crbtaylor Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Well it all started with a freezing start in Folkestone, the 4 days of rain on the trip down to Portugal. On the of all that we had electrical problems on our 2012 Bessacar e540 that meant we had flat batteries when we stopped, so no aires en route. But Swift and Sargent talked med thro the tests and managed to find an 12v earth cable not connected, obviously Fiats fault at production. Nowy having pretty c**p weather, rain most days, but at least no snow!!! Looking for somewhere to stay on the return journey via The Alpes, somewhere near Montpellier. Anyone know of any nice sites or Aires near there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Best aire near Montpellier is Palvas-les Flots (N43 31 55, E03 55 23). It is more like a site really with barrier, electric hook-ups, showers etc with a cost around 13 €/night. It can get crowded but many pitches have views of canal or marina and is easy walk into Palvas. Bus from Palvas to Montpellier, which is well worth a visit. One of our favourite aires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I'm a bit puzzled as to which batteries where flat, if it was vehicle then a call to Fiat Assist would have had someone coming out and fixing it, if on otherhand was liesure battery how did Fiat get it wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crbtaylor Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 The leisure battery was all but dead and the cab battery was down to 11v. Fiat assist did come out but because we had been on EHU for a few hours both batteries were charging. They wanted us to drive 90km to the nearest Fiat dealer to get a diagnostic done. According to Sargent, because the earth asnt connected the Leisure battery was supplying the fridge as we were driving. Hopefully all sorted now and the weather looks set to improve later this week. Or so they say!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyfletcher Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Did you fix the earth fault yourself or did a garage do it. If you did it wher was the wire? thanks Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crbtaylor Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 I fixed it myself after Sargent had told me where it was, behind the drivers step. Just had to remove the plastic inside step and was surprised by how much wiring was behind it, along with the thick earth cable floating around a painted stud, to which it should have been attached. With sargents help I managed to fix the problem with only a couple of screwdrivers, a multimeter and a pair of mole grips. These tools will always be on my van now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 robertandjean - 2013-01-22 7:11 PM Best aire near Montpellier is Palvas-les Flots (N43 31 55, E03 55 23). It is more like a site really with barrier, electric hook-ups, showers etc with a cost around 13 €/night. It can get crowded but many pitches have views of canal or marina and is easy walk into Palvas. Bus from Palvas to Montpellier, which is well worth a visit. One of our favourite aires. Back in 2010, on our first trip we stayed at a site near Montpellier and tried to use the Park and Ride..........trouble was, it had height barriers, so frustrated, we moved on. If we pass that way again this Aire sounds good..thanks. Oh, glad you got your problem sorted, cheers alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 crbtaylor - 2013-01-22 5:44 PM Well it all started with a freezing start in Folkestone, the 4 days of rain on the trip down Sounds like a normal trip for us :D..............but at least your heading South B-) Could be worse :-S.........yesterday.......a 12 reg camper pulled on here with its bumper stoved in 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minicamper Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 At least they got there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 A loose or 'non-existent' earth can cause a right load of mither. OP's experience reminded me of a similar incident I experienced on my old van. I'd taken it to a local 'one man' Garage who i'd used before without problems. This time was to prove different......and the last job he did for me! It was a simple job....re-fitting another starter motor. As it was in the middle of winter and I didn't relish the prospect of crawling under the van, I took it to him. He did it while I waited....and waited......and waited! Took him an age to do and in the process he whacked the radiator core with a spanner resulting in a burst. He couldn't deny it as I was there and saw his clumsiness. He did attempt to make a temporary 'fix' but I felt quite annoyed when he charged me full whack for fitting the starter motor and offered no form of compensation toward the radiator, which after all he had damaged. I then sourced a decent radiator and fitted that myself but unknown to me this was just the beginning of my problems! Pipes all connected I filled the radiator and ran the engine. All looked good until I drove any distance when the temp gauge flew up into the red. First thing I thought.....dodgy sender unit so replaced that along with a new thermostat. Still no difference. Fortunately for me I was having the 'old' starter motor rebuilt at a local Auto Electricians and he had phoned to let me know it was ready. This guy is known locally as the 'dogs wotsits' on anything in auto electrics, so when I went to collect the rebuilt starter I mentioned this 'bug' to him as by then I was also experiencing problems with the starter not always engaging. He removed the old starter and re-fitted the other in less than 15 minutes. A job which had taken the Garage guy who'd screwed my radiator up a staggering four hours! When I came to start the motor just clicked away and didn't kick up. Mark, the auto electric guy instantly threw his hands up shouting "stop stop....switch it off", and began to poke around in the engine bay. Within a matter of minutes he'd located a severed earth wire, fixed a new terminal, connected it to a bare metal point..........and everything was solved! The guy is a legend locally in auto-electrics and so good I believe warrants a mention on here for anyone with electrical problems; Marks Auto Electrics 11 Hall St Stoke-on-Trent ST6 4BB? 01782-577251 Don't be fooled by his appearance either. Wears his hair long tied back in a pony tail with the obligatory ear piercing! But this guy is no slouch. He opens at 7am until 6pm Mon - Fri and 7am till 12 on Saturdays, He specialises only in auto-electrics so don't expect him to do any mechanic work......because he won't. But if you have any electrical problem or issues, I can highly recommend him to anyone within travelling distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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