Saxo woes

Hi Folks,

A neighbour has just bought a W reg Saxo 1.1 cheaply at auction.

The fuel and temperature gauges and rev counter don't work, although the
(electronic?) speedo does. The low fuel and high temperature warning lights
remain constantly illuminated although the gauge needles do not move. The
car is full of petrol, and he tells me that it didn't overheat on the 20
mile drive home, although there is evidence of some previous contamination
of the coolant expansion tank.

Any thoughts on a common cause or component failure that could cause this?
The fuses are all intact, the Haynes manual is unhelpful, although I have
followed the wiring diagram and checked the obvious.

There is evidence of previous cabling work in the engine bay. Specifically,
on the bottom radiator hose sensor (sensor located where the hose joins the
block) an extra wire has been soldered into one of the sensor wires and is
now taped off about an inch from the sensor.
There is also evidence that another extra wire was been soldered into a very
thin green wire which originates at the first multi-plug from the ECU.

I could possibly understand using an ECU connection for an immobiliser, but
why would you run another feed from a temperature sensor? The ECU itself is
only held in by one bolt instead of four, so has obviously been
removed/replaced at some time.

Any help would be appreciated. I was aware that buying a French car without
history cheaply at action is risky, so is he - now.
If all else fails he should get his money back courtesy of a different
auction, but if it's a cheap fix the rest of the car seems reasonable value
for money.

If there's a voltage regulator on the back of the instrument panel check
that. Saxo newsgroups can probably tell you where. Otherwise BBA-reman
will rebuild the cluster for you.

On Mon, 21 May 2007 12:16:53 +0100, Doctor D <david (AT) nospam (DOT) f9.co.uk> wrote:

Hi Folks,

A neighbour has just bought a W reg Saxo 1.1 cheaply at auction.

The fuel and temperature gauges and rev counter don't work, although the
(electronic?) speedo does. The low fuel and high temperature warning
lights
remain constantly illuminated although the gauge needles do not move. The
car is full of petrol, and he tells me that it didn't overheat on the 20
mile drive home, although there is evidence of some previous
contamination
of the coolant expansion tank.

Any thoughts on a common cause or component failure that could cause
this?
The fuses are all intact, the Haynes manual is unhelpful, although I have
followed the wiring diagram and checked the obvious.

There is evidence of previous cabling work in the engine bay.
Specifically,
on the bottom radiator hose sensor (sensor located where the hose joins
the
block) an extra wire has been soldered into one of the sensor wires and
is
now taped off about an inch from the sensor.
There is also evidence that another extra wire was been soldered into a
very
thin green wire which originates at the first multi-plug from the ECU.

I could possibly understand using an ECU connection for an immobiliser,
but
why would you run another feed from a temperature sensor? The ECU
itself is
only held in by one bolt instead of four, so has obviously been
removed/replaced at some time.

Any help would be appreciated. I was aware that buying a French car
without
history cheaply at action is risky, so is he - now.
If all else fails he should get his money back courtesy of a different
auction, but if it's a cheap fix the rest of the car seems reasonable
value
for money.