Technical battery charge issue, stop start

[Gslaughterhouse]

I recently (March 2023) bought a 2011 Fiat 500. There is a brand new stop and start battery in it. The car has never turned off at a stoplight, or when idling. The "unable to activate" light comes on most mornings. I see from the posts here, that it's probably because the battery doesn't have enough charge after sitting overnight. The light does not go off until the car is restarted. Most importantly, if the car sit for more than 24 hours the battery is flat, and I have to get a jump start. Not much of an energy saver if I have to drive my car every day, even when I could easily walk where I need to go some days.

I don't do a lot of city driving. 25 minute commute to work, mostly on the motorway. I do some short runs during the day, but again, not a lot of stopping and starting even with short runs.

When I first bought the car the heat worked, but the AC did not. They recharged the AC, and then the heat stopped working. They tell me they're waiting on a part to fix it. I don't know if this is related to the battery problem or not.

I read something in this forum about the boot not working right, and I did notice twice when the battery was dead that the boot wouldn't unlock.

In case it makes a difference, I am currently living in Italy, so this car was made in the Italian market. It is a diesel, and there is no manual.

I'm taking it into the dealer, but I distrustful of them now, as there have been so many issues with the car. Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[varesecrazy]

I recently (March 2023) bought a 2011 Fiat 500. There is a brand new stop and start battery in it. The car has never turned off at a stoplight, or when idling. The "unable to activate" light comes on most mornings. I see from the posts here, that it's probably because the battery doesn't have enough charge after sitting overnight. The light does not go off until the car is restarted. Most importantly, if the car sit for more than 24 hours the battery is flat, and I have to get a jump start. Not much of an energy saver if I have to drive my car every day, even when I could easily walk where I need to go some days.

I don't do a lot of city driving. 25 minute commute to work, mostly on the motorway. I do some short runs during the day, but again, not a lot of stopping and starting even with short runs.

When I first bought the car the heat worked, but the AC did not. They recharged the AC, and then the heat stopped working. They tell me they're waiting on a part to fix it. I don't know if this is related to the battery problem or not.

I read something in this forum about the boot not working right, and I did notice twice when the battery was dead that the boot wouldn't unlock.

In case it makes a difference, I am currently living in Italy, so this car was made in the Italian market. It is a diesel, and there is no manual.

I'm taking it into the dealer, but I distrustful of them now, as there have been so many issues with the car. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hi

Is the mileage.. distance display flashing?

That indicates an electrical problem..

 

[jrkitching]

if the car sit for more than 24 hours the battery is flat

That is not normal behaviour for a car with a battery in good condition. Most likely something isn't turning off properly and you have an unwanted residual current drain. Most likely suspect, if your car has one, is the Blue&Me module, which often fails in exactly this way.

 

[Gslaughterhouse]

Hi

Is the mileage.. distance display flashing?

That indicates an electrical problem..

Yes! And when I bought it, I asked the dealer about that, and he said all stop start batteries do that!

 

[Gslaughterhouse]

That is not normal behaviour for a car with a battery in good condition. Most likely something isn't turning off properly and you have an unwanted residual current drain. Most likely suspect, if your car has one, is the Blue&Me module, which often fails in exactly this way.

I’ll talk to the dealer about that. Is it fixable?

 

[Gslaughterhouse]

Yes! And when I bought it, I asked the dealer about that, and he said all stop start batteries do that!

And, if that’s the case, I’m thinking that even deactivating the stopstart won’t solve the problem. Somethings draining the battery as jrkitching is suggesting.

 

[jrkitching]

Is it fixable?

Sure.

If (we still don't know for sure that the Blue&Me unit is the cause of the parasitic drain) this is the reason for your battery flattening overnight, you have several options.

If you don't use Blue&Me, you can physically unplug the module from its connector. This will stop the current drain, but you'll also need to use proxi alignment software to stop the flashing mileage issue. This will likely be the cheapest fix (free if you do it yourself and have access to MES to do the proxi alignment).

You can fit a new Blue&Me module (they're not cheap), or a secondhand one from a breakers (though there's no guarantee a used one won't also fail in the future). In both cases, you'll need to run a proxi alignment to link the module to the rest of the car's electronics.

Or you could send your exisiting module away to be repaired (look on ebay for folks advertising this service) - if successful, proxi alignment may not be necessary.

Note that disabling Blue&Me in software isn't sufficient; you need to physically disconnect the module from its power source.

 

[Gslaughterhouse]

Sure.

If (we still don't know for sure that the Blue&Me unit is the cause of the parasitic drain) this is the reason for your battery flattening overnight, you have several options.

If you don't use Blue&Me, you can physically unplug the module from its connector. This will stop the current drain, but you'll also need to use proxi alignment software to stop the flashing mileage issue. This will likely be the cheapest fix (free if you do it yourself and have access to MES to do the proxi alignment).

You can fit a new Blue&Me module (they're not cheap), or a secondhand one from a breakers (though there's no guarantee a used one won't also fail in the future). In both cases, you'll need to run a proxi alignment to link the module to the rest of the car's electronics.

Or you could send your exisiting module away to be repaired (look on ebay for folks advertising this service) - if successful, proxi alignment may not be necessary.

Note that disabling Blue&Me in software isn't sufficient; you need to physically disconnect the module from its power source.

So, dead battery again this morning. I also noticed that the battery compartment in the fob was not closed completely. The latch doesn’t work so I am continually pushing it back closed. Any chance that’s the problem. I don’t know why the fob not being connected to the battery would make a difference, but it seems like a cheaper fix than an electrical problem.

 

[varesecrazy]

So, dead battery again this morning. I also noticed that the battery compartment in the fob was not closed completely. The latch doesn’t work so I am continually pushing it back closed. Any chance that’s the problem. I don’t know why the fob not being connected to the battery would make a difference, but it seems like a cheaper fix than an electrical problem.

Unlikely to be a key battery at fault here..

In the past month..have you figured this out.?

 

[Gslaughterhouse]

The dealer finally took me seriously. They pulled the battery and discovered a disconnected wire. They replaced the battery, and so far I have not had any issues. The stop/start feature never worked before, I thought it was just malfunctioning, but now with the new battery it does. So hopefully the problem is solved. I did buy a booster to jump start it, jumpstart in case. Fingers crossed.