OK then, first post on this forum so hope I don't get banned straight away!!!

I've owned my Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge for a few months now and am very pleased with it, the paintwork is excellent as is the general build quality, nothing has broken, fallen off, leaked and it's started without fail every time which is a good sign.

However, I'm growing somewhat frustrated with the default 'stop start' setting of ON.

The sales rep told me I could switch it off, and he was correct, but what he failed to mention is that it reverts back to ON whenever the ignition is switched off.

I'm not interested in whether 'stop start' is good or bad for the economy or the environment, what I would like to know is whether anyone knows someone who can change the default setting of stop start from 'ON' to 'OFF' using a laptop to plug into the engine management system?

rich500 said:

what I would like to know is whether anyone knows someone who can change the default setting of stop start from 'ON' to 'OFF' using a laptop to plug into the engine management system?

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AFAIK, this can't be done. You'll have to switch it off manually every time you start the engine.

Why not just leave it on?

jrkitching said:

AFAIK, this can't be done. You'll have to switch it off manually every time you start the engine.

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:yeahthat:

Probably as its taken into account with RFL calculations

Got my 500c 1.2 lounge dualogic new in august 2012 , switched it off on the first day hav'nt touched the button since so could mine be faulty?

The Stop and Start system has only worked a few times since I picked up my Abarth Punto back in July. I spoke to the local dealer & they said the battery has to be fully charged for the system to kick in.

As there are so many electric things on the cars now-adays, the batteries can't cope with the drainning of power & stop things from working till the battery level is up to 90% or more.

Thunderbug said:

The Stop and Start system has only worked a few times since I picked up my Abarth Punto back in July. I spoke to the local dealer & they said the battery has to be fully charged for the system to kick in.

As there are so many electric things on the cars now-adays, the batteries can't cope with the drainning of power & stop things from working till the battery level is up to 90% or more.

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I wish the auto stop-start system would stop working on my car because there is always that sinking feeling at the back of my mind that the car won't start again, especially when at the top of a hill will a long queue of cars behind - give it a few years and the battery and the starter motor will be knackered.

You've given me an idea to contact my local Fiat dealer to see if they can alter the default setting from ON to OFF.

Why does the 500 seem to attract people with the IQ of a cranberry?

306maxi said:

Why does the 500 seem to attract people with the IQ of a cranberry?

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Haha, just what I was thinking...

I was talking to someone who worked for Bosch about the stop-start system and apparently it's ridiculously over-engineered.

I've had my 500 for almost 2 years and done 30,000 miles and stop-start has never failed. Why bother to turn it off?

If you're first in a queue and the lights are about to change keep your foot on the clutch....

To be fair the SS system seems to be quite tempermental and overall economy / environmental gains are negligible. Probably the ideal setup would be to have a master on/off accessible via the menus and the existing dash switch is only active when this is set to on. IMHO options are good so let the user decide if they want to avail of the system or not (DRL's for example). Hopefully thats not too much of a 'crannberryesque' idea!

To my knowledge no one has ever had a car that didn't start because of s&s. So it's still a cranberryesque idea.....

306maxi said:

To my knowledge no one has ever had a car that didn't start because of s&s. So it's still a cranberryesque idea.....

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True but it's still not everyones cup of tea so why not give them the option to avail of it or not rather then having to press a switch everytime they start the car?

Mercky said:

Probably the ideal setup would be to have a master on/off accessible via the menus and the existing dash switch is only active when this is set to on. IMHO options are good so let the user decide if they want to avail of the system or not (DRL's for example).

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I'd agree with that - I'm all in favour of maximising choice.

Even better, why not give folks the option of not having it fitted in the first place & having £250 off the price of the car instead? :bang:

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Probably as its taken into account with RFL calculations

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Hmm. FIAT have been careful to build in the option to disable anything which could adversly affect economy (like the DRL's), so that they can turn them off for the 'official' fuel consumption tests.

And I'll bet the official figures are taken with the best possible tyre options - there's no way a 500 variant with 15" wheels is going to return the same economy as a pop, yet the published figures are the same . I'll also bet they are careful to use a fuel blend with the maximum possible energy content, rather than the E5 stuff most of us are filling up with these days.

Hence only a couple of folks* are managing to hit the official mpg figures.

*actually, I'm struggling to think who the other one is .

Stop/start....nothing wrong with it!

99% of 'issues' are customer error or not understanding (RTM) the system.

Remember you are saving fuel and have low road tax because of S/S, if your not interested in saving money/enviroment why buy a 500

Late models have S/S that remains on/off until switched back on/off however once your used to the system you will see it's benefits....also great if you stall the car as you only have to depress clutch pedal and not phaff about with key

All of the S&S issues where it's been 'temperamental' have meant it fails OFF, rather than ON. No-one has mentioned that their car has failed to start, just failed to stop.

Until battery technology improves and gets cheaper, it is always going to be a compromise; I really don't see the problem with it, and find it very easy to use.

T14086 said:

....also great if you stall the car as you only have to depress clutch pedal and not phaff about with key

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Yes - I remember my surprise the first time that happened (in a 1.2 Lounge, in England) and I never quite got used to it, but considering that a restart attempt begins with a foot on the clutch pedal, it was quite natural (just a surprise).

Did any 1.4 model come with Stop-Start? Mine doesn't have it but I've also driven a 1.2 in NZ and it didn't have it either. Might have something to do with how our vehicle license fee ("road tax") is the same for all engine sizes/emissions.

Funnily enough when I see the barrier arms come down and a train approaching, I engage my own version of Stop-Start - by twisting the ignition key - seems to work quite well, always starts up again later just like it does at home.

-Alex

alexGS said:

Yes - I remember my surprise the first time that happened (in a 1.2 Lounge, in England) and I never quite got used to it, but considering that a restart attempt begins with a foot on the clutch pedal, it was quite natural (just a surprise).

Did any 1.4 model come with Stop-Start? Mine doesn't have it but I've also driven a 1.2 in NZ and it didn't have it either. Might have something to do with how our vehicle license fee ("road tax") is the same for all engine sizes/emissions.

Funnily enough when I see the barrier arms come down and a train approaching, I engage my own version of Stop-Start - by twisting the ignition key - seems to work quite well, always starts up again later just like it does at home.

-Alex

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My Greek 2010 1.4 doesn't have S/S either but I think the England one has. I guess it depends how eco conscious their market is, so in Greece they don't care so much but in UK every one has S/S now. On hindsight, I should have insisted on S/S on my 1.4 before ordering it!