (we drove home in rain the day before)!
3. Further looking around I found this key earthing bank already degrading, and these are fitted on both sides, this is not good !
4. As the plugs are waterproof, all was ok, for now.....
5. I found it to be quite obvious that the driven water goes in here, and is forced and funnelled through, directly onto all the wires and plugs, as pictured on Pic 1 !

There is next to nothing to stop the water going in there, this is just a ticking time bomb waiting to happen to both present and future owners.

Therefore I strongly recommend;
1. You have a good look behind each headlight, to then cable tie any cables up to a higher point than level with the bottom on your headlight.
2. You invest in some water repellent spray, and use it where indicated on the earth points etc etc
3. You possibly source and fit some seal around the base of the headlight, this i plan to do.

This fault clearly lies with Hymer, the fibreglass moulding around the headlight is just open with the headlights screwed in, there are no seals to protect the engine compartment wires/earths/plugs directly behind same.

With issues starting to surface with the wires on the led side of these headlights (a Hella issue), this will certainly accelerate it if any issues are left ignored, and at over £700 new, don’t take to long !

So, the earlier model year, the lights can shatter, this type the led lights can fail.
Methinks Hymer/Hella haven’t learned from their mistakes.

This isn’t conclusive by any means but it’s certainly a contributing factor.

Please advise your findings on this ?

The actual fault as to why the Led Sidelight/DRL/indicator fails has now been discovered, more work is now needed to confirm the actual cause and so another post will follow once fully understood, and confirmed.

We have now taken the issue up, robustly, with Hymer.

Thanks Alan, that plug is near the one I was thinking of. My loom is clear and the earth is clean I have already unbolted and checked all the earths on that row of earth points.
If that brings no joy I've been recommended an Auto Electrical company in Bognor Regis who are good with Motorhome electrics they sorted out a friends Carthago that 3 other companies had failed on, that was a lighting problem as well.

 

[Speve]

Auto Electrical company in Bognor Regis who are good with Motorhome electrics they sorted out a friends Carthago that 3 other companies had failed on, that was a lighting problem as well

you are most welcome,
Be interested to hear what they have to say keep me updated please, at the moment mine are behaving since new headlight fitted

 

[peterc10]

Surely if these headlight units are failing after 3 years such that they need to be renewed at £700 there is a Consumer Rights Act issue here. They are clearly not of satisfactory quality regarding durability, see Section 9(1) and (9)(3)(e). That is especially so when you take into account the price of the motorhome, see Section 9(2)(b) .

I think it is time to start kicking the supplying dealers who you have your contract with. They will need to kick Hymer if they want to, not you.

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