Fridge not working on 12v Fiat Ducato Swift Sundance 2001

lamach76

lamach76

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Fiat Ducato Overcab
Hi Everyone. Our Electrolux fridge has suddenly stopped working on 12v when the engine is running. The button light is usually illuminated. Fridge works on gas and electric. Wondering where the fuse might be. Please help!! Thanks.
 
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Update on this. I’ve checked all the fuses in the glove compartment. All good. I’ve also checked the 3 by the battery under the bonnet. Again, all look ok.
 
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In answer to your question, in my van there is a 20 amp fuse near the starter battery that feeds the fridge when the engine is running.
 
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Ok I’ll take another look. I noticed there were two additional fuses next to the battery in a green box. I wasn’t able to remove these to check them. Also, the single fuse on the leisure battery under the driver seat seems fine. I’m rubbish at this I’m afraid.

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If you know how it works you have a better chance of finding the fault. There are two 12V supplies to the fridge. The low-power one comes from the leisure battery and powers the control panel, which controls the switching, the gas ignition and the mains power to the element. That is working fine, because it works on gas and mains electric.

The high-power supply comes from the alternator/starter battery, often from a separate wire with a fuse of about 20A, located near the starter battery. It is switched by a control signal that is 12V when the engine is running, and zero when the engine is stopped. That signal is called the D+ signal.

If it's not the 20A fuse near the starter battery, you'll need access to the back of the fridge, at the bottom. Often the lower vent on the outside wall can be removed for access. That multimeter will be useful if you get to that stage.
 
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Does your swift have the two relays in beside the main battery? If it's not a fuse it could be the relay being temperamental

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Under the bonnet there should be a fuse block, containing three fuses and a spare. One is leisure battery, one is vehicle battery and one is the fridge fuse rated at 15a, and a spare way. The fridge fuse often gets hot this causes the fuse base to weaken and as a consequence the fridge stops working. It may be necessary to move the wires from the fridge fuse way to the spare and replace the fuse.
 
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Is the fridge definitely not cooling? 12v is never too effective with the fridges so can be hard to tell sometimes.

If it has lost power check what others have said above but it could also be dirty relays with residue or rust. That was the cause of mine failing on an old talbot.
 
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Hey everyone - sorry for not coming back to your questions, and thanks for all your responses. So here's the update:
- multimeter arrived :)
- monzer good questions, haven't been on a long enough journey yet to check. If it is, then that would mean just the button bulb has gone (presumably)
- xsparks exactly the same as mine. I've got a 4 fuse holder which contains 2x 20A and 1x 15A and 1 spare. I've given everything a wiggle and replaced, button on fridge still not lighting up when engine running grrrr. Contacts seem ok, but appearances could be deceiving. May resort to rewiring a little later on in my test process 🙃 . Incidentally, there is another (green, awkward to get to) fuse holder with what looks like 2x 20A fuses which can't easily be removed...
- Greame.M yes, I have 2 relays next to the 4fuse holder. I will give these a wiggle too. Could the above 2x fuses in the green holder be related to these?
autorouter I've taken the grills of the side of the van (broke a clip in the process grrr) but I can now get slight access to the back of the fridge. There are 2 cables sleeves (grey and red) which I assume both house 2x +/- for both the 12v and 240v elements. My guess is its the grey one (not sure of my logic) but I would need to split open this sleeve to expose the cables which I would then need to (somehow) attach the multimeter to. Not sure I wanna do that, so I might just pop the 4 plugs off the inside of the door, unscrew and pull the fridge out to access the 12v connect at the back of the button (right?), unless you can all recommend some other place I can stick the mm prongs into lol
- I also changed the 15A fuse under the Sargent unit in the wardrobe (under the panel, amazing what you find when you're new to this!) There were 3 other 10A fuses here too. The MCB says "charge fridge" but I though this was to related to 240v supply... dunno. Theres also a relay in there too which I've wiggled. :)

Thanks for your help everyone. Its much appreciated. Any other tips gratefully appreciated.
 
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Check the relays by pulling them out as they can burn up on the spade connections in the base. Mine did that twice so had to do away with the base and fit female spade connectors on the wires and connect directly to the relay after cleaning spade connections.
Also does your van have an electric step ? if so does that still work ie retract when engine fired up. On mine (Ace Genova on a Fiat but made by Swift) both supplies were via the same relay.
 
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lynnian said:
Check the relays by pulling them out as they can burn up on the spade connections in the base. Mine did that twice so had to do away with the base and fit female spade connectors on the wires and connect directly to the relay after cleaning spade connections.
Also does your van have an electric step ? if so does that still work ie retract when engine fired up. On mine (Ace Genova on a Fiat but made by Swift) both supplies were via the same relay.thI should be so lucky!
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Thanks lynnian I will check the relays. Regarding the step, I should be so lucky - with my little aluminium step ladder and my tea towel holder doubling as a grab rail, I can just about get in and out safely!! lol
 
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Do you have a picture of the lower back of the fridge? The 12V high-power supply should go to a connector in that area. Use the multimeter to check that it reaches there or not. There's also a D+ signal (+12V when engine running) that needs to be there for the fridge to switch to 12V power. Be careful in there, the 240V supply is near there too.

If that's OK, then it's either the control board or the 12V element that's failed. If you can see where the 12V element wires are connected, you could measure the resistance with a multimeter. You need to disconnect one end of the element to get a valid measurement.

I don't know exactly what the power of your fridge element is, but they are usually around 100 to 200 watts. So the resistance is around 0.75 to 1.5 ohms. That's near the lower limit of what most inexpensive meters can measure, but it should be accurate enough to tell if the element is OK, shorted or failed open.

To measure a low resistance, switch to the lowest resistance range. Resistance is measured in Ohms. The 'Ohms' symbol is like a headphones symbol, it's the Greek letter omega. Before the measurement, press the two probes together, and take a reading. It will probably be around 0.3 ohms. That's the resistance of the probes and test leads. When you measure the element resistance, subtract that value to get the true value of the element resistance.
 
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On our Swift built Bessacarr, there was a second fuse panel behind the driver's seat let into the board separating the cab from the seating. It was the almost the same colour as the fake wood and flush so not obvious at all. It was a slightly later model so may not be relevant, but might be worth a look. Can't remember what it contained now.

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Hi all. Here’s a pic of the fuses/relays. I’ve swapped them all about, jiggled the relays, swapped them over too. Those fuses in the green holder are 30A (dunno what they're for). I’ve left the 15A in the spare for a rainy day. I’ve also included pics from inside the wardrobe - again, took the relay out, swapped the 15A fuse. I’m about the start sticking the mm prongs into various places so if you don’t hear from me you know I didn’t wear rubber soles. Lol
 

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Pics of the lower back of the fridge. At least my grey sleeve logic paid off! Grey is the 12v!
 

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Yes that is the 12v heater element , is there a junction block at the bottom of that compartment which connects the battery/mains supply to the fridge as you need to check that 12v is getting to that point. Also Do you know the model of the Electrolux fridge ? (there may be a label inside it)
 
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I did quite a bit of investigation work into the wiring of my 1996 swift recently.
In your very first picture the left hand relay is the fridge supply. It has a thickish red and yellow wire which is the positive supply to the fridge when the engine is running. Picture of top of fridge below. (Note the red/yellow live and white/orange are connected the wrong way around in this picture).I had checked all the fuses and replaced the relay with no joy. I followed the cable from the relay and found a twin bullet type connection above the engine on the bulkhead which was quite corroded. I cleaned the connection and mine now works again.
 
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Fridge model

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Itsmcb said:
I did quite a bit of investigation work into the wiring of my 1996 swift recently.
In your very first picture the left hand relay is the fridge supply. It has a thickish red and yellow wire which is the positive supply to the fridge when the engine is running. Picture of top of fridge below. (Note the red/yellow live and white/orange are connected the wrong way around in this picture).I had checked all the fuses and replaced the relay with no joy. I followed the cable from the relay and found a twin bullet type connection above the engine on the bulkhead which was quite corroded. I cleaned the connection and mine now works again.
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Couldn’t see you pic of top of fridge you were talking about. Did you forget to attach?
 
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I know this is probably gonna sound kinda stupid. But, I’m going by the fact the red button on the fridge doesn’t light up anymore. I don’t even know if I’ve got a “cooling” problem with my fridge, or whether it’s just a dodgy switch not glowing red. I haven’t been on a long enough journey with enough milk (to turn to cheese) to determine whether this is actually a problem or not. I mean, the fridge would operate like a plain old cool box for much of any journey in this country and in this weather. The missus always chucks a couple of ice blocks in there for good measure. So, in conclusion, could I just be worrying about a dodgy switch lamp? What are the chances of that?
 
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If you can get the switch out you could check the lamp works as it is only seems to be an on/off switch, with a bulb in it, for the 12v heating element when the engine is running
 
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Take the bottom vent of and check the 12v supply with the engine running.
 
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