Remote central locking, no radio and engine management light

[hilaryharvard]

We have acquired a 2003 Bongo a few months back. Very impressed. However of late and over the space of a couple of days, the radio has failed to show any signs of life, the vehicle locking system cannot be locked /unlocked by use of the remote key fob ( although activates manually using the key) and the Engine Management light is now permanently displayed although the vehicle drives perfectly.

All fuses check out and am awaiting a diagnostic tool.

Is there anything that links these three phenomena or is it pure coincidence ? Any advice wwelcome.

[Bob]

Welcome aboard.

Do you have a leisure battery fitted?

Its possible this has failed or not charging for some reason. Is there a switch labeled sometning like 'Car/Van/Both'?

If so could it have been turned by mistake? Children are good for this one.

Geoff will likely offer sound advice soon.

[g8dhe]

Yup sounds very much like the permanent supply and ancillary circuits aren't getting power, which are normally transferred across to a LB. Chances are that the LB has gone flat and then the charging fuses have blown due to the surge when first connected for charging.
Check under the bonnet, there should be a second battery, connected to the offside SB by a cable which will have TWO fuses one close to each battery and a relay between them, check each fuse and if one has blown then replace BOTH of them, the second one will have been damaged. It would also indicate that the fuses, wiring and relay maybe under rated, normally the charging circuit should be an absolute minimum of 40 Amps.

[hilaryharvard]

Many thanks to those that replied. A blown 40 amp fuse has been discovered together with low leisure battery voltage as predicted in the posts. Matter now resolved . Radio and central locking worked immediately and management light extinguished after approx.15 mile journey on the road. Again, grateful thanks and vehicle being enjoyed once more .

[Bob]

Nice one.

And thanks for updating us, it will help people in the future.

[mikeonb4c]

Excellent. There is though the question of why the 40 amp fuse blew. You might want to keep an eye on things as it doesn't do the LB much good flattening it. I had this problem with 30amp (inadequate) fuses. My first move was to fit a voltmeter in the cab to monitor LB voltage. I could see if it was charging ok then as voltage would rise from 12v approx to 14v approx as i started the engine and alternator charging kicked in. If that didn't happen i'd known the fuse had blown.