Hi guys,
I've disabled the seatbelt alarm in our 500TA by using Multiecuscan software. I did this because of the horrible loud squealing alarm. We have a long drive and we refuse to fit our seatbelts until we get onto the public roads, and the squealing has been driving us nuts.

Any road up, it's gone now.
End of moaning about it.

One thing I noticed very quickly, is that StopStart doesn't work when the driver isn't wearing a seatbelt.

I wonder what the software is doing with this?
Why should the fact that you're not wearing a seatbelt negate the need for S/S?
How are these two functions connected?

Thanks,
Mick.

Mick F said:

Why should the fact that you're not wearing a seatbelt negate the need for S/S?

Click to expand...

It also doesn't work if the offside rear indicator bulb has blown, or if any of a myriad of other seemingly unrelated components is malfunctioning.

The S/S software seems to be programmed on the basis that it is automatically disabled if any other fault or warning is present.

jrkitching said:

It also doesn't work if the offside rear indicator bulb has blown, or if any of a myriad of other seemingly unrelated components is malfunctioning.

The S/S software seems to be programmed on the basis that it is automatically disabled if any other fault or warning is present.

Click to expand...

Interesting, so does it give you an SS unavailable message on the display or just doesn't kick in?

No messages, nothing.
It just doesn't work. I find this rather odd.

Thanks JR ...............very interesting, but stupid. (to quote Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in)

Regards,
Mick.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure varesecrazy posted about this not long ago; if I remember correctly the car had loads of error codes registered for this very reason.

Perhaps he might have some more info

Error codes?
Just for disabling the seatbelt alarm?
The only indication that a seatbelt is not connected is the normal warning light. No indication that S/S is inoperative.

Fiat's instructions ...........
It seems that it's already programmed to stop the S/S system. I should have read that bit before!

Thanks,
Mick.

Super Uwe said:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure varesecrazy posted about this not long ago; if I remember correctly the car had loads of error codes registered for this very reason.

Perhaps he might have some more info

Click to expand...

1300 of them..!! for starting with seatbelt unused,

apparently seatbelt should be plugged before starting engine - in the ECU's "presets",
Charlie

Grief!

I have a thread going about starting a Twinair, and I never thought that you needed to have the seatbelt connected.

I've found that with ours, you need to depress the clutch to start it reliably and I've decided that as from next month I'm going to experiment to see the reliability of starting via different methods and routines. Seatbelt on or off will have to be in the mix.

Looks like I need a spread sheet with the variabilities across the top versus tests down the side.

Thanks,
Mick.

Mick F said:

We have a long drive and we refuse to fit our seatbelts until we get onto the public roads

StopStart doesn't work when the driver isn't wearing a seatbelt.

Click to expand...

I wonder what your drive looks like if you need S/S on it.

AGH1965 said:

I wonder what your drive looks like if you need S/S on it.

Click to expand...

Here's a piccy.
100yds to the gate.
Steeply downhill.

Mick F said:

Here's a piccy.
100yds to the gate.
Steeply downhill.

Click to expand...

I would have thought that steeply downhill would need a seatbelt in case an animal came out of the shrubbery ? or anything else unexpected happened..

The drive is actually quite boring.

Steep as heck ........... maybe 1in4 and steeper near the top. You have to be careful to keep the car in gear and pull the handbrake v hard when we park, as I'm sure you can appreciate.

Down at the bottom, we have to stop - of course - then get out of the car and open the gate, drive through, close the gate behind us, then go into the great outdoors, but it's a very quiet tiny lane and we hardly see another person let alone another vehicle.

Seatbelts?

Thanks,
Mick.

From the list I see three reasons why your stop/start would not work on the drive.
Engine cold, seatbelt not worn, during the first period of use...

Presumably you're expecting it to stop when you arrive at the gate. I'd be surprised if it did.

I'd recommend using the seat belt down a steep drive for the reasons mentioned above.

Lets just put this into a scenario ............

I only noticed this non-seatbelt and non-S/S thing the other day.
I'd been out into town to do stuff and shopping but should have called into the local post office only half a mile from here to tax our Clio. I want to do it at our local PO because I like to do do my bit for the local village shops.

Trouble is, I forgot to take the info for the car tax, and when I got back from town, I drove home, stopped at the gate, opened it, and drove up the drive to the house.

As I stopped at the gate, the car went into S/S mode but I opened the driver's door, so when I got back in after opening the gate, I had to re-start. I then drove up the drive and obviously stopped at the top. The car didn't go into S/S mode because I wasn't wearing my seatbelt!

Into the house, picked up the VED stuff, and back to the car. The gate was still open. I started the engine, and drove down through the open gate, and the car should have gone into S/S mode, but it didn't.

I got out, closed the gate, re-started the car, connected my seatbelt, and drove away. As and an experiment on the way to the village, I stopped deliberately and the car went into S/S mode as it should. I disconnected my seatbelt and drove away and tried again and it didn't go into S/S mode.

This is why I know that the seatbelt affects the S/S system.

Regards,
Mick.

Yes your right it is connected i visit a friend on farm land very similar even in my last Punto with s/s i pull up to the entrance release seat belt open the car door,get out to open the the large gate get back in i have to restart s/s not available on my dash ,it must be all connected, the computer must pick up the door opening/seatbelt released voltage drop etc then it shuts off s/s clever gizmo's to many of them lol

I could be wrong but, I stand ready for the argument, is it not a safety feature of the car ? Should one disable safety features ? I am sure you think you have a valid reason, but given time I feel sure that you will forget to put it on and either be pulled over by the boys in blue or may get involved in an accident. I hope not, of course.
( Personal comment from me }

werdna said:

I could be wrong but, I stand ready for the argument, is it not a safety feature of the car ? Should one disable safety features ? I am sure you think you have a valid reason, but given time I feel sure that you will forget to put it on and either be pulled over by the boys in blue or may get involved in an accident. I hope not, of course.
( Personal comment from me }

Click to expand...

Yes it is a safety feature mine is enabled ,i don`t mess with modern safety technology ,but his other point is correct that i answered

See thread titled Seatbelt Alarm that Mick F started in November 2014, it ended up going around in circles. I also hate it when people are given advice and choose not to listen..

werdna said:

See thread titled Seatbelt Alarm that Mick F started in November 2014, it ended up going around in circles. I also hate it when people are given advice and choose not to listen..

Click to expand...

I just read that lot blooming nora :bang:

I have no apologies for that.
I took the advice eventually and bought a copy of MES to do it. I had to buy a PC laptop and that put me off for a while but was able to find a suitable one for only £50.

I was wanting an engineering solution, and that seemed to annoy some people. I still believe that you can disconnect the connectors under the seat to stop the alarm, but it stops the visual alarm light on the dash too. That isn't a good thing.

The seatbelt audible alarm isn't a safety feature. It may be that Fiat believe it is, but if it were true, all cars would have it .......... and they don't.

Anyway, I've disabled the audible alarm in accordance with the instructions in the Fiat handbook. If it should NEVER be done in Fiat's opinion, they wouldn't allow it in the software.

Any road up, we found the alarm intrusive, noisy and ear bleeding, so from now on we'll have blissful silence. We will of course wear seatbelts when on public roads as we have always done. Mrs Mick F wears hearing aids and the screeching played havoc with her ears.

Go for a drive, and get out whilst the engine is running. Maybe opening a gate on your own property? The screeching will deafen the other occupants of the car! Maybe yours isn't as loud as ours (was)?

I started this particular thread because it was a surprising bit of info that I thought some folk would be interested in. I'm sorry if no-one is interested.

Regards to all,
Mick.