6 years waiting to get a rado (major electrical problems)

[jobo 0]

hey hows it going bought my rado 3 months ago , knew it needed a lot of work to get on the road but now found out its got loads of electrical faults. not sure if all related but any advise would be appreciated the main faults are

central locking motor whines doesnt open anything,can only get sidelights not main beam, mfa gives stupid readings on everything or nothing at all,fan runs for ages even when engine not that hot, stereo wont even work now, reverse lights flick on whilst changing gear, heater struggles on flat out. checked all bulbs & fuses all ok. are these common problems (wear & tear) any advice appreciated take it easy

[zacon 0]

The fact that the fan runs too much could be because the thermoswitch is faulty. Take off the connector on the lower left off the radiator when the fan starts to run. If it stops running, change the thermoswitch. If it still runs, check the wiring. You should be sure that the radiator isn't just always too hot though.

 

The headlight thing is a common fault. You need a new headlight loom.

[Niges16V 0]

central locking whine is probably due to an air leak i one of the pipes, which is why it can't get the pressure to open the locks.

 

Stereo might be due to ignition switch (another common fault) as one of the symptoms is you lose the ignition live for the stereo.

 

The heater fan is easily removed, give it a clean and squirt some oil into the motor.

 

Reverse light - mine does that. The switch is somewhere on the selector in the engine bay, probably needs adjusting.

 

Does your sunroof work?? :)

[Roger Blassberg 0]

Welcome to the joys of Corrado ownership.

 

Headlight switch faults are very common too, so this may be the solution to your headlight woes. A new one is quite expensive but they come up on ebay. Or maybe there is a modified headlight loom installed and the fuse or relay has developed a fault. (Sorry to ask, but you have checked the lights with the ignition switched on I suppose; the headlights go off with the ignition).

 

Or it could be the load reduction relay, sometimes referred to as the X-relief relay; this is the one which cuts out the headlights, stereo, heater fan, ABS circuits and wipers when cranking the engine to give all the volts to the starter motor. Sometimes they stick in the off position. This too is a cheap and easy fix. Look at the circuit diagram for the location of this relay. They are about £12 and and you simply replace with a new one.

 

The reversing light switch is on the gear selector mechanism on top of the gearbox, a black plastic pot shaped thing with an electrical connector. They are cheap-ish. I don't think that there is any adjustment, other than to check that the 2 fixing bolts are secure (don't overtighten as the plastic casing is quite flimsy)

 

When you say the heater struggles on flat out, do you mean that the fan doesn't blow hard, or that the air doesn't get hot? Is the fan blowing on all speeds? If not, you have a resistor pack problem which is again a common fault and easily fixed. Use the search for that. If the air is not hot enough there may be an air lock in the heater matrix or the control cables may need some attention.

 

There should be an in-line fuse for the live feed to the stereo - have you checked that? Or maybe it's tangled around the heater control cables (see above).

 

MFA faults quite often indicate that the dashboard has been interfered with.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[jobo 0]

nice one cheers for help gonna start work on the car this weekend let you know how i get on . the heater work on all speed, but on top two setting whines & doesnt blow as hard ,still blows hot can't see anything thing stuck in blower to make whining sound .

thanks take it easy

[coolrado 0]

if your mfa is just showing parts of the numbers or showing them very dimly its just a matter of dismantling the clocks and cleaning the contacts that connect to the back of the lcd screen via the little rubbery conductive strip.