Rover 414i Electric problems

i just had this same problem on a customers vehicle, hopefully it will be the same as yours....does it keep blowing fuses? this problem turned out to be the wiring inside the interior light, try opening the interior light unit and make sure that none of the wires are shorting out, better still dissconect the wires, pop in a new fuse, and re-check the rear lights wipers etc... if this doesnt help also check the wiring into the tailgate, they are notorious for breaking as the tailgate is lifted up and down constantly......you will need to remove the rubber shield surrounding the wires, it is located by the tailgate hinge on the off-side (drivers side in uk)

No - all the fuses are OK including the ones in the engine bay fuse box.

I'll give this a go at lunch time or tonight.

I'll check this as well. Do the wires break and come apart or do they just break the conductor leaving the insulation intact?

I had a look at this last night and couldn't find any sign of shorting or nipped wires in the courtesy light. I checked all fuses again and they are OK. I also noticed that the front intermittent wipe doesn't work either, though the 2 speed constant wipes do. This also appears to be controlled by the Multifunction Control Unit.

So so does this all indicate a partially duff unit. If so where do I look for it? I couldn't see anything that looked like a magic box of tricks under the dash, I had the drivers storage box and lower dash cover removed. What I did find while rumaging round near the dash board fuse box was a light grey D shaped connector with 4 or 5 wires covered in a black sheath which dropped down, could this be the source of my problem or is it a diagnostic connection? I couldn't see anywhere that it could be connected to nearby.

If it is the control unit at fault, approx how much am I looking at to replace it? I'm not averse to rooting round scrap yards for bits as long as Rover didn't decide to have multiple versions of this and you can only replace like for like which could make the search that bit harder.

I checked this and the wires all seemed OK. I wiggled then round and gave then a gentle pull to see if there was any give round about where a break might occur but nothing appeared to be wrong. I also tried with the wiper switched on and there was no sign of life.

Thanks for your suggestions so far.

Jimmy

It does sound to me as though it's the multifunction unit (MFU) that's the problem. IIRC, it's located on the back of the under dash fuse panel and you have to unscrew the panel to get at it. Maybe the loose connector you have found should be connected to it? IIRC, the connector to the MFU is a large-ish multipin affair.

There is a self test mode you can initiate on the MFU, but as I seem to have porridge for brains I can't quite remember how to do it. I *think* you have to turn the ignition on then press and hold down the heated rear windscreen button. The MFU then goes through a sequence of tests that involves activating the interior light and sounding some beeps. Try doing a search for the MFU test sequence on the

'Ask the Guru's' forum as I'm sure I've seen discussion covering this subject there.

If you do need to replace the MFU then there were different units produced. AFAIK they are interchangeable, the differences being that some higher spec models had dimming interior lights and such that lower spec models didn't. If you are unsure then just take your old MFU with you and make sure that you get like for like part numbers ( I believe the part number is printed on the MFU ).

HTH

Just had a quick look on

and found the following thread:

Should make things a bit clearer for you as far as MFU's are concerned.

HTH

Thanks for the info and the forum link.

I'll try to find where the loose connector goes, if anywhere, and then do a self test.

It looks as though I'll be digging round in scrap yards this weekend though, unless I'm very lucky. I might ring a Rover dealer first for a laugh/fright.

Jimmy

Michael Cott>

I've finally fixed the electric problem on my Rover 414.

It was the MFU, a red box from a local scrappy did the trick - the large connector is a pig to get off though.

Thanks for the help

Jimmy