can anyone help me out with some advice?

[fletcher23]

i have a renault clio 172 and am having a few electrical problems (i know my fault for buying french)

first one is that i have no full beam what so ever, not even the blue light on the dash, its just stopped working all other lights work fine, so far i have changed the headlight stalk as this seems to be the common suspect but no joy, checked all fuses, checked both bulbs. also made sure all relays were seated correctly. but now i don't have a clue what to look for.

my other fault is that the stereo lights don't go off (standard headunit), even when i take key out and lock the doors and this is flattening my battery so i have to disconnect the battery to save it from going flat.

not sure if the two problems are connected but any advice on what i could look for next or what i should do would be great as i am useless with electrics and don't want to be shafted by the garages.

thanks,
fletcher

 

[telectrix]

probably better luck on a renault clio forum.

 

[danzor]

Dunno if this helps.... don't buy anything French.

 

[fletcher23]

probably better luck on a renault clio forum.

i have a thread over on clio sport as well but no one seems to want to help. got one reply and that wasn't even useful, hence why i'm asking here.

 

[dan86]

hi fletcher. you say you've changed the switch.where did you get it from out of curiousity, and are you 100% sure it's fitted correctly?
also, how did you check the bulbs? and I would double check all the relays. off top of my head can't remember where they are located, but for some reason I'm thinking behind glovebox?
as for the radio, strange one! how long ago did this start to happen, and has ANY work been done to the car prior to it occurring. and I mean any work whatsoever.

 

[Marvo]

Did you check the right relays? I have a vague recollection that the light relays for the Clio are behind the glove box on the passenger side of the car. Easiest way to get to them is sit upside down in the passenger seat with your head in the footwell. These relays can become unseated.

 

[dan86]

Did you check the right relays?

that's what I wanted to say Marvo, but didn't want the guy thinking I was suggesting he was useless!

 

[dan86]

anyway, that's our input so far. your move OP...

 

[Marvo]

Yeah, I think there's relays under the bonnet as well so definitely not suggesting he's stupid (apart from buying a Renault in the first place ) My sister-in-law had a CLIO and I was unfortunate enough to have to go and rescue her from the side of the road on various occasions, I can't say too much though because my wife's car was a Scenic 1.9DCi at the time which actually ran well for 8 years.

 

[fletcher23]

thanks for the replies guys, yeah i checked the relays under the glovebox on the passenger side as they are known for being kicked loose by passengers but they were all fine.

to check the bulbs i just took them out and checked to see if the filaments were damaged but they look fine. would you suggest changing them anyway just to rule it out? and would broken bulbs cause the dash light not to work?

switch came from a clio at the scrap yard and i fitted it the same way as i removed the old one. all other lights still work remember just not high beam. the stalk clicks as it should when i pull it but nothing happens. really confusing for me.

about the stereo, if i changed it to an aftermarket one, am i likely to still have the problem with the lights not going out?

 

[dan86]

right- you seem to have checked the correct relays. no problem there it would seem.
if you only checked bulbs visually, I would change them for known good ones to rule it out. but no, it shouldn't stop the tell tale light on your dash working.
and the reason I asked about the switch- I was afraid toy were gonna say what you did!
as you pointed out before, the switch is a known common fault, and is Highly possible that the one you have is also faulty.

 

[fletcher23]

forgot to mention that its had a new battery but the faults were there with the last one as well. apart from that no work has been done recently.

 

[dan86]

oh,and as for the head unit- it sounds like the switched live and constant live are jumbled up. also a common mistake

 

[fletcher23]

possibly but from what i understand is that the stalk is know for causing dipped beam and sidelight problems, i cant seem to find another person on the net with the same problem as me.

i would have to be very unlucky to buy another stalk with this rare problem but not impossible i guess.

 

[fletcher23]

the stereo has not been touched though the problem just appeared on its on. its still the original stereo. as i have basically no electrical knowledge u can imagine how confusing this is for me.

 

[dan86]

possibly but from what i understand is that the stalk is know for causing dipped beam and sidelight problems, i cant seem to find another person on the net with the same problem as me.

i would have to be very unlucky to buy another stalk with this rare problem but not impossible i guess.

I've changed the switch before for the same problem you have.
and how did you check the fuses?

 

[Marvo]

TBH if you've checked the right relays and checked the fuses then that's me stumped. If I were you I'd see I could find a wiring diagram and then disconnect the stalk and test the switches in it were working. You can test the bulbs with a multimeter as well but usually if you can see the two filaments are in tact then they should be okay.

 

[dan86]

the stereo has not been touched though the problem just appeared on its on. its still the original stereo. as i have basically no electrical knowledge u can imagine how confusing this is for me.

hmm, I'll need to think a bit more on that one. it's obviously not recognising when the ignition is off. I'll get back to you on that!

 

[fletcher23]

i checked the fuses by pulling them out one by one and looking for any blown/broken ones but they were all fine.

haha well if it has electricians stumped then i am definately screwed. guess i will have to take it to a local auto sparky.

 

[dan86]

I am a sparky, but also a vehicle technician and it has me stumped! hard over the internet mind...