Ducato Drivers air bag warning light

We had to use the van on Tuesday as the car was in dock and we had stuff to do, I've run it a few times into town and back, but it struggled to start, battery below 12v, we did a 30-mile run and it's at 12.6v now, it has solar and faces south the controller is supposed to keep it topped up but it's not looking like it.

I'm going to plug it into the EHU on the drive and see if it's putting anything into the VB, if so I'll set it up to charge 1 hour per night, if not I'll dig out the charger and plug it into the vans 230v socket so once a day it'll get a bit of lecky, hope that sounds like a plan.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
We had to use the van on Tuesday as the car was in dock and we had stuff to do, I've run it a few times into town and back, but it struggled to start, battery below 12v, we did a 30-mile run and it's at 12.6v now, it has solar and faces south the controller is supposed to keep it topped up but it's not looking like it.

I'm going to plug it into the EHU on the drive and see if it's putting anything into the VB, if so I'll set it up to charge 1 hour per night, if not I'll dig out the charger and plug it into the vans 230v socket so once a day it'll get a bit of lecky, hope that sounds like a plan.
Click to expand...
Are you using a Vanbitz Relay, Kev? The Dealership fitted one to our M/Home as part of the purchase deal, but the Relay never produced any surplus current, because it relies on the LB being full and then the surplus 'overflows; into the VB [they use the analogy of a bath filling and overflowing to explain the operating principle]. In Scotland, after the beginning of October, the solar contribution is insufficient to trigger the Vanbitz Relay. whereas the Ablemail AMT12 that David Wildebus fitted causes the LB to transfer power to the VB, almost irrespective of the LB State of Charge, leaving the LB to replenish itself from whatever solar power it can obtain. The LB can therefore take 2 or 3 days to recover with small amounts of solar gather, often as little as 10Wh per day at this time of year, whilst still passing tiny amounts of current to the VB to keep that in good shape. The difference between the 2 Relays is, no pun intended, night and day, and I haven't had to take the M/Home out every 5 or 6 days for a 25-30 mile run to replenish the VB, or use EHU from our Flat

Steve
 
Interesting update.
Went to Adams Morey Bournemouth (Fiat DAF main dealer) to purchase a new AB ECU to get me through the MoT, fitted it there only to find the AB warning light still remained on.
Went into Service Dept for advice, informed that the ECU needs to be programmed to the vehicle, which they did try, while I waited.
After 2 hours the technician said that he couldn't get the main ECU to 'talk' to the AB ECU?
Didn't charge me for the labour but did give me contact details of a mobile specialist who they use to sort difficult electrical problems.
So awaiting his arrival next week with everything crossed!!
The service manager pointed to a pile of failed Fiat Ducato AB ECU that had recently been replaced.
So be aware it is a major failure problem and I would now recommend a main dealer repair as soon as it shows, to save time, money and heartaches.
Mike
 
wildebus said:
may I venture a comment that it is not really doing a bang-up job then!
Click to expand...
Northern climate David, the weather is usually quite awful at this time of year, it brightens a bit mid December, and it's only an 85w panel about 10 years old.
 
MykCamper said:
Interesting update.
Went to Adams Morey Bournemouth (Fiat DAF main dealer) to purchase a new AB ECU to get me through the MoT, fitted it there only to find the AB warning light still remained on.
Went into Service Dept for advice, informed that the ECU needs to be programmed to the vehicle, which they did try, while I waited.
After 2 hours the technician said that he couldn't get the main ECU to 'talk' to the AB ECU?
Didn't charge me for the labour but did give me contact details of a mobile specialist who they use to sort difficult electrical problems.
So awaiting his arrival next week with everything crossed!!
The service manager pointed to a pile of failed Fiat Ducato AB ECU that had recently been replaced.
So be aware it is a major failure problem and I would now recommend a main dealer repair as soon as it shows, to save time, money and heartaches.
Mike
Click to expand...
Mike, there was a Thread that I found on the Fiat Professional [? re name] Owners Forum on ECUs in November last year. It included a comment from a Senior Member that Fiat had supplied a duff batch of ECUs for 2015 & 16 builds [mine is a June 16 Reg so probably a 2015 factory build!], but that subseuent ECUs were more robust/better quality. The fact that the Ducato Manual in the Resources Section contains the 'Wait for Warning Lights to extinguish before starting the engine' instruction may suggest otherwise!

Worrying that Fiat Pro Garage charges more than the Auto Electrician that Fiat Professional use for problems that they cannot resolve! Exactly the same for me, and the Auto Electrician re[rogrammed the new ECU without a problem, at £15+ VAT per hour less!

Steve
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Northern climate David, the weather is usually quite awful at this time of year, it brightens a bit mid December, and it's only an 85w panel about 10 years old.
Click to expand...
I'm further north (I think?) in Scotland. Marchie is even more north than me, poor fella :(
What you are getting (or not getting, more accurately) is one reason why I much prefer a seperate trickle to the a solar combo. They would work on solar OR on EHU (without having to hookup AND get a charger plugged in and connected to the Starter) and depending on the type you get you can maintain the Starter from the spare power of the Leisure.

You get a kind of solution by just running a wire from the Leisure battery to the Starter battery, but you need to remember to plug in it and you need to remember to unplug it.
A messy solution IMO. Fit and Forget is much nicer :)
 
I used to use Motts bridging wire and fused it so forgetting wasn't a disaster, but I'm not up to crawling around anymore.

Not got time today but I need to see whats being put into the LB & VB anyway.
 
wildebus said:
I'm further north (I think?) in Scotland. Marchie is even more north than me, poor fella :(
What you are getting (or not getting, more accurately) is one reason why I much prefer a seperate trickle to the a solar combo. They would work on solar OR on EHU (without having to hookup AND get a charger plugged in and connected to the Starter) and depending on the type you get you can maintain the Starter from the spare power of the Leisure.

You get a kind of solution by just running a wire from the Leisure battery to the Starter battery, but you need to remember to plug in it and you need to remember to unplug it.
A messy solution IMO. Fit and Forget is much nicer :)
Click to expand...
Or, in my case, 'Fit; but remember to check - but only on alternate days, now that I can relax more' (y) It gives me peace of mind, and a quick check using Bluetooth as I pass the Van alerts me to any sudden changes. Better that than the expense of last November and the frustration of a cancelled trip, plus the wasted cost of Travel & Breakdown insurance that I had paid for the week of the ECU failure. Silly as it sounds, that wasted 4 months cover, so more than £100 of hidden cost in addition to the Bill that already ran into 4 figures ...

On a lighter note, I had an email today from my autistic German [what a combination] mate who I met on a cruise. He told me that an Internet problem was now resolved and everything was 'okie dokie'; and then attached a hyperlink to an online dictionary that gave the definition of 'okie dokie' for a Brit! You can see why we get on so well ... :D The cruise on which we met had a veto on [mainly Germans] reserving sunbeds, so Werner overcame the problem by placing a 'Sunbed Broken' sign on his sunbed, placing the sign in his 'toolbox' aka a leather satchel when he arrived! Ingenious!

Steve
 
Unfortunately, Management doesn't like me spending money on the van, alright for her to go on cruises though innit. so I can't go spending anything unless it's out of my own money which is limited.
 
I need to see what's going on first Dave then go from there.

up until recently the VB has never been an issue, I normally use the van to go shopping but here it is a royal PITA to get it off the drive, I have to move the car and then shunt the van back and forth to get out then the reverse coming back, reversing it is a pain too as it's uphill and we have the juddergate issue so slipping the clutch a bit, so I just go in the car, fuel is an issue of course now.

Got off track a bit there, is it normal for the onboard charger to use so much electricity @£0.05 per hour even days after it's been on EHU, and is it normal for it to only charge the LB and not the VB?
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I need to see what's going on first Dave then go from there.

up until recently the VB has never been an issue, I normally use the van to go shopping but here it is a royal PITA to get it off the drive, I have to move the car and then shunt the van back and forth to get out then the reverse coming back, reversing it is a pain too as it's uphill and we have the juddergate issue so slipping the clutch a bit, so I just go in the car, fuel is an issue of course now.
Click to expand...
sounds like anyway to avoid that would be good!
Pudsey Bear said:
Got off track a bit there, is it normal for the onboard charger to use so much electricity @£0.05 per hour even days after it's been on EHU
Click to expand...
Mains chargers can consume power even when there is nothing to charge.
My own motorhome is not a great example of what to expect as I have quite a high general load, but right now my batteries are full but I am still pulling 22W. But at 50p/KW unit, that is 1.1p/hour. Your 5p/Hour (on 50p unit rate) would equate to 100W/Hour, which is a fair old current for a camper with charged batteries (which after a few days they must be?) and parked up unused. Are you sure it is 5p/Hour?

Pudsey Bear said:
and is it normal for it to only charge the LB and not the VB?
Click to expand...
Pretty typical. What system did you install? If a self-build with a Sargent, then default is LB only, but if you select VB from the control panel to use the Starter Battery for hab electrics, then you will also be charging the VB.
 
The 5p per hour is what we were left with on the smart meter with everything in the house turned off, the EHU was the only thing left. the controller I posted yesterday is the one I had fitted a few months ago.

The Van is a Swift Siena C class, I sold the self build last year for the second time, it had 100w panel and fed both batteries, never had issues with it, I later had all the batteries connected to provide 330ah with some seriously large cables and fuses, but when I sold it the first time, the buyer panicked and paid a sparky over £500 to disconnect it, all he had to do was remove the fuses to separate it all.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
The 5p per hour is what we were left with on the smart meter with everything in the house turned off, the EHU was the only thing left. the controller I posted yesterday is the one I had fitted a few months ago.

The Van is a Swift Siena C class, I sold the self build last year for the second time, it had 100w panel and fed both batteries, never had issues with it, I later had all the batteries connected to provide 330ah with some seriously large cables and fuses, but when I sold it the first time, the buyer panicked and paid a sparky over £500 to disconnect it, all he had to do was remove the fuses to separate it all.
Click to expand...
with the 5p/hours showing, did you unplug the EHU lead and see it drop to zero? I would check that. maybe some loads in the house you forgot or were not aware of?
 
Yes Dave, that's how I knew, I'd check the charger but there is no visible data plate.
 
MykCamper said:
Interesting update.
Went to Adams Morey Bournemouth (Fiat DAF main dealer) to purchase a new AB ECU to get me through the MoT, fitted it there only to find the AB warning light still remained on.
Went into Service Dept for advice, informed that the ECU needs to be programmed to the vehicle, which they did try, while I waited.
After 2 hours the technician said that he couldn't get the main ECU to 'talk' to the AB ECU?
Didn't charge me for the labour but did give me contact details of a mobile specialist who they use to sort difficult electrical problems.
So awaiting his arrival next week with everything crossed!!
The service manager pointed to a pile of failed Fiat Ducato AB ECU that had recently been replaced.
So be aware it is a major failure problem and I would now recommend a main dealer repair as soon as it shows, to save time, money and heartaches.
Mike
Click to expand...
At last! Back on the road again after 5 months!
Their man turned up on time, reprogrammed the ECU'S successfully in half an hour and only charged me £40 for call-out and Labour !
🚐 Saled through the MoT yesterday! 😇
 
Had the usual air bag failure light (2016 Ducato/Buestner) possibly.low 12v when starting, Fiat Bournemouth were of little help other than stating an outrageous price & offering no help in contacting Fiat.

I phoned Fiat who replied "its an old van" implying "what do you expect! "!

Took it to Essandjay who confirmed the fault was the unit and not the wiring. Had it repaired under MD&G warranty, but here's the thing - the new ecu has a different part number and manufacturer. Clearly Fiat know there's a fault within those years, and have since changed supplier. The mechanic also said they had never had fault after fitting the newer version ECU.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top