156 Strange Electrical Behaviour, are they related??

[FMD159]

Hello Guys, I have a 2003 156 Selespeed JTS.

Recently I have noticed the following faults:

1.When the boot is open, my central locking now allows me to lock the car. In the past, central locking would not engage in a locked position when the boot was open.

2.The Boot light has stopped working, but the bulb is fine.

3.The driver’s side reversing light is not working but the bulb is fine.

4.And now the lower pitch horn has decided not to work.

I seem to have an electrical gremlin in my car.....some of these faults seem somewhat related...could anyone shed some light???

[rkbella33]

BATTERY!....common issue..most folks I know replace them almost yearly basis

[FMD159]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkbella33 BATTERY!....common issue..most folks I know replace them almost yearly basis

[Erik]

I have owned my 156 2,0 TS 1998 for over 6 years and have replaced the battery once.
I think a ground is bad somewhere in the car's rear end. Bad connections are often difficult to find, so, if it was me, I would have a good look around in the back and if I don't find it, I would let an auto electrician find it, they usually are quick to deal with such things.
Maybe the signal horn is just a bad connection on the horn it self.

Erik

[rkbella33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FMD159 Firstly let me highlight that I highly value your response, but I cant help but feel that you are making fun of me regarding this How can you be sure of this? how can this be, if the battery/vehicle appears to be functioning fine? And is there a way that I can test your theory without shelling out over $100 for an appropriate battery....and possibly finding out that this is not the case?

[FMD159]

hello

hunting around my car for a gremlin...i pulled the front grill piece from my car and found this wire disconnected and dangling...any ideas what this is for...I dont seem to have any electrical problems at the front end of my car though...so what could this be?

[rkbella33]

on my car on the left side over the drier area I found a cable hanging that I was worried abt that my mech explained wasnt in use in my 2000 2.0 TS and that the same loom was used in the 2.5V6...that said and done it didnt look like what you have on the right side of yr car..that looks like a connector to to the headlamp alignment motor...check if you can lower/raise the lights.

yr car is a the newer facelift model I have no experience on the electrics.Extremely rare in my place. Do you have the yellow lamp feature that will show up if the lamps blow? I am aware that the park lights on the TS 2.0 till facelift model have a specific park lamp resistance which if you changed can cause some instability on the lighting circuit.let me check dte for values.

[FMD159]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkbella33 on my car on the left side over the drier area I found a cable hanging that I was worried abt that my mech explained wasnt in use in my 2000 2.0 TS and that the same loom was used in the 2.5V6...that said and done it didnt look like what you have on the right side of yr car..that looks like a connector to to the headlamp alignment motor...check if you can lower/raise the lights. yr car is a the newer facelift model I have no experience on the electrics.Extremely rare in my place. Do you have the yellow lamp feature that will show up if the lamps blow? I am aware that the park lights on the TS 2.0 till facelift model have a specific park lamp resistance which if you changed can cause some instability on the lighting circuit.let me check dte for values.

[rkbella33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FMD159 thx rxbella33, but it is not linked to headlamp alignment motor, I can raise and lower my headlamps with no problems..... yes i have the lamp feature which indicates when lamps blow....

[FMD159]

no, the light does not come on when the bonnet is open....infact I have never noticed that at alll...im not sure that it is supposed to function for open bonnet either?

[Erik]

Try check behind the fuse box, come to think about it, I've heard of water leaking from wind screan and dripping onto the box.
I could also put your question on AlfaOwner.com, a UK based Forum with global patisions.
Erik

[sportswagoner]

Hi-I have a 2001 156 Sportswagon (1.8 T-Spark). Not sure if it is related but my battery used to go flat after 5 days or so of not using the car. Eventually I noticed that one of the real lights stayed on very dimly even with the car turned off and the key out of the ignition. I had to get it re-wired and the problem is now sorted. Apparently it is a commonish problem on this year and model