New Owner - niggles to fix!

[DanDCI]

Hello all,

New here, I just bought a 56 plate 1.5dci estate at auction (more fool me ). Made sense to get an estate as my wife is self employed and has to lug big boxes of stuff round and we have a dog with his crate and a baby on the way. Busy times!

The immediate issues I have identified with my new car are:

- front electric windows are dead, had a play last night and cannot even hear a click of the motors, does this signal water ingress knackering the wires or a bigger problem? If its electrical I think I found new modules on ebay for £22 delivered, no doubt you guys will know what I mean

- when starting the car it states 'Auto Lights Disabled', pressing the button doesnt seem to turn them back on. No big deal for me, Ive never had such a feature before, but why is it doing it?

- Bonnet wont open. The lever inside offers little resistance, just sort of folds out quite nicely. The catch in the grille just sticks out enough for me to get purchase on it, and when I pull it nothing happens, except in the gap between badge and bonnet I can see it moving.I found this thread (viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20683) and I've got the passenger grill off and the (not so white anymore) rectangular honeycomb grill but Ill be damned if I can see anything to do with a bonnet catch in there. Anyone got any advice on what I should be feeling for? Pics would be excellent as I am not very mechanically minded

I think these are all novice DIY'er things to fix, I would rather not have to go to the mechanic to get these sorted as I can see it being a fortune when it 'should' be easy enough with some experienced heads to get it back to full condition again. I need to get the cambelt done as it has no history, but considering its done nearly 130k it's got to have had it done at least once.....right

That seems to be it for now, would appreciate any advice!

Thanks

[craigyt]

Iv only just got mine aswel but do know the auto light thing, engine running and the light position off, press and hold the auto button should activate them

[DanDCI]

Tried that already nothing seemed to happen?

[Stranger]

The auto lights depend on the sensor located between the screen and the rear view mirror this sensor sits in a sealed environment, if it's had a replacement screen or, just with the ravages of time, the case is not properly attached to the windscreen it's therefore not sealed and the auto lights won't work.

[DanDCI]

Fair enough, like I say not really bothered about the lights, what I am concerned about is not being able to open the bonnet or get the front windows down, any ideas? I've got tomorrow to tackle the bonnet but busy on Sunday

[taffyhl]

The auto lights may actually have been deliberatly turned off. I've done this with mine in the past and then see that same message until I turn them back on. To turn them on and off you hold the button on the end of the lights stalk. This has to be done at a specific point in the start cycle which will be in the manual. From memory this is when the Auto lights message is displayed but you should double check this.

The windows are more than likely knackered temic modules due to water ingress. It's pretty easy to take the door panels off to get to them and change them - see vids on YouTube. I bought a new module from Portugal for £17 for 1 window but had to cut the wires and re-crimp. The more expensive mini-modules just clip in, or send yours off for fixing and sealing, also on ebay, which would be my choice had my module not been burnt out. Mine is now completely sealed and works a treat. Took me an hour to do.

Not sure about the bonnet catch. Mine has little resistance inside but I can feel it operate. I then need to pull the little toggle in the grille and lift the bonnet at the same time to get the toggle to pop out further.

[taffyhl]

Justchecked the manual - says to hold the lights button for 3 or 4 seconds until you hear a beep.

My bonnet noticeable pops a little when I use the interior handle. I then lift the bonnet a little more to pop the toggle all the way out.

[DanDCI]

Sorry to waste time on the bonnet, it's very embarrassing, I was pulling the steering column adjuster lever I only realised on a random google search trying to pull up results for broken bonnet catches only to realise I wasnt even trying to undo the bonnet properly. With it being such a simple procedure (normally) I didnt even think to look it up in the manual, just assumed it was broken! Even so, it still took me 5 minutes to work out exactly where it is, but once I found it it worked a treat.

I figured it would be water ingress that would be the problem, however is there a reliable way of testing it definitely isnt the motors or anything like that. And if it is this, how do I stop it happening in the future? Obviously the new part will be waterproofed better but the source of the problem is water getting in in the first place, is there a modification I can do (bodge?) or an upgraded door skin or seals or anything like that?