Clicking spare tire relay and ExGas/oil light flashing

[Roxyred]

Hiya guys! This post pertains to my 86 Bertone 1500 FI

On startup, there’s the usual 5-10 seconds or so of warm up where the ExGas and oil lights are on, then you hear the relay located in the spare tire area click and dash lights go off, away you go.

EDIT: I was in the car yesterday and these two lights go off immediately. It’s the seat belt and brake light that take 5-10 seconds. I did confirm this, I misspoke and had the lights swapped. oil and oil pressure are good.

Yesterday while on a “nothing special” ordinary commute, when the revs dropped below 1300 rpm these lights came on and the relay started clicking. Engine revved above 1300, no problem. Car did not try to die, lurch, shudder etc, just lights and clicking. Also only occurred at a stop, not when moving (and therefore over 1300rpm).

Alternator gauge reads normal for load running all the things (low, near red, but at horizontal without all accessories going)

other things of note: it’s full on winter still here in Denver, so running heater on low, lights, and driving at night in cold.

I’m going to go in and see whats up with that relay cluster making the click, but am curious if you’ve experienced this and I need to explore something else.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

[ecohen2]

This is a total long shot, but I had the exact same set of symptoms when my fuel injector cooling fan switch was grounding out..

BTW, my workspace is up in Lafayette if you ever want to meet up...

 

[ng_randolph]

Hiya guys! This post pertains to my 86 Bertone 1500 FI

On startup, there’s the usual 5-10 seconds or so of warm up where the ExGas and oil lights are on, then you hear the relay located in the spare tire area click and dash lights go off, away you go.

Yesterday while on a “nothing special” ordinary commute, when the revs dropped below 1300 rpm these lights came on and the relay started clicking. Engine revved above 1300, no problem. Car did not try to die, lurch, shudder etc, just lights and clicking. Also only occurred at a stop, not when moving (and therefore over 1300rpm).

Alternator gauge reads normal for load running all the things (low, near red, but at horizontal without all accessories going)

other things of note: it’s full on winter still here in Denver, so running heater on low, lights, and driving at night in cold.

I’m going to go in and see whats up with that relay cluster making the click, but am curious if you’ve experienced this and I need to explore something else.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

There are two relays in the spare tire well. One is for the injector cooling fan, and the other is the dual relay for the FI system. Neither of these should be clicking while the engine is running. If they are (including clicking 10 - 15 seconds after starting) something is wrong. Is it possible that what you hear is the seatbelt / key in warning relay? This is in the fuse box, and you should hear it click ~5 seconds after turning on the ignition. At that point the fasten "seat belt" and the "Brake" warning light should turn off. Except the brake warning light will stay on if the hand brake is set or you are low on brake fluid.

Does your injector cooling fan work? If, as @ecohen2 suggested, the injector cooling fan thermoswitch is shorted to ground, the injector cooling fan relay will click on and off with the oil pressure light.

The oil pressure light (and with it the Ox sensor light) should turn off (almost) immediately after the engine starts. If there is a 10 - 15 second delay, you may actually have a oil pressure problem. If the oil pressure light came on at lower RPMs, that could also be an indication that you actually have low oil pressure. I would suggest using a mechanical oil pressure gauge to check the oil pressure at idle and at speed.

 

[Rod Midkiff]

If you remove the black box behind the center console, you will lose the 10-second delay on start-up for the seat belt and oil light (unless as stated above, you do have a low oil pressure problem) (removing the black box might be a good idea to give you a simple approach to the do you have a low oil pressure problem.

 

[ng_randolph]

If you remove the black box behind the center console, you will lose the 10-second delay on start-up for the seat belt and oil light (unless as stated above, you do have a low oil pressure problem) (removing the black box might be a good idea to give you a simple approach to the do you have a low oil pressure problem.

This is not correct. If you remove the box, the Ox Sens light will never light up, and that's all.

 

[Rod Midkiff]

Hmm,, I think you are correct. There is also a 10-second delay relay that can be removed. My brain has been in mush the last few days.. think I need to get an x1/9 running again for some driving therapy.

 

[Roxyred]

I confirmed I misspoke on which lights have the delay, it is the seat belt and brake lights. The cooling fan was working last night, but it’s always possible something is loose or needs attended to. So I’ll start there! Thanks!

There are two relays in the spare tire well. One is for the injector cooling fan, and the other is the dual relay for the FI system. Neither of these should be clicking while the engine is running. If they are (including clicking 10 - 15 seconds after starting) something is wrong. Is it possible that what you hear is the seatbelt / key in warning relay? This is in the fuse box, and you should hear it click ~5 seconds after turning on the ignition. At that point the fasten "seat belt" and the "Brake" warning light should turn off. Except the brake warning light will stay on if the hand brake is set or you are low on brake fluid.

Does your injector cooling fan work? If, as @ecohen2 suggested, the injector cooling fan thermoswitch is shorted to ground, the injector cooling fan relay will click on and off with the oil pressure light.

The oil pressure light (and with it the Ox sensor light) should turn off (almost) immediately after the engine starts. If there is a 10 - 15 second delay, you may actually have a oil pressure problem. If the oil pressure light came on at lower RPMs, that could also be an indication that you actually have low oil pressure. I would suggest using a mechanical oil pressure gauge to check the oil pressure at idle and at speed.

There are two relays in the spare tire well. One is for the injector cooling fan, and the other is the dual relay for the FI system. Neither of these should be clicking while the engine is running. If they are (including clicking 10 - 15 seconds after starting) something is wrong. Is it possible that what you hear is the seatbelt / key in warning relay? This is in the fuse box, and you should hear it click ~5 seconds after turning on the ignition. At that point the fasten "seat belt" and the "Brake" warning light should turn off. Except the brake warning light will stay on if the hand brake is set or you are low on brake fluid.

Does your injector cooling fan work? If, as @ecohen2 suggested, the injector cooling fan thermoswitch is shorted to ground, the injector cooling fan relay will click on and off with the oil pressure light.

The oil pressure light (and with it the Ox sensor light) should turn off (almost) immediately after the engine starts. If there is a 10 - 15 second delay, you may actually have a oil pressure problem. If the oil pressure light came on at lower RPMs, that could also be an indication that you actually have low oil pressure. I would suggest using a mechanical oil pressure gauge to check the oil pressure at idle and at speed.

 

[Roxyred]

This is a total long shot, but I had the exact same set of symptoms when my fuel injector cooling fan switch was grounding out..

BTW, my workspace is up in Lafayette if you ever want to meet up...

Awesome, I will be looking into this once I thaw out a bit! We definitely should hook up sometime since you’re here in the metro area. Come check out the club sometime: https://rmflcdenver.com/

 

[ecohen2]

I already signed up....

 

[Dan Sarandrea (Phila)]

The clickety clackety going down the trackety at idle happened on my car a couple of summers ago, and a replacement FI relay did not improve the situation. After studying the FI troubleshooter and most likely getting some good advice here, I ran thru the FI manual's steps for adjusting the throttle position switch.

It wasn't off by much, but doing the adjustment steps fixed the clicky problem.

On the drive home from buying my car in 2007 I ran into the oil press warning lite + exh gas light issue. Again, great advice from the group, they told me that my oil pressure switch was faulty. Yep, oil had started seeping thru the switchy part. Replaced for a very small sum and no more problem. If you pull the boot off of your switch and see oil seeping from the center part (as opposed to the threads where it screws into the block or head can't remember which ATM), that's the smoking gun.

Oil Pressure Warning Light Sending Unit 14mm (Fiat Lanca SOHC / DOHC All + 124 Pushrod) - NEW

Oil Pressure Warning Light Sending Unit 14mm (Fiat Lanca SOHC / DOHC All + 124 Pushrod) - NEW

www.midwest-bayless.com

 

[Roxyred]

The clickety clackety going down the trackety at idle happened on my car a couple of summers ago, and a replacement FI relay did not improve the situation. After studying the FI troubleshooter and most likely getting some good advice here, I ran thru the FI manual's steps for adjusting the throttle position switch.

It wasn't off by much, but doing the adjustment steps fixed the clicky problem.

On the drive home from buying my car in 2007 I ran into the oil press warning lite + exh gas light issue. Again, great advice from the group, they told me that my oil pressure switch was faulty. Yep, oil had started seeping thru the switchy part. Replaced for a very small sum and no more problem. If you pull the boot off of your switch and see oil seeping from the center part (as opposed to the threads where it screws into the block or head can't remember which ATM), that's the smoking gun.

Oil Pressure Warning Light Sending Unit 14mm (Fiat Lanca SOHC / DOHC All + 124 Pushrod) - NEW

Oil Pressure Warning Light Sending Unit 14mm (Fiat Lanca SOHC / DOHC All + 124 Pushrod) - NEW

www.midwest-bayless.com

Thanks for the additional info! I will definitely check that out, and see if I have a seep. I Did notice that my FI rail fan was not running when I stopped, so I took it out, tested, and it works fine. Put it back, things seems to be functioning normally at this point. BUT I will definitely check on the oil pressure switch, as the problem usually occurred after a longer drive, not short drives. So could be the faulty switch is active only when the oil pressure is high.

I love this forum, you all always have great answers to crazy issues.

 

[Larry]

The oil pressure light (and with it the Ox sensor light) should turn off (almost) immediately after the engine starts. If there is a 10 - 15 second delay, you may actually have a oil pressure problem. If the oil pressure light came on at lower RPMs, that could also be an indication that you actually have low oil pressure. I would suggest using a mechanical oil pressure gauge to check the oil pressure at idle and at speed.

I'd heard that the oil pressure light should go off almost immediately. If it stays on for 10 or more seconds, then that means the oil filter doesn't have a check valve built into it which allows oil to drain out of the filter. I was told in that case, to immediately replace the filter as that can cause oil starvation for the engine - which will eventually result in bad noises coming from the engine.

 

[Roxyred]

I'd heard that the oil pressure light should go off almost immediately. If it stays on for 10 or more seconds, then that means the oil filter doesn't have a check valve built into it which allows oil to drain out of the filter. I was told in that case, to immediately replace the filter as that can cause oil starvation for the engine - which will eventually result in bad noises coming from the engine.

It does, I misspoke in my previous assessment.