Mystery electrical faults

Dave Pinner · 10th September 2008, 18:08

I've just had a new clutch fitted to my Rover 75 diesel and the day before, it had a new battery, the old one died suddenly. The next time I used the car, all sorts of electrical faults happened. The rain sensitive function of the wipers doesn't work; the heating system displays the Err message all the time and won't swap from centigrade to fahrenheit on the display; it doesn't recognise that it has a CD player any more; the central locking will unlock but not lock on the remote button; it unlocks all of the doors on the first push instead of only the driver's door; none of the warning lights for indicators, main beam, fog lights on or doors open work at all. It's been at a former Rover main agent for a couple of weeks now and they haven't been able to trace the fault. They've checked all the earths, made sure there are no trapped wires etc. Their diagnostic comes up with nothing of assistance except that is tells them something has become corrupted. It's not the clocks and their next guess is something called an EPRAM unit. Any ideas?

Dave

JohnDotCom · 10th September 2008, 18:31

Welcome to the Club.
Sorry to hear of your problems.
If this fault only developed on having the work done,
I would take it back to them and get it sorted.

The normal thing for this sort of fault is indeed a Faulty Battery but if you are sure it has been changed and working correctly,
try the Following:

Disconnect the Battery for 30 Minutes then re connect,
this resets all the systems,
much like a computer reset.

Ensure if you have sat Nav installed you follow correct shutdown procedure
and that you have any radio codes before attempting.

Perhaps first of all though
Check the Plenum chambers for any water As the ECU sits in there and can become terminal if wet.
It does give some weird electrical faults if wet at all.

Dave Pinner · 10th September 2008, 19:03

Thanks John, I'll pass that on.

Dave

Jules · 10th September 2008, 23:35

Sounds like the blue "header" connections behind the gear lever console, which they might have disturbed if gearbox removed.

Dave Pinner · 17th October 2008, 09:54

Thanks to those of you who came up with possible causes of the multiple electrical faults that my car developed.

After several weeks languishing at the former main agents, my car has now been returned to me with the faults cured. The cause of the faults was the failure of the fuel-burning pre-heater (which I didn't even know that the car had!). The faults could have been cured by the replacement of the pre-heater (expensive) but were in fact cured by disconnecting it and reprogramming the car somehow so that it didn't know that it had the pre-heater in the first place. After that, everything else worked. Apparently, later models (this only applies to diesels by the way) didn't have the pre-heater so this particular problem should not arise.

NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-'s law being what it is, the car had been in for repair so long that I'd come to the conclusion that it wouldn't get mended without spending more in labour costs finding the fault than the car was worth, so I went out and bought a replacement (2004 facelift 75 Connoisseuuer SE CDTi). When I got home, I had an answerphone message to say that my old car had been sorted! It will be going on ebay as soon as my new one arrives.

Dave

Moonstone · 18th October 2008, 17:51

That fault has been reported before - a search for "FBH+PCB" should show up a few threads. It's a shame no-one spotted it sooner, from the reported symptoms. No easy fix, as you found.

10th September 2008, 18:08	#1
Dave Pinner Newbie Rover 75 CDTi Connoisseure SE Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Mystery electrical faults I've just had a new clutch fitted to my Rover 75 diesel and the day before, it had a new battery, the old one died suddenly. The next time I used the car, all sorts of electrical faults happened. The rain sensitive function of the wipers doesn't work; the heating system displays the Err message all the time and won't swap from centigrade to fahrenheit on the display; it doesn't recognise that it has a CD player any more; the central locking will unlock but not lock on the remote button; it unlocks all of the doors on the first push instead of only the driver's door; none of the warning lights for indicators, main beam, fog lights on or doors open work at all. It's been at a former Rover main agent for a couple of weeks now and they haven't been able to trace the fault. They've checked all the earths, made sure there are no trapped wires etc. Their diagnostic comes up with nothing of assistance except that is tells them something has become corrupted. It's not the clocks and their next guess is something called an EPRAM unit. Any ideas? Dave

10th September 2008, 23:35	#4
Jules This is my second home ZT 260 SE Twilight and 10 other 75 ZT's :O Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Conwy NORTH WALES Posts: 11,094 Thanks: 512 Thanked 1,116 Times in 763 Posts	Sounds like the blue "header" connections behind the gear lever console, which they might have disturbed if gearbox removed. __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Newbies do now!! 1. Plenum drains..all 3 or 4 year dependent 2. Cooling fan..All speeds functioning 3. Bonnet cable divider block

17th October 2008, 09:54	#5
Dave Pinner Newbie Rover 75 CDTi Connoisseure SE Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Mysterious fault fixed! Thanks to those of you who came up with possible causes of the multiple electrical faults that my car developed. After several weeks languishing at the former main agents, my car has now been returned to me with the faults cured. The cause of the faults was the failure of the fuel-burning pre-heater (which I didn't even know that the car had!). The faults could have been cured by the replacement of the pre-heater (expensive) but were in fact cured by disconnecting it and reprogramming the car somehow so that it didn't know that it had the pre-heater in the first place. After that, everything else worked. Apparently, later models (this only applies to diesels by the way) didn't have the pre-heater so this particular problem should not arise. NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-'s law being what it is, the car had been in for repair so long that I'd come to the conclusion that it wouldn't get mended without spending more in labour costs finding the fault than the car was worth, so I went out and bought a replacement (2004 facelift 75 Connoisseuuer SE CDTi). When I got home, I had an answerphone message to say that my old car had been sorted! It will be going on ebay as soon as my new one arrives. Dave

10th September 2008, 18:31	#2
JohnDotCom * Rover 75 FaceLift Tourer CDTi 170BHP Auto ConnSE 2005 Model Starlight Silver Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Abergele Posts: 28,735 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	Welcome to the Club. Sorry to hear of your problems. If this fault only developed on having the work done, I would take it back to them and get it sorted. The normal thing for this sort of fault is indeed a Faulty Battery but if you are sure it has been changed and working correctly, try the Following: Disconnect the Battery for 30 Minutes then re connect, this resets all the systems, much like a computer reset. Ensure if you have sat Nav installed you follow correct shutdown procedure and that you have any radio codes before attempting. Perhaps first of all though Check the Plenum chambers for any water As the ECU sits in there and can become terminal if wet. It does give some weird electrical faults if wet at all.

10th September 2008, 19:03	#3
Dave Pinner Newbie Rover 75 CDTi Connoisseure SE Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thanks John, I'll pass that on. Dave

18th October 2008, 17:51	#6
Moonstone Loves to post Rover 75 Tourer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Scotland Posts: 412 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	That fault has been reported before - a search for "FBH+PCB" should show up a few threads. It's a shame no-one spotted it sooner, from the reported symptoms. No easy fix, as you found.