battery light

[painter dave]

hi having problems with my 2002 berlingo van, the battery light keeps coming on intermitent and beeping, ive narrowed it down to been the blow heater as when this happens the relay at the side of the fuse box under the steering wheel clicks, ive changed the relay and fuse but its still doing it can anybody shed any light on this please, its the mark 1 1.9 diesel, had the battery and alternator checked and there fine they did pick up a bad earth but dont kmow where the earth to the heater is, any help would be appreciated.

[painter dave]

ive now taken the fuse and relay out to the heater and it still doing it, driving me nuts, alternator and battery are new, so not got a clue now, anybody help me with this please ??????

[cancunia]

I don't have a 1.9d van but I'm guessing the box under the steering wheel is pretty much the same as my 2.0 Multispace, if so it's the BSI & has relays for quite a few functions like the wipers, headlights and other stuff. No real surprise that you can hear relays clicking, try the wipers on intermittent for example.
It may be that you have a bad earth somewhere on the body that's causing problems, did the garage say where they found that bad earth?

[painter dave]

when i took the relay out and went thru all the controls there was only the heater that didnt work with it out, i took the van to have the battery and alternator tested which came up fine they had me reving the car up which picked up an earth fault but didnt say which one, had a garage check my earths but unsure which ones they actually checked, know they did the one under the battery carrier.

[brodfather11]

There is a large earth point under the centre console It may be the one your looking for .

Not sure why you're hunting for the heater earth if its the battery light that's flickering?

Is it starting OK and its just this light that's annoying ?

I don't think the battery light causes a beeping noise. Don't think it did on my old 1.9.

On start up the air bag light beeps if faulty and stays on , (connector under the seat) also the brake fluid level if  low.

I would be looking at the wiring between the alternator and the starter and engine fuse box to rule out that. The engine fuse box should be nice and dry.

A video /picture of the light would help

[painter dave]

how do i get to the earth under centre console?

the van starts up and runs fine all lights go out but when driving the relay starts clicking the battery light comes on and beeps ?

[Tomcat3]

There are a load of earthing points behind the nearside headlight on the inner wing, you should be able to see them.

[brodfather11]

The centre console is held down with 6 torx screws. two beside the h/brake lever , 1 each side down the sides of the front seats and another two at the air vents in the footwell. It can take a bit of wrangling to get it out after the gearstick gaiter is unclipped.
The earth points that TOMCAT3 refers to are a common source of problems due to rust in that area

[painter dave]

The ones near the light I've had off and cleaned, 3 lots screwed to the wing the box you have to move to get to them I've cleaned the 2 terminals on that not got a clue what it is tho? Also done the one on the opposite wing as well, have to try centre console one if that's a possibility it could be the fault, how many more earths is there it could be?

[jj9]

You could try using a jump lead as a temporary earth lead between the battery Negative and the metal of the engine, if you can access it you could clip the lead directly to the alternator, this would rule out any problems with the engine earth lead.

Put the jump lead between the battery Negative and the body of the car to rule out the body earth lead.

Run a separate earth wire from the heater motor to the body of the car or the Negative of the battery to rule out the heater motor earth.

Earth faults can cause some weird problems and send you in the wrong direction.


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