Technical Fiat 500 Start Stop System

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Technical Fiat 500 Start Stop System

stocksypete

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Hi All

Im aware there are many threads on many forums regarding this issue. So to save me reading them all I would be grateful if anyone can help

Bought a 2nd hand Fiat 500 Lounge a week ago. Approx 2 years ols and 11k miles

The dealer said the Start Stop system would not activate till Id done around 100 miles or so as it had been unused for a little while

Been driving it a week and done around 150 miles. I admit that for the first 4 days they were short journeys, but the last one was around 100 miles

The start stop system says its active but doesnt actually stop the engine, when i put in neutral and lift the clutch

Is there anything Im doing wrong ? Ive not had the radio, heaters etc on. The day time lights are on, but would that make a difference

Any help would be appreciated. Its not essential I have it, just intrigued as to why its not working
 
Hi All

Im aware there are many threads on many forums regarding this issue. So to save me reading them all I would be grateful if anyone can help

Bought a 2nd hand Fiat 500 Lounge a week ago. Approx 2 years ols and 11k miles

The dealer said the Start Stop system would not activate till Id done around 100 miles or so as it had been unused for a little while

Been driving it a week and done around 150 miles. I admit that for the first 4 days they were short journeys, but the last one was around 100 miles

The start stop system says its active but doesnt actually stop the engine, when i put in neutral and lift the clutch

Is there anything Im doing wrong ? Ive not had the radio, heaters etc on. The day time lights are on, but would that make a difference

Any help would be appreciated. Its not essential I have it, just intrigued as to why its not working

It's almost certain to be a battery issue.

It may or may not resolve by itself with time, but it will take more than 1 long journey.

Alternatively, remove the battery from the car & revive/recharge it with an intelligent pulse charger such as a ctek. Leave it to stand for a couple of hours for the surface charge to dissipate, refit it to the car, and all should be well. IMO the supplying dealer should have done this as a matter of course before you collected the car.

Under no circumstances try to charge the battery on the car unless you have read up on all the precautions and know what you are doing as you could permanently damage the intelligent battery sensor.
 
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Cheers guys. I think I will keep going with it and if nothing works ill take back to the garage where I got it from. It's not a deal breaker just wondered why it wasn't working. Sounds like the battery is not up to it at the moment and with the short journeys I've been doing its not charging itself back to full capacity.
 
If you use your car around town the load on the battery will not allow much reserve for S&S to work. I use my three year old Doblo around town a lot and perhaps for one week in two there is no S&S, and then it cuts in again for a few days. But a long run will see it going again for maybe a couple of weeks.

I drive at night with lights and, these days, A/C on, so the load is greater. And in winter of course there is the heater, the A/C, the wipers, the lights et al to contend with on a permanent basis.

I reckon S&S is like official fuel consumption claims; great in theory, on a smooth frictionless roller with no wind resistance and all the auxiliaries switched off, and at an optimum temperature - but in the real world not so realistic.

Anyway, it gets the official CO2 levels down so we pay a bit less tax.....

Winning of a sort;)
 
With regard to your dealer's comments, I picked mine up on Friday and I think it had been standing for quite a while, only managed to drive it about 30 miles until today but this morning the S/S system worked perfectly so the 100 miles thing sounds nonsense.
Most salesmen seem to know nothing, I asked about one aspect of the 500 - response was " I only sell 'em, I don't build 'em"
 
I'm starting to question myself now as it could be me doing something wrong. Just to be clear. For the start stop to kick in. I need to come to a halt, put the car into neutral and that's it ? I've read posts that the clutch needs to go all the way down, is this correct ? Or does that matter. Does the brake need to be on or the hand brake ?
 
I am assuming its automatically on when I start the car. The button under the radio turns it off ?
 
The brake doesn't necessarily need to be on, but you need to be in neutral and the clutch needs to be fully released. The minute you depress the clutch again the engine will start and you can slip the car into first, and off you go.

It's designed for traffic, like at red lights when you put the car in neutral with the handbrake on. If you are holding the car on the clutch of course, which you shouldn't do for long anyway, the S&S will not kick in.
 
Yes. That's what I've been doing and it still doesn't work. I'm coming to the conclusion it isn't going to work and ill have to take the car back to be looked at.
 
It defaults to on. You can press the button to disable it, but this only lasts till the engine stops at the end of a particular journey. The minute you start off again the S&S is engaged. There is no way you can disable it permanently, not on my car anyway.
 
Well, as I have said, I have gone a fortnight with it not working, and then suddenly it cuts in. I think it is down to the battery charge, but certainly get it looked at.

My car is over three years old and still on it's original battery, but then I only bought one replacement for my last car which had done 100K when I sold it. Batteries for S&S cars are more robust and therefore more expensive than ordinary batteries, so be careful with it and don't think about using your valuable battery for jump starting anyone else - that's what the AA is for.
 
I've only had the car a week now so I might be expecting too much too soon. Will probably give it another week and then if its not worked will give the dealer a call. Thanks for your suggestions
 
The latest SS software remembers the last switch setting so if you turned it off before you switched the ignition off it will still be off when you restart, I think this version was standard from 2013 on so most likely not on your car unless it was upgraded
 
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It's always been on when I've switched the ignition off, so I'm guessing that may not be it
 
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