Hi,

Drive the car about 5 miles in today's hot weather, everything fine. Stopped at Chemist, went in, few mins later came out, hopped in & started the car.

Engine light, s/s unavailable & ! all lit up with a load of warning messages.

Pulled over, turned off & restarted but still the same. Car driving fine though??



Any ideas please?

Sounds weird, it may well be weather related but hard to say as the warning lights are generic.

If the lights are still on though and you're home, you might want to give your breakdown cover people a ring and see if they have an ECU code reader handy. That would be my first port of call, even though the car might seem fine I wouldn't want to risk it.

Our 1.2 Panda did a weird thing yesterday. Turned the ignition on and thought it was a bit quiet; all the lights were on but the fuel pump hadn't primed and the immobiliser light was on, so I didn't bother trying to crank it. Pulled the keys out, switched back on and it was fine and has been since. You never know with these Fiats

Just been out to try it & it's the same

It's not been used much recently so I've hooked it up to a CTEK tonight to ensure the battery gets a full charge

Still the same this morning, despite an overnight charge

AA when we come back from hols!

Squadrone Rosso said:

Still the same this morning, despite an overnight charge



AA when we come back from hols!

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Did you try disconnecting the battery or maybe you did anyway when charging?

Mercky said:

Did you try disconnecting the battery or maybe you did anyway when charging?

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No I didn't as feared loads of stuff would need resetting.

Would that be the case?

I have CTEK hard wired connections on the Alfa's but just use the clip on type on the 500.

Squadrone Rosso said:

No I didn't as feared loads of stuff would need resetting.

Would that be the case?

I have CTEK hard wired connections on the Alfa's but just use the clip on type on the 500.

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I dont think so but others here might have a better idea, theres not much to reset! Personally it's the first thing I'd try before going to any trouble, might just be in a tizzy and needs a reset. Worth a try

Ta, will try overnight tonight

Squadrone Rosso said:

No I didn't as feared loads of stuff would need resetting.

Would that be the case?

I have CTEK hard wired connections on the Alfa's but just use the clip on type on the 500.

Click to expand...

I'd probably try 10-15 minutes first; when I did this to sort blue n me the clock needed resetting but the stereo was ok (then lost it's code randomly a few weeks down the line- fortunately the code was in the instruction manual pack thing)

Check the oil level. Sounds stupid but mine had a similar-ish problem and it was down to low oil level. My TA would conk out (with the start/stop unavailable light on) after about 5 mins of driving and then be a right git to restart, it was due a service so I reported it and much to my embarrassment they said it was just low oil and sure enough it hasn't happened again. Hope yours is a similarly easy fix.

It's cured itself. Got in tonight, drove, still there. Moved it around later & sorted.

Probably turned off & started 6 times since the warning first appeared

Ref oil etc, I'm pretty old school so do weekly checks on pressures & fluids

Never uses a drop mind you

Well, been away for two weeks, Mrs SR did the Tesco run this morning without issue. Came to use it this afternoon, started & the bloody warning lights are back. Tried a 10 minute negative disconnect but no cure.

Dealers it is then

Squadrone Rosso said:

Well, been away for two weeks, Mrs SR did the Tesco run this morning without issue. Came to use it this afternoon, started & the bloody warning lights are back. Tried a 10 minute negative disconnect but no cure.

Dealers it is then

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Hopefully they'll be able to pull a few error codes off it and see what's going on. Could be an electrical problem such as a dodgy earth which is lighting up the dash.
Btw, I see your an AROC man, today in Dublin we have a major annual classic car show on and I'm involved with the Irish AROC section - we have a 4C coming in from the UK for our stand courtesy of Alfa UK so looking forward to seeing that! Someday perhaps!!

Mercky said:

Btw, I see your an AROC man, today in Dublin we have a major annual classic car show on and I'm involved with the Irish AROC section - we have a 4C coming in from the UK for our stand courtesy of Alfa UK so looking forward to seeing that! Someday perhaps!!

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That I am. We recently awarded the Irish section an accolade, as you probably know

I know Martin, Myles, Dennis & Noel. Would love to come over at some point

Squadrone Rosso said:

That I am. We recently awarded the Irish section an accolade, as you probably know



I know Martin, Myles, Dennis & Noel. Would love to come over at some point

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Small world! Maybe come over for the Irish trip later in the year? Here's a snap of the 4C from today and one of my own TA with an older cousin!!

I'd love to come over

The lights went out this morning!

Typical as car booked in for tomorrow....

I read somewhere that the ECU resets after 6 stop start cycles.

Is this true as it would tally with what happened before we went away.

I take it the fault codes will still be stored though?

Cheers,

Simon

Don't know about the fiat, but my 15 year old puma retained a log of all fault codes for diagnosis (had lots of fun at the beginning of the year with random engine management lights coming on) so I'd say the chances are good.

Squadrone Rosso said:

I'd love to come over

The lights went out this morning!

Typical as car booked in for tomorrow....

I read somewhere that the ECU resets after 6 stop start cycles.

Is this true as it would tally with what happened before we went away.

I take it the fault codes will still be stored though?

Cheers,

Simon

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Yes I would presume so, worth leaving it in anyway and see what comes out in the wash

I'll pop the car in just in case

And they're back

My local Indie read but didn't clear the codes when I called in to get the Brera booked in for MOT.



I'm guessing this is something more serious??

Buggeration