Dreaded Fiat Ducato instrument bug of dimly lit warning lights

Budgie

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I have a 2015 Ducato motorhone which I purchased from new in October 2015 and currently have an issue with it.
A couple of months ago I got talking to a fellow fiat camper van owner and he said to me if I have had "the dreaded instrument cluster problem" I asked what does he mean and he explained the dimly lit warning lights on the cluster when cruise control is engaged
After checking sure enough my van had the "airbag light,brake wear warning light & low fuel light very dimly lit when the cruise control is engaged, on looking closely it also has the ABS light permanently very dimly lit. These lights have been on for a couple of years at least, The reason I did not notice is I permanently have the night lights on and so dashboard lights on as I have great difficulty seeing the speedo when it is not backlit, so I mistakenly thought the dimly lit warning lights were just light pollution from the cluster back lights in general.
On reading online I was shocked to find that is is all over the internet and is a very common fault with Fiats , an inherent fault that by the amount of problems people are having should of been a recall in my opinion as it looks like the cluster is not fit for purpose.
There are even a few company's who specialise in repairing the fault
This fault could result in an mot failure if spotted, I think I have been lucky in that respect so far.
On taking the camper to my Fiat professional dealer in Darlington and explaining the problem they put a request in for a goodwill warranty claim through Fiat, as the camper is out of Warranty, Fiat offered to contribute 50% and so in my book are admitting there is a problem, which still means I will have to contribute £494 Including fitting, I find this totally unacceptable for an inherent fault, I have had the camper serviced at the correct service intervals by Fiat Professional from new at a great deal of expense thinking it is worth the extra cost and feel maybe the cluster problem should have been picked up then.
So I complained via the Fiat website , Just had Fiat call me from Italy with there response, they would not budge on the offer of 50% so that is £495 I am expected to shell out, the person who called said all she can do is just forward the reports and hope Fiat might have to do a recall eventually, which I very much doubt will happen considering it's not safety related, she advised me to go to Cartronix and get it repaired as it will be cheaper and if I do go down the repair route to keep receipts and if there is a recall they will refund me, unbelievable!! I just don't think they will do it as would probably cost a fortune.
I think the problem is all cases are just individual, there is no public log as to how many cases there are out there, and therefore no public evidence to say start a class action or something like that.
Any advice from anyone who has the same experience will be much appreciated.
 
Cartronix have a good turn around repair time you'll get it back in a few days it's easy to remove just 4 screws and a multi plug to unclip and they warranty their work.
 
Mine has the same fault but it does not affect the performance in any way so I put up with it , when it goes for mot they don't engage the cruise control so it is not a failure , I understand your frustration but when you had not spotted the issue it didn't bother you , probably best to put up with It then after a while you don't notice again , It doesn't bother me anymore
 
Cartronix fixed mine only yesterday. The guy who did the work was saying that it is a problem that gets worse over time (as mine had). With mine it wasn't just when the cruise control was switched on. The ABS light was quite bright to the point where it was difficult to say if it was part or full on. I was not comfortable with that so I had it sorted. I was able to drive to their place so they sorted it there and then.

An edit with an afterthought. If Fiat replace the unit it is likely to be with another unit with the same design fault. Cartronix say they beef up the unit in some way when they repair it. The only evidence of this to my untrained eye is that the warning lights are brighter when they are on but I have no reason to disbelieve them. The Cartonix repair costs considerably less than what you are being quoted. £150 if you take it out yourself and post it to them. £190 if you take it there and get them to remove it.
 
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Mine has the same fault but it does not affect the performance in any way so I put up with it , when it goes for mot they don't engage the cruise control so it is not a failure , I understand your frustration but when you had not spotted the issue it didn't bother you , probably best to put up with It then after a while you don't notice again , It doesn't bother me anymore

This would be me. TBF though, the post above with them charging just 40 quid to remove is pretty good, they could probably ask more which to me suggests a decent company :)
 
This would be me. TBF though, the post above with them charging just 40 quid to remove is pretty good, they could probably ask more which to me suggests a decent company :)
Totally agree with you Steve(y)
 
We have a pilote 2015 we purchased last November I used the van at weekend to move it to put air suspension on back
Noticed then several warning lights were dim
This morning at 4.30 lying in bed thought was lightening out side
But turns out headlights flashing
Could not turn them off
Only way was to disconnect battery
Anyone else had this problem ?
 
We had that fault but it was fixed by the garage when it went in for service foc as a recall from fiat. We hadn’t even noticed it.
 

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