Fulvia Series 1 - No lights or indicators, but engine starts and runs.

[Crag]

Fulvia Series 1. I bought my Fulvia the day before lockdown started and the lights were all working but in trying to fit a new horn button (please don’t mention the existing button!) I took part of the dashboard out and the indicators were the first things that I found had packed up.

I fitted a new indicator relay but that had no effect and then I realised that no sidelights or headlights worked either, although the interior lights and door lights work.

I have a nasty feeling that I’m just going to have to check every earth, junction box and connector but I’m open to any or all suggestions please to shortcut the process.

The novelty of owning my first Lancia is rapidly wearing off!

Thanks,

Bruce

[neil-yaj396]

Could you have cracked some old wires when removing the dash? Otherwise it sound like an earthing problem.

[lancialulu]

could you have blown some fuses....

[Crag]

Many thanks for your replies.

I changed all the fuses to new 16 amp ones after cleaning up all the contacts on the fusebox. I think it may well be a cracked wire but I wonder if this diagnosis helps point to a particular wire:

There's power to fuses 7, 8 & 9 only.

Fuse 7 has power with ignition off and in key positions 1 and 2
Fuse 8 has power with key positions 1 and 2, but not with ignition off
Fuse 9 has power in key position 2 only, but not with ignition off or in key position 1.

Fuses 1 to 6 have no power at all.

The horn is disconnected and a previous owner has obviously had a go at it...which is where I started many weeks ago....

Hope that helps, it confuses me completely!

Cheers,

Bruce

[lancialulu]

This should help. With a volt meter you need to start finding 12v at correct parts of the circuit. Disconnect the coil after you have checked that as long exposure to 12v could burn it out.

7 is fed from battery so live all the time and goes to ignition switch which switches supplies to coil/aux circuits and lighting relays.

So 8 & 9 are controlled by the ignition switch which from your description  is working.

1 - 6 are lighting circuits left and right. Possibly looks like a problem a broken wire and or with your light switch if you have not even side lights.

Posn 1 is gar - garage for testing purposes

[Crag]

Thank you so much, but you don’t know me...it won’t help at all!

I’ve rewired cars from the ‘20s but there’s nothing to them but this, with its relays and earth returns has been driving me mad for the last two weeks. I’ve almost finished a new horn circuit and relay so that would be a start as in two weeks I appear to have destroyed the lights and indicators and there wasn’t a horn so I don’t feel comfortable even driving it a short distance to an electrician.

Thanks for the hint about the coil - for the last 20 years I’ve been using magnetos!

Bruce

[Crag]

A belated Thank You to those who tried to help me out...However it's a lot simpler than any of us thought!

1. When a previous owner replaced the steering wheel with a go-faster one, all the original horn wiring was ditched, a hole was drilled in the facia to take a new horn button and different cables. Unfortunately when it came to selling the car the owner left the hole in the facia and various disconnected wires but took the original horn button and the temporary (very) horn button.

2. Perhaps co-incidental with this he/she decided to simplify the headlight flashing system, again by taking all the wires out. The headlamp stalk only operates the indicators so main beam is only available by using the Lighting Switch.There are no parking lights as the South African owner perhaps didn't need them. On the positive side there's none of that wondering whether one's going to get pitched into darkness that some of the Forum scare stories would have you believe.

3. And, this surely can't be co-incidental, the previous owner took the brake servo out...

But it has kept me occupied after a fashion for the last eight weeks or more; however I'm not going to hold my breath until next Friday week when I take the car to an engineer to see what he makes of it all.

Meanwhile does anyone have a Series 1 brake servo for sale please?

Bruce

[simonpen]

If my rebuild does not work I was thinking of one of these:  www.carbuilder.com/uk/remote-brake-servo   I have also seen Bonaldi type servos on ebay.

[fay66]

If my rebuild does not work I was thinking of one of these:  www.carbuilder.com/uk/remote-brake-servo   I have also seen Bonaldi type servos on ebay.

My Series 1 2c Berlina came without a servo, and I've never found that I missed not having one, and having heard of numerous problems with the servos, I glad I haven't got one
Brian
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