Panel Lights remaining on

Hi everyone. I hope someone can shed a bit of light on a problem that has just appeared on my Vectra B Sri (2001 2.2l)

Since last night, when I take the key out of the ignition the temperature and clock stay lit instead of the panel just going completely off as usual. I also notice now, when the ignition is on, if I turn the radio off (standard fit radio/cd), instead of the radio station being replaced by the date, as normal, it's now just blank.

Any idea what electrical fault this could be? I know if I leave it like that for a day or so, it'll flatten the battery. Other than that, all other electrics seem fine. Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks everyone :)

Simon.
 

KevinH

Senior Member
Hi, it sounds like you might have a faulty connection to the instrument panel which is via a ribbon cable located at the back of the instrument panel.

It would require you to remove the instrument panel to inspect it, the procedure is covered in the Haynes manual (if you have one) - Chapter 12 (Body electrical system), Section 9 or on this forum under resources at :-https://z22se.co.uk/resources/remove-instrument-panel-on-vectra.33/

Are the radio/CD controls all working correctly? It maybe worth just disconnecting the removable element of the radio and cleaning the connections.
 
Hi Kevin. Thanks for your reply. It would seem strange for a connection to suddenly not work, when it's not been removed. I read somewhere that it could be a problem with the ignition barrel, with it mentioning that there is something on there that ceases the electrical connection when the key is removed?
 

KevinH

Senior Member
Hi Simon, I've not read or heard about the possible issue with the ignition barrel, so not sure how you would go about solving it without a straightforward replacement.

I'm wondering whether disconnecting the battery, leaving for 20 mins then reconnecting might be worth a try - dunno. :confused:
 
Hi Kevin

I wondered about disconnecting the battery too. Electrical issues are a nightmare I know, especially on older cars where nobody really knows the fix. I’ll try that. It’s worth a go.
 
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