"Side Light Failure" and few other issues

[Adrian]

Good evening everyone,

I must say I'm really happy I found this forum. Being the (still) happy second owner of a 1998 Lancia Kappa 2.0 (838A, 172.000 km and counting), for about three months, I was shocked at the lack of information available around the 'net for this particular maker/model - judging by the number of results in google, Humvee is three times more popular .
Anyway, let me get to the point. I was aware about the famous "Italian electronics" issue, having owned an old Fiat Croma before (made in 1986, but everything electrical was still working on it, amazing!) when I bought it, so I was expecting trouble. I got the Kappa and everything seemed perfect - well, apart from the fuel consumption, but that doesn't matter much, since it's fitted with an LPG tank. I said "seemed", right? Well, some idiot and his brand new Ford Mondeo dared to run into my front-left side, right into the wheel and driver's door. I escaped without any personal damage, but my beloved Kappa spent one month in the shop.
I got it back and the problems started. I scratched it in the parking lot - will be fixed. Air conditioning needed to be refilled - done. And now for the real problems:

- for the past two days, I have a "Side Light Failure" error on the console display. To be honest, either it's "Italenglish" or my English and sense of logics have both gone AWOL - but I can't see ANY side light malfunctioning. I spent half an hour today circling the car, testing various lights - turning indicators, brake lights, front lights, literally everything except for reverse lights - no problem visible at all. The error disappears when I turn off the lights (doh!) and comes back when I turn them on.
Questions:
1. Which are the damn side lights (I even checked the door lights, doors are on sides of the car, right?)?
2. Which are the first things I should check?
3. How could I (not much car/electrical experience, say I know what a wire and a connector are) fix the problem?
4. Last solution: is there any way to "remove" the alert ("acknowledged, now go away" mode)?
I need to mention that I had several similar malfunctions in the past - "License plate light failure" every time after I close the boot, easy to fix with a slight tap on the faulty light, as well as an "Electrical connection malfunction" (or something similar, looking scary) once - the day I took it back from the shop.

- also, in the last week, I had a strange mechanical problem, occurring in the exact same location. Namely, after the car is waiting with the engine and handbrake on, in a SPECIFIC parking lot (occurred twice there, never anywhere else), as soon as I drive away, I hear a loud clonking-cranking-bonking noise from somewhere in the front-left side, around the wheel or so - I can actually feel the vibration with my feet. The sound is quite loud and occurs for several minutes afterwards, when accelerating or decelerating, but not when idling or driving steadily. At some point, it just goes away. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but I guess it's something wrong with that specific parking lot, isn't it?

These issues aside, my boss (Mondeo owner, no wonder!) advises me on a daily basis to give up on it and get what he calls "a real car", i.e. a Ford. He hasn't replied to my highway challenge yet - and I think he won't. Want a ride, get a Ford. Want to drive, get a Lancia.
Thanks in advance, I'm glad I finally found somebody sharing the Kappa vibe.

Sorry for the huge size of the message, I needed to "confess" somehow about my "sin".

[cris]

hello adrian,
sidelights should be the first position when turning in the lights, also double as parking lights when you move indicator switch.
i lso have a list, that i'm trying to work through to get the car perfect, lots of good advice recieved from everyone here though.
also had a number plate failure warning, took off the plastic covers to find all the moulded clips had broken, disloding the bulbs. anyone else had the problem?
bonking noise sounds as if it has to do with the acccident you had, bearing, caliper, disc, drive shaft? it was on the same side? was everything put back properly?
good luck in finding the solution, i'm off to give the lancia garage to give them some more of my money tommorow!
cris.

[Adrian]

Good evening cris and thanks for the reply!

First of all, I found the cause of the "Side light" error message - it is the bulb on the front-right headlight, the "tiny" one (first position when switching on the lights, I don't know the English one for it). As short beam is mandatory 24/7 here, I hadn't noticed it wasn't working and I was blaming "Italian Electronics" for the error message. I'm glad I found it out, will be replaced ASAP.
As for the bonking sound, I'm still wondering why it only occurs in that specific place. Could have something to do with the parking lot itself, which is floored with "pavels" - small cement bricks? I remember I was reading somewhere about a "bad road sensor" in the Kappas, any idea if that actually exists and if it does any modification in the suspension setup or anything else?
The repairs after the accident have been performed at the official Fiat/Alfa/Lancia dealership - it wasn't me who was paying, so why not? I assume they fixed everything properly, as I don't have the mechanics skill to question their work. Apart from those two strange incidents, the car is running fine - I have the feeling that it's lacking some torque, but I blame it on using the LPG as fuel - and climate control on all the time. A friend suggested changing the air filter, should I? Any recommendations?

Any idea of an English (or French, as the last resort) Driver's Manual for Kappa? I've been scouring the Internet for days and all I could find were Dutch and Russian versions - unfortunately, I don't speak any of the languages.

Enjoy the "k"!
Adrian

[cris]

hi,
glad you found the cause, dont know anything about a road sensor, maybe some of the regulars here know something about it?
might be worth asking where the car was repaired, maybe they can shed some light on it.
drivers manual, do you mean like a haynes maintenence manual? they never published one, to small a run of production i think. been looking myself for anything, where did you find the dutch version, and do you still have the address? if its any good, i could translate relevent subjects for anyone interested.

dont think replacing the air filter will free up more torque, my friend had a 2.0 on lpg, it had a flat spot at one point in the rev range, i think the new G3 gas systems are pretty good in keeping performance at original levels, although cant say im well up on these things, converted to diesel now!
cris

[Adrian]

Cris,


Here's the Dutch (I think) file I found: http://home.wanadoo.nl/jurgens/kappa.pdf
Looks like something in-between a user's manual and a repair manual. Careful, it's almost 300 pages long.

I also have two files in German (nearly 100 MB in total), which appear to be the real Repair Manual, but I guess everyone here has them. Unfortunately, I don't speak German either.

As for the torque, revs go up steadily to 2.500, then slow down a bit to 3.000, then the engine starts screaming like a beast and jumps to 4.000, then I realize it's about time to shift to an upper gear.

[Anton]

Hi Adrian,

First of all ignore your boss about Mondeo vs kappa issues.The fact that you are concerned about your kappa is the fact that bothers many mondeo owners i.e. if something goes wrong with their cars they simply buy the next model (fast food).
Now about the side lights.It must be the parking lights in the first scale of the light knob.Now do the following.Turn right the knob in the first position and see if the message is coming on the electronic board.If it comes on then for sure are the parking lights.Check all of them and if are ok then you have somewhere a wiring problem. Thats the case with your boot and the lisence plate lights.In the plate lights ycan be fixed with opening the rubber tube which has inside all the cables that goes to the rear lights. One of them must be touching another and with vibrations electrical mulfaction is coming on the display.

For sure you need to check the wirings. I suspect that the guy who fixed your car after your accident with the Mondeo must did something wrong with the connections in the front parking ligts.
Please inform me if thats the case.The rear plate problem is common in Kappa models and its happening by violent shut downs and openings of the boot. Also if you press check three times messaging is deleted from the display and it will come on again next time you turn on your lights again.

I am the proud owner of a kappa 16v turbo, and I am laughing when I see any Mondeo any size of engine in the motorway.
keep up

ANTON

[Anton]

I forget to tell you that then noise your are hearing from the front when you acce or decce must be the front antiroll bar, after 150000 km rubbers are gone and it needs replacement.If its not to loud dont bother

ANTON

[Anton]

you said that the car was waiting for you with the engine running..Its logical to hear it cause it will do it when it is hot . If it is cold i.e early in the morning you must not here the noice or here it very little

ANTON.

[cris]

hi adrian,
checked the manual link you posted, its just the owners manual scanned in.
got the same one in my glove box!
what like are the german files you have?
cris.

[Adrian]

Hello and thanks for the replies.


cris: it seemed a bit complex for a user's manual, but I guess I don't have much experience with those. As for the German files, here's an extract from one of them - it looks quite technical, in my opinion:
http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=manualti1.jpg

Subtitle on the first document is "Handbuch fur der technischen Kundendienst" - sounds like "manual for technical something-service".

Anton: so you're saying it's quite normal to have that noise when leaving with the engine warm? Any idea how much those part(s) would cost?

As for the license plate lights issue, I think it's just a tiny contact problem, as it goes away as soon as I tap gently on the light itself. Indeed, it's kind of an inconvenience, as I have to get off the car to do that.

I'd also be interested in buying a DLC connector and see if I get any other error/warning codes, any idea where to buy it and how much does it cost?