Apologies for the length of this message and the X-post.
My girlfriend's Fiat Bravo (1996 1.8GT) has been developing an electrical problem over the last few days. It's a new car for us so I'm not totally aware of its history.
It started with the indicators; when signaling right everything was ok, however when signaling left it's fine until you brake, when you brake the indicator stops (or goes very slowly) and there's no sound from the flasher unit. When you release the brake the signal resumes normal service. Looking at the rear cluster when this happens, normally the orange indicator flashes, when the brake is depressed the rear light flashes instead of the indicator but it is dim and irregular.
It has been doing this for a while with no other problems but this morning when I tried to start the car there was nothing, it was completely dead. The battery had so little charge that when I turned the key, the clock on the radio reset! I boosted it from our other car and it then started. I took it for a blast up and down the A14 for a couple of junctions to try and charge the battery a bit. When I got back home I tried turning it off and then back on again but it wouldn't start. Another boost got it going again.
Upon some investigation it appears that a third party alarm has been fitted at some point (quite badly I might add). It's made by a company named Spal. Aside from that I've got no more information about it.
My current diagnosis is that the alarm installation is faulty causing a short or open circuit between the indicators, brake lights and rear lights which is the issue with the confused lighting when indicating and braking. This short is also discharging the battery rapidly and a cycle of charges and discharges to almost no charge has damaged the battery which is why it now cannot hold charge. Do you think I am on the right lines here?
My next course of action is going to be to call the AA (I have home start) so they can come out and do a battery test so I know if I need to buy a new one. This won't fix the original wiring problem though. How might I go about tracking that down? I guess a multimeter will be my next buy?
Any tips on what I can do to try and sort this out?
Please help, I'm starting to get nagged by SWMBO!
Thanks all.
Cheers,
Robin