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Technical My manual 2013 Fiat 500 1.2 manual drives as an automatic

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Technical My manual 2013 Fiat 500 1.2 manual drives as an automatic

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Nordboj

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Hi Guys,

Im not really sure how i'm going to explain this but i'll give it a try and see if you have any clue why my cars does this.

So i have a 2013 Fiat 500 1.2 Manual with Start/Stop with 25 000 Km on the clock (so it's a low mileage car).



The "problem" that ive noticed is that when i put the car in gear
i can just release the clutch slowly (without using the throttle) and the car is setting of by it self.

It goes to 1000 RPM and stays there and the car just keeps rolling until i push down the clutch again.

This also happen if the car is rolling in 2nd gear and i just release the throttle it will again go to 1000rpm and the car is rolling aprox 15km/h

Normal manual cars will shut down the engine without any throttle.

So it's like the cars is behaving like an automatic because it will roll away without any throttle given to it.

Remember that i said that without any throttle it stays on 1000 RPM.
When i push down the clutch it will go back down to 800RPM and idle.

It will also go to 800RPM if put it neutral without any gear.

I have all time disabled the start/stop function and it doesnt matter if it's on or not, thats the only basic troubleshooting i have done since i dont really know what i could test more because i actually dont know if it's a problem or a feauture.

Do you guys have any clue what's "wrong"?

All info or tips is gladly received, thank in advance! :)
 
Last edited:
Melanabb said:
My Grande Punto Abarth behaved exactly the same- I was told that its a feature... Somebody might have different ideas
Click to expand...

Seems pretty odd tough!

Anybody else have an fiat 500 that DOESNT do this? :)
 
Nothing wrong at all. All cars with electronic fuel injection (since 1993 when emission rules did away with carburettors) will do this. Many carburettor cars before that would do the same.

When the engine is idling, control is given to the ECU, to keep the engine available for use. If tickover drops below a level, the engine will stall, so the ECU will maintain engine speed above this.
When you bring the clutch up in gear, you place a load on the engine, which drops its speed. The ECU reacts and puts more fuel in to maintain tickover. In your case, it is raising the speed to prevent stalling. Likely that if held at 800rpm, it would still stall. ECU does not know why engine is trying to stall, but will respond to it.

Very useful for trickling in traffic.

It is poor practice to use this to move away. You should always raise the engine speed, then bring the clutch up, to get the car moving from stationary. Once moving, no problem with allowing the engine to tick over gently pulling you along.
(Don't step outside at this stage!)

When you bring the clutch up without any accelerator, the ECU responds and increases the fuelling.
As you then press the accelerator, you will confuse the ECU. As soon as the pedal moves off its stop, you are telling the ECU that now you are in control, and also how much fuel to put in. But initially, your request is less that is already being used to prevent stalling. This can often cause a drop in revs, and sometimes a stall, unless you press the pedal quickly enough to pass through this phase and ask for more than currently being used.
This is why moving away without accelerator, then pressing it, gives that frightening pause, just when that fast truck is approaching. It also increases the loadings on the pistons, leading to heavier wear. (Although with modern engines and oils, this is probably not going to show for a long time, but will contribute to oil burning later.)
 
portland_bill said:
Nothing wrong at all. All cars with electronic fuel injection (since 1993 when emission rules did away with carburettors) will do this. Many carburettor cars before that would do the same.

When the engine is idling, control is given to the ECU, to keep the engine available for use. If tickover drops below a level, the engine will stall, so the ECU will maintain engine speed above this.
When you bring the clutch up in gear, you place a load on the engine, which drops its speed. The ECU reacts and puts more fuel in to maintain tickover. In your case, it is raising the speed to prevent stalling. Likely that if held at 800rpm, it would still stall. ECU does not know why engine is trying to stall, but will respond to it.

Very useful for trickling in traffic.

It is poor practice to use this to move away. You should always raise the engine speed, then bring the clutch up, to get the car moving from stationary. Once moving, no problem with allowing the engine to tick over gently pulling you along.
(Don't step outside at this stage!)

When you bring the clutch up without any accelerator, the ECU responds and increases the fuelling.
As you then press the accelerator, you will confuse the ECU. As soon as the pedal moves off its stop, you are telling the ECU that now you are in control, and also how much fuel to put in. But initially, your request is less that is already being used to prevent stalling. This can often cause a drop in revs, and sometimes a stall, unless you press the pedal quickly enough to pass through this phase and ask for more than currently being used.
This is why moving away without accelerator, then pressing it, gives that frightening pause, just when that fast truck is approaching. It also increases the loadings on the pistons, leading to heavier wear. (Although with modern engines and oils, this is probably not going to show for a long time, but will contribute to oil burning later.)
Click to expand...

Mind = Blown!

Well that answers and ticks every box of the questions i've wondered about!

Thanks for the great and detailed response! (y)
 
I've noticed that it's hard to keep the car slow enough when in say 3rd or 2nd once you got down to say 1200 in second it stops slowing down like in a normal car, so can "plough on" when you actually still want to slow down, almost like the ecu keeps the "idle" high so just dip the clutch.
 
John202020 said:
I've noticed that it's hard to keep the car slow enough when in say 3rd or 2nd once you got down to say 1200 in second it stops slowing down like in a normal car, so can "plough on" when you actually still want to slow down, almost like the ecu keeps the "idle" high so just dip the clutch.
Click to expand...

As it slows in a higher gear, it will always fight to prevent a stall, so then's the time to change down.
 
portland_bill said:
As it slows in a higher gear, it will always fight to prevent a stall, so then's the time to change down.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree but find the car won't fall much below 1100 in gear so say pulling into a side street full of cars either side where you're concentrating on where you're going the car wants to go faster than one might like, ok you can dip the clutch or brake but it's not a "feature" I've observed on any previous cars I've had so takes getting used to.
 
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