Re: ARC "bulb inefficient"

[David Masters <david@domain.elided>]

Thanks to everyone who offered ideas as to what the problem might be.
Thanks John Fox, Fred Di Matteo and jonathan coates
 
The summary goes like this:

o	clean all the earths
o	yes, ARC does uses voltage drop for testing bulb circuits.
o	the factory manual has a troubleshooting guide.(Common sense)
o	use bulbs that are exactly the same, and new, where appropriate.

The one thing I forgot to add was "the Italian Factor".

The ARC works fine now.

The wife told me all was well, and had a smile on her face,  I just hadn't waited long 
enough for the ARC to fix itself.  This has been a running joke during the 10 years we 
have had the car, the way squeaks and grinds just disappear a day later, "blown" 
bulbs start working again, etc.  That may suit her as a reason, but I think I have a 
better one!

Part of the extensive earth and plug cleaning I did was to clean the battery terminals.  
After all, it has probably been about 12 months since I last did it.  I always advise 
others, "it's good for a few horsepower".  The mistake I made was not starting  the car
 to charge the battery.  Once the wife took the kids to school and the battery had 
charged, all the warning lights went out.  In my opinion, the lights during "self test" on 
the ARC are now noticeably brighter.  It looks like the ARC is sensitive to supply voltage, 
particularly when the wiring is getting a bit older.

My summary:

Once again a simple solution.  Look for the obvious before the expensive.

Cheers,
david
Newcastle- Australia.

- -----Original Message-----
>
>I have spent a large part of the weekend tracing wiring to sort out several 
>flashing lights on my ARC display.  Although the car is an ALFA75 (Milano) 
>twin spark, I believe it is largely the same as the more widely distributed 
>V6 Milano.
>
>Whilst I have had a little luck in finding that the "Brake fluid minimum" 
>switch and the "disk brake pad wear" sensors use the same relay in the 
>engine bay, I have not been able to work out how the "bulb inefficient" 
>lights for either turn signals, or stop lights, work.  I have a warning 
>light showing for these, yet all the bulbs work.  I have moved the bulbs 
>around in the sockets, and there is no change.  All known earths and 
>connectors have been cleaned and reassembled.
>
>So, does the ARC actually use the resistance of the filament, and does this 
>change over time?

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