aarrgh, problems dash lights

[Tigershark]

story goes like this (it is electrical problem honest)

my brakes were squeeking like mad and on a visual inspection
the discs and pads looked worn so i took it to a garage local to work
to a**** the problem


they rang me to tell me i needed new discs and pads all round

so i asked them to sort it

now the interesting bit

I went to collect the car at 5:00pm today
and they told me there was a problem with the brakes
as the rear ones are for a 24v version as opposed to the front ones being
off a 8v (which my car is: N reg SE4 8v)
and that they have had to order the replacement bits for tomoorow
so bring it back at 9:00am

so i get in my car to drive home,
the car starts but i notice that no "pre-start" lights come on before i start
and that my stereo is no longer working as is the voltmeter
and the fuel gauge (i put £50 in monday night and the needle was at the bottom, so unless they've drained my tank, which i don't want to think about)

so i go back to the garage to tell them and they said they've not touched anything apart from the brakes and that they'll have a look at it tomorrow

anyone got any ideas as to what's going on with the electrics
as all the fuses look ok, the indicators/lights/elec windows/sunroof/lcd clock and temp bit all work, but not the voltmeter/stereo/fuel gauge and dash instrument lights (apart from the battery light which is staying on)


cheers if anyone has any clues

oh and the front brakes squeaked louder on the way home [img]/sad.gif[/img]

I'm at the end of my tether

[skitz_1184]

I know that in some calibra's there is a brake pad warning sensor which should have told you if your pads were low or not, i should think yours would come with these being an SE. i would ask to see the old parts if i were you just for peace of mind. Anyway if alls they touched is your brakes i cant see how they could have affected all the other things.

Maybe they used your car during the time they had it?? have you checked the milage, a small road test if acceptable but a large increase in milage may indicate they were using it.

I would check the fuses as a starting point, this might help

<a href="http://www.clubcalibra.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28055" target="_blank">http://www.clubcalibra.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28055</a>

If your sure its not a fuse then inspect the area aroun where the garage would have touched to see if they have caused damage.

if all else fails i'd tell them you want the car back in the condition you dropped it off and refuse to pay them until they sort it.

[skitz_1184]

also the battery light staying on while driving may indicate a alternator problem or possibly battery problem. Check the battery (free at halfords) and check the alternator belt

[Tigershark]

cheers,

the mileage has only increased about 60 miles since i put the fuel in on monday

I questioned the alternator last night when i noticed the problem
and they checked it and said it's still charging
and the battery is less than 6 months old

I dropped the car off at 9:00 this morning and i've not heard from them yet
and to be honest i'm not looking forward to ringing them as i'm getting more
wound up the more i think as i'm expecting a load of grief

[skitz_1184]

how many of those miles did you do yourself??

id still ask to see the old parts [img]/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Also it could be due to loose battery terminal connections or a bad earth somewhere maybe.

[Tigershark]

I can't be 100% sure but working out my route and when i put petrol in
I do about 13 miles each way so i'd probably done around 49 miles from fill up

update:
I've just rang the garage and they said they've finished my brakes and are "going through" the electrics but have not found any problem yet and that i should ring them
back around 16:00

[marko]

cant see how changing brake discs/pads would affect any of your electrics, the only thing that would be effected would be the pad warning light if they didnt replace wear sensors, would be on all the time.

[Tigershark]

I havn't a clue as to what could've gone wrong,
but i've just rang them and they said everythings working now
and said it was a fuse which was a swine to find ??
(all the fuses looked fine last night, unless there's a stash of hidden fuses somewhere)

anyway I've asked them if the stereo is working and they said they've not tried it
but will go and check it out, so fingers crossed that they've not blown it
as i won't be happy

I still can't understand how a fuse supposedly caused these problems

all this grief and i only wanted to sort out a squeaking brake

[Tigershark]

if anyone's interested.

I got my cally back yesterday and everything's working fine
plus there's no squeaking on the breaks


I asked which mysterious fuse had gone and the bloke in the garage
shouted out back to the person who worked on the car
and the reply was the second from the left (just a tad vague)

anyway
I just wanted to get in and check all was ok

which it seems to be "touches wood"

thanks for the replies