Unlike all modern cars with multiple networked computers, which has made them extremely complex, the Murena has a very simple electrical system, and the wiring diagram barely fills half an A3 sheet of paper! It can be easily fitted on to the two sides of an A4 sheet, which is what I do for my laminated wiring diagrams.
The first thing you should understand is that there are many copies on the internet of inaccurate Murena wiring diagrams partly because an original factory one had a few mistakes in it, and subsequently someone inaccurately copied this but unfortunately added some more errors. Therefore many of these diagrams have as many as 25 or more faults! There are also mistakes in the Murena hand books so you must be aware of those too.
I have had my Murena from new and been a technician for over 45 years and have dealt with virtually all the systems from the early very simple pre-war vehicles to the very latest highly complex computerised ones, and therefore understand them. When I realised there were mistakes made in the Murena diagrams, I set out to correct them all. Also Matra only ever issued one diagram for a 1.6 and another for a 2.2 model, but in fact those two are insufficient since there are a number of variations in the models, during the relatively short 3 year plus production.
Consequently, I have available the correct, accurate, diagrams for any model produced, and only need to know exactly what you have, and I can provide a diagram to suit. Please contact me on my domain email (
roy@matraclub.org.uk) to request one.
If you do a topic search on this forum specifically for Murena wiring diagrams, you will find something like 35 entries, from the early days to the present and although the poster has tried to be helpful, in many of these there are mistakes or assumptions, or they have used one of those inaccurate diagrams, or they have not understood that there are differences with some models so they may have an early car but are trying to advise someone with a late car, or vice versa, and that can lead to mistakes.
To give you two examples, the early Murena 1.6, like the Bagheera, had the instrument panel illumination come on with the ignition, so it is always lit up when driving whether you have the external lights on or not. This was the reason for the green 'Lights on' warning light in the instrument panel. Since the dash is lit all the time, it does not indicate that you have your side lamps switched on. When you did switch them on, this warning light would come on and indicate that you had them switched on. On the later Murena, and any conventional car, you really don't need that green warning light as the dash illumination comes on with the side lamps and is sufficiently bright to warn you that you have switched your lamps on.
Again on the early Murena since they used the same instrument panel as the late Bagheera, there was one warning light to indicate low or no vacuum, generally indicating a leak in the head lamp raise/lower vacuum system. The Bagheera had a vacuum sensor in the front compartment that triggered that warning light. However, as far as I am aware the Murena was never fitted with that sensor, so that warning light was never used. On later Murena they replaced that unused red warning light with an orange choke warning light and the switch for that was fitted just behind the choke knob in the compartment under the gear lever surround. It is a shame they dropped the low vacuum warning light as it is
vital that you cure any leak in the vacuum system quickly, because a leak here will cause a weak fuel mixture and probable subsequent engine damage. DO NOT ignore a vacuum leak.
These two examples show why there are differences necessary in the wiring diagrams. There are others such as the diagnostic socket on early cars having 12-sockets (3x4 arrangement) with pins in 11 of them; later 2.2 cars having only 6 pins in them; or later 1.6 cars having a 10-socket diagnostic socket (2x5 arrangement) with 8 having connections in them. There are at least six different engine wiring looms; two different front bumper looms, two different main centre section looms; and three different rear lamp looms, so how can just one wiring diagram for a 1.6 and one for a 2.2 be correct? They simply cannot! Hence my diagrams are made to suit your car and each one I produce has the chassis number or VIN printed in it to show the vehicle for which it was produced.
As stated above, please contact me if you want a diagram for your Murena, and you will know that it is accurate providing your car is still standard. If it has been modified by a previous owner, or you yourself have changed something, I could incorporate the changes if you wish but you would have to provide an accurate diagram of the changes. This also reminds me to say that anyone who makes any changes to a vehicles wiring, on any vehicle, should always document those changes at the time, as you would be surprised how, many years later, you will have forgotten what you did; or these will help a subsequent owner understand the changes. Always keep them with the hand books in the car in case they are need when out on the road.
As there are a number of recent owners who have bought Murena that have possibly been abandoned for years and need restoration, and they are therefore new to the Murena, I am also writing a second topic (see next posting) about the common electrical problems, causes and cures, to collect them in one place to make it easier and save you asking the same questions asked many times in the past by other owners. I hope you will find these useful.
Roy
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