(T) Battery Change now Engine Fault? No Revs?

OK guys- 2002 1.8 - Classic symptons of Battery dying - went flat overnight - completely dead all of a sudden with no issues prior but its the original battery - 5 years old so due for change? Fitted a new battery this evening and starts up fine now but I get the Engine Fault on display with spanner sign and though the car starts and idles OK I cannot rev the engine / no response from throttle? Does something need resetting by a FIAT dealer? The car went completely flat and I know ECU's do not like that? HELP?!!!

Any fault codes?
Throttle positioning relearn needed?
Ign on - don't start engine or touch pedals.
Wait one min
Turn off- leave for 10 secs
Start engine

As above but leave for one minute until power latch has finished.

I prefer to have car at operating temperature first though,
a)start engine & leave until fan cuts in(will take 10-15minutes)
b)switch off one minute
c)switch ignition on (dont start) one minute
d)switch off one minute
e)start & drive away (or see below)


If this don't work needs to be done on examiner.

No Joy guys ( tried unsuccesfully? Cheers anyway?
No error codes showing? Looks lke a call to my local dealer? Why are things never easy?!!!!

Might be worth disconnecting battery and then reconnecting after say 30 minutes.

You never know

Well its gone into my local agent - SW highlighted errors codes with Throttle Sensor and Throttle Actuator? They tried to reset once yesterday - responds to throttle now but very lumpy? Trying a further reset today as in their words 'It can take a few times to reset the ECU?!?'
Fingers crossed - All this from a battery replacement?!?!

I think it's more likely the damage the electronic system take when trying to start with a nearly duff battery

Plenty of people have removed their battery for hours before refitting (I certainly have) and suffered no problems at all

Hi Nello
There's alot of things that don't ring right here

"Classic symptoms of Battery dying - went flat overnight - completely dead all of a sudden with no issues prior"
Not being picky at all but that's not normal symptoms of a dying battery. My battery is the same age as yours- and it's dying of course- they are the minute you buy them -but a slower start than usual,dimming lights and alternator working hard are more signs of battery getting old and tired not a sudden and inexplicable death

So it sounds like something else is causing battery drain and that would better explain post op events you're experiencing

"Trying a further reset today as in their words 'It can take a few times to reset the ECU?!?'
Sounds bananas. An ECU is reset or it isn't, a bit like being pregnant, you are or you're not, no half measures. Are you sure that's what they said?

Hi Deckchair - I've had batteries go all of sudden overnight like that before on an old X1/9 so pretty sure it was shot. No issues at all before it went?

Agreed about the ECU reset though I'm giving them a chance as they actually had it booked in on Friday but managed to get my AA Homestart cover to get it towed to them yesterday so they did give it quick look then before a full investigation on Friday......heres hoping.

OK - news from the dealer - seems to be resolved?!?! (though I'm yet to pick it up......They reloaded the ECU a few times and its got better every time they've done it and driven it. Gonna pick up tomorrow and drive a few days to check. Initial reload make it respond but very lumpy and would stall on occasion but as said its got better the more its driven until now it seems to be back to normal?! We'll see - definatley seem to have been the battery dying that caused it though - will post here with progress (and price!)

Update - no more Battery issues but its going back in on Thursday as it now keeps cutting out when you come to a junction or have to stop? Does not like idling? Having to Left foot brake and keep my right foot on the throttle to keep the engine alive - reminds me of my old X1/9 days with a 1500 that had a knackered carb and I was a poor student!! Will let y'all know...

I had something similar to this with a Metro years ago. Turned out I had a bit of bare wire under the battery tray, causing a short. The power (what bit of it there was) would die causing the car to come to a halt.

Only found out what the cause was after the car had burst into flames

Sorry, couldn't help adding that little story.

Your car is a Stilo, not a Metro. Therefore it will be something and nothing. I'm sure the boffins at Fiat will sort you out soon.

Good luck.

Nello, I know what you mean about the batteries; working in halfrauds gave me lots of battery experience (I even went on a course with Yuasa); batteries can suddenly die, especially in cold weather; believe the cause is cell damage. Used to generate a lot of sales for us

As for your car issues, sounds nasty. We once had throttle sensor and throttle actuator faults on our 1.6 (and pedal, both the pedal and throttle body were replaced under warranty), but I reckon they were erroneous faults. It may be something as simple as damaged wiring on the main junction box on top of the battery (this got wet on our 1.6 after the garage steam-cleaned it and we had a throttle body fault/engine light).

I'd refit the battery and check the wiring on the grey fuse box; make sure all is tight and secure. Engine node wiring passes through here.

Cheers rroope - The Engine Fault lights gone now its just this stalling when you come to a halt? I'd have hopefully thought the squealer would have checked the connections but its worth a try.............heres hoping. Whats really racked me off here is that the car was perfect (and this is actually the first fault I have had) and its all been caused by simply changing a battery?!!!

OK another update - Got the car back now after a further ECU reset. Its still occasionally stalling when you pull up to stop - either that or the revs drop right down to a couple of hundred rpm and you think its gonna stall before recovering..............Does seem to be getting slightly better though with driving (ECU re-learning?) Also noticed the Average MPG had dropped right down to 28 MPG approx when first done but as I'm driving it more its going up and up and currently just under 30 mpg whereas before I was getting 33-34mpg..........This does seem to indicate they may be a truth about a period of time for the ECU to relearn its config in relation to what its telling the engine to do but I'm amazed that firstly it can take a few reloads as opposed to just one and that it can take so long for the ECU to learn what the cars doing/needs? Its going to pop back in on Tuesday as theres one other reset the dealer can do with relation to the throttle drive reset (?) which they are getting the code from Fiat for? It does drive perfectly aside from that now though with no Errors/lights. Looking at worse case senario though if they cannot fix the idle and the driving does not fully re-teach - does this mean I may need a whole new ECU?!!! I know they cost a fortune - anyone know? Mentioned possibly a spike from the failing battery could be the ultimate cause?
They did say as a last alternative they would check the price - Apparently the 1.8's and Abarths have different manufactured ECU's to the smaller engined (Marelli) cars................Ho hum......