I have a 2001 W638 Vito, ex-Traveliner, now a dayvan conversion. The interior-fittings-part of the conversion was a DIY job (although to a superb standard - the previous owner fitted out canal boats), but the auxiliary electrical system (leisure battery, split-charging system, etc) was installed by a professional auto electrician. I mention that in case it should have any bearing on the electrical gremlins outlined below.
For as long as I have owned this van, the instrument panel has had issues. I know that this is a very common problem on this generation of Vitos, so rather than buying a scrap part (probably just as faulty) from eBay, I sent it to ACtronics in Colchester for a complete rebuild. When it came back, I refitted it to the van...and there was no difference. I rang ACtronics, they said return it, they checked it, and it came back with a clean bill of health. Still no change.
Here are its particular idiosyncrasies:
The needle gauges will frequently die while I am driving: the speedo and tacho freeze where they are, and the fuel and temp gauges fall to below zero. Generally, they'll stay there, and won't come back to life until the engine is stopped, left for a while, and then restarted. Of course, now they are sitting at 60mph and 2,500rpm or whatever, so will give utterly ridiculous readings. They will reset if the ignition is turned off and on several times: turn the ignition on, wait for the warning lights to illuminate, turn it off again, and the needles will drop roughly 20mph and 1,500 rpm respectively. Do this until they are at zero, and you are good to go. Until, of course, the whole thing expires again five minutes later. While the needle gauges are in this state of death, everything else - all warning lights and most of the illumination (more on that later) still function as normal.
So far, so typically Vito. But there are a couple of strange things that I have noticed:
After I park up (invariably with dead gauges) and turn the engine off, no amount of coaxing (via the turning-the-ignition-on-and-off trick) will tempt the clocks back to life, until I open the driver's door. I assume that the contact switch for the interior light makes its connection, and somehow (bad earth?) this energises the instrument panel. I'm not imagining it; as I open the door, the fuel and temp gauges come back to life, jumping back up to zero. It doesn't matter whether the interior light is switched to "off", and therefore not part of this operation: the effect is the same. Also, you can switch the interior light on and off as much as you like without opening the door, with no effect. The door has to be opened.
And the other thing: the illumination for the fuel and temp gauges has never worked, not when I first bought the van, not after ACtronics' first rebuild, and not after their subsequent check, in which they specifically addressed this issue, amongst others.
One thing I should mention: it is possible to isolate the auxiliary electrical system in the van (the one installed for the dayvan conversion), and this makes no difference to the issues outlined above. So the culprit lies elsewhere, I should imagine.
Clearly, there's some problem with the supply to the instrument panel, then. Is there anyone out there with any ideas or suggestions, or a similar experience? Well, there are probably thousands upon thousands of W638 owners with similar experiences, but has anyone managed to find a cure or solution? One that doesn't involve four gallons of petrol and a match, that is.
Thanks in advance for any help, suggestions, sympathy, commiseration, practical advice, feedback, jokes, abuse, whatever.
For as long as I have owned this van, the instrument panel has had issues. I know that this is a very common problem on this generation of Vitos, so rather than buying a scrap part (probably just as faulty) from eBay, I sent it to ACtronics in Colchester for a complete rebuild. When it came back, I refitted it to the van...and there was no difference. I rang ACtronics, they said return it, they checked it, and it came back with a clean bill of health. Still no change.
Here are its particular idiosyncrasies:
The needle gauges will frequently die while I am driving: the speedo and tacho freeze where they are, and the fuel and temp gauges fall to below zero. Generally, they'll stay there, and won't come back to life until the engine is stopped, left for a while, and then restarted. Of course, now they are sitting at 60mph and 2,500rpm or whatever, so will give utterly ridiculous readings. They will reset if the ignition is turned off and on several times: turn the ignition on, wait for the warning lights to illuminate, turn it off again, and the needles will drop roughly 20mph and 1,500 rpm respectively. Do this until they are at zero, and you are good to go. Until, of course, the whole thing expires again five minutes later. While the needle gauges are in this state of death, everything else - all warning lights and most of the illumination (more on that later) still function as normal.
So far, so typically Vito. But there are a couple of strange things that I have noticed:
After I park up (invariably with dead gauges) and turn the engine off, no amount of coaxing (via the turning-the-ignition-on-and-off trick) will tempt the clocks back to life, until I open the driver's door. I assume that the contact switch for the interior light makes its connection, and somehow (bad earth?) this energises the instrument panel. I'm not imagining it; as I open the door, the fuel and temp gauges come back to life, jumping back up to zero. It doesn't matter whether the interior light is switched to "off", and therefore not part of this operation: the effect is the same. Also, you can switch the interior light on and off as much as you like without opening the door, with no effect. The door has to be opened.
And the other thing: the illumination for the fuel and temp gauges has never worked, not when I first bought the van, not after ACtronics' first rebuild, and not after their subsequent check, in which they specifically addressed this issue, amongst others.
One thing I should mention: it is possible to isolate the auxiliary electrical system in the van (the one installed for the dayvan conversion), and this makes no difference to the issues outlined above. So the culprit lies elsewhere, I should imagine.
Clearly, there's some problem with the supply to the instrument panel, then. Is there anyone out there with any ideas or suggestions, or a similar experience? Well, there are probably thousands upon thousands of W638 owners with similar experiences, but has anyone managed to find a cure or solution? One that doesn't involve four gallons of petrol and a match, that is.
Thanks in advance for any help, suggestions, sympathy, commiseration, practical advice, feedback, jokes, abuse, whatever.