So, it didn't, then it had a new clutch switch and it did for a day and now it doesn't. Battery allegedly holding charge. Any thoughts?

If S/S doesn't work as it should, it's almost a dead certainty that a new S/S battery will cure it.

Not that there's much wrong with the old battery. I put ours in our 14 year old Clio which had a battery on its way out, and lo and behold the old S/S battery is wonderful! .......... just not good enough for a S/S car. The previous Clio battery went to the recycling.

I paid 100 quid for the new S/S battery, and I would have paid 50 quid for a new battery for the Clio ....... total 150 quid. I reckon I got a bargain at 100 quid for (in effect) two batteries!

So yes, it sounds like the S/S battery is on its way out. Our 500TA was just past its 3rd birthday when it went.

Regards,
Mick.

Not a very tree hugging solution I agree, but I tell you now, I'm not forking out 100 odd quid for a new battery just because the sodding S/S system won't play right. We've switched our S/S off now and just don't bother using it. As the car is used on a 18 minute daily motorway/dual carriageway run to work and rarely gets caught in traffic jams due to the time out to work in the morning and home out of rush hour times, it isn't really an issue.

Utterly agree with you!
If you don't need or want S/S, turn it off!

Ours won't turn off unless you push the button every single time you start up, or if you don't fasten the driver's seatbelt. (I've turned off the seatbelt alarm)

Mick.

Mick F said:

If S/S doesn't work as it should, it's almost a dead certainty that a new S/S battery will cure it.

Click to expand...

I replaced the factory fitted battery after 3 years with another that was better rated in an ADAC test of start/stop batteries (MOLL EFB 82060), and after that the S/S kicked in exactly twice.

https://www.adac.de/infotestrat/tests/autozubehoer-technik/autobatterien/autobatterien_2012.aspx?ComponentId=152368&SourcePageId=31895

Mick F said:

If S/S doesn't work as it should, it's almost a dead certainty that a new S/S battery will cure it.

Not that there's much wrong with the old battery. I put ours in our 14 year old Clio which had a battery on its way out, and lo and behold the old S/S battery is wonderful! .......... just not good enough for a S/S car. The previous Clio battery went to the recycling.

I paid 100 quid for the new S/S battery, and I would have paid 50 quid for a new battery for the Clio ....... total 150 quid. I reckon I got a bargain at 100 quid for (in effect) two batteries!

So yes, it sounds like the S/S battery is on its way out. Our 500TA was just past its 3rd birthday when it went.

Regards,
Mick.

Click to expand...

Thanks Mick. I'm JUST in the warranty period so will push for a battery. As I've just bought the car I want everything to work! Lovely little TA and very pleased with it (touch wood).

Good luck!

We bought ours secondhand at 3 years old. I wasn't aware of the ins and outs of S/S when we bought her.

By the time we found out on here that it was almost certain that battery was the issue, I had it checked by a couple of battery expert places. They both told me that the battery was good. No matter how I protested, they maintained it was a good battery. I could have taken the car back to where we bought her, but no doubt they would have said that the battery was good and the car was working properly. The car was secondhand, what should I expect?

It was easier and simpler to buy a new S/S battery. Pity, but that was the only way forward as I saw it, other than arguing and complaining with a company 50miles from here that wouldn't have guaranteed a car battery in the first place!

As soon as I fitted the new battery, the car was transformed!
It started better, the S/S worked properly, and I was happier too.

Regards,
Mick

PocoBeep said:

Thanks Mick. I'm JUST in the warranty period so will push for a battery. As I've just bought the car I want everything to work! Lovely little TA and very pleased with it (touch wood).

Click to expand...

That's how I look at it - it doesn't matter if it's good for the planet, my pocket or, indeed, my conscience, my car's fitted with S/S so I want it to work!

Mine didn't work properly from new, apparently because the car was sitting around between when it was built and when I bought it - about 10 months - and that took the edge off the battery. I put up with its erratic behaviour for twelve months and then, armed with information gleaned from this forum, told the dealer I wanted it sorted. Result; new battery, and the S/S has worked flawlessly ever since.

I bought my 500 and s/s didn't work, the garage took it in and charged the battery. It has been working fine until this week but I've discovered if your car sits for a couple days or only is used for 10 min journeys it tends not to kick in.

Yep, it's your battery!

I tried EVERYTHING to get ours to work, and succeeded temporarily a few times usually by charging the battery fully. Within a few days, it was rubbish again. Long journeys made no difference. The only way to charge a tired battery fully, it seems, is to remove it and bench charge it. That worked for me, but I would have to have done it almost daily to keep S/S working a bit better.

Since fitting a new battery, the issue has completely disappeared. No matter how many short journeys, and no matter if the car has been left alone for a week.

It works properly and faultlessly, just as it should.

Regards,
Mick.

Having been told 10 days ago by the dealership that it WAS the battery, guess what? Yep, it's the battery! The independent I bought from has verbally agreed to pay for it and I am awaiting written confirmation. The warranty on the battery is 2 years and the replacement cost is £160.

Sorry, that it WASN'T the battery ?

Two posts within a minute:

PocoBeep said:

Yep, it's the battery!

Click to expand...

PocoBeep said:

Sorry, that it WASN'T the battery ?

Click to expand...

Confusing!

PocoBeep said:

Having been told 10 days ago by the dealership that it WAS the battery, guess what? Yep, it's the battery! The independent I bought from has verbally agreed to pay for it and I am awaiting written confirmation. The warranty on the battery is 2 years and the replacement cost is £160.

Click to expand...

AGH1965 said:

Two posts within a minute:

Confusing!

Click to expand...

It seems pretty obvious that what PocoBeep meant was that they meant to say this in their post:

PocoBeep said:

Having been told 10 days ago by the dealership that it WASN'T the battery, guess what? Yep, it's the battery! The independent I bought from has verbally agreed to pay for it and I am awaiting written confirmation. The warranty on the battery is 2 years and the replacement cost is £160.

Click to expand...

AGH1965 said:

Two posts within a minute:

Confusing!

Click to expand...

Yes, I corrected myself.

zanes said:

It seems pretty obvious that what PocoBeep meant was that they meant to say this in their post:

Click to expand...

Thanks Zanes ?

PocoBeep said:

Yes, I corrected myself.

Click to expand...

Ah, I completely misunderstood your correction. I thought you apologised for writing that it was the battery, but that it wasn't...

AGH1965 said:

Ah, I completely misunderstood your correction. I thought you apologised for writing that it was the battery, but that it wasn't...

Click to expand...

I'm still confused

Guess what? My Stop/Start has become very intermittent again. It went to a Fiat dealership near Crawley but they said it worked perfectly! I must be going to neutral and getting my foot off the clutch incorrectly cos there is a definite fault. As the battery has been replaced, and also the clutch switch, has anyone got any ideas?

Recharge your battery periodically. S/S is usually teamed with an alternator that's programmed to only charge at high currents when gliding/ braking, so even on long trips, it's reluctant to give the battery a good charge. This can lead to a less than happy S/S system on Fiats (other brands seem to have been more successful setting their parameters). I've been running a Non-S/S battery for six months, but charging it every day with almost 100% S/S engagement success.