Technical Had car 3 weeks with warning light issues

[Tor79]

Hello,
I have had my 2012 plate car for just over 3 weeks and in that time, I have had to call Breakdown out as many times.

Soon after picking my car up from the garage (an independent garage), the General warning light and Start/Stop disabled light would come on at the same time on the dash, randomly in a journey. They would stay on until I stopped and then be reset until the next time it happened.
Then, the Engine Management Light would flash the same time as they had come on but go off again, leaving the other 2.

The garage wasn't near by and the car was running well otherwise. But one evening, I couldn't get the car to start at all (with EML, battery, oil lights on dash). Breakdown came out, it started first time , and he could not see anything wrong.
2 nights later, it wouldn't start again... breakdown came out, said it needs a new starter motor. He bump started it.
I took it the garage a few days later but not before I had to call breakdown to come and start it again. This time the breakdown guy had trouble getting it going but eventually did.
I took it back to the garage where it was under warranty, they replaced the starter motor and off I went. Few miles up the road, the 3 lights came on again. I turned around and took it back. They took it out and tested it and said it needed a new ignition coil which they replaced along with the spark plugs. They took it before returning the keys to me and said there were no codes or lights popping up.
Few miles down the road... same thing happened.
They asked me to carry on home (another 50 miles) this time and the engine management light flashed in that time, at least twice which was not pleasant in heavy motorway traffic.
Since then it's been starting and running fine but the same 3 lights will come on, on a daily basis.

I've read a few threads on this forum with vaguely similar issues.
Some mention low battery, hovering hand on the gear stick as there is a sensor in there?, etc...

This is my 2nd car after letting my 17 year old Corsa go, which I had for 10 years and my excitement of having a new fun car was very brief as this has been bothering me. Sorry, I am not technically savvy when it comes to cars but any ideas on what could be the problem/solution would be welcome.
It is going back to the garage on Wednesday for a few days for them to test more whilst I have a courtesy car. Not a Fiat.

Thanks...

 

[varesecrazy]

Hello,
I have had my 2012 plate car for just over 3 weeks and in that time, I have had to call Breakdown out as many times.

Soon after picking my car up from the garage (an independent garage), the General warning light and Start/Stop disabled light would come on at the same time on the dash, randomly in a journey. They would stay on until I stopped and then be reset until the next time it happened.
Then, the Engine Management Light would flash the same time as they had come on but go off again, leaving the other 2.

The garage wasn't near by and the car was running well otherwise. But one evening, I couldn't get the car to start at all (with EML, battery, oil lights on dash). Breakdown came out, it started first time , and he could not see anything wrong.
2 nights later, it wouldn't start again... breakdown came out, said it needs a new starter motor. He bump started it.
I took it the garage a few days later but not before I had to call breakdown to come and start it again. This time the breakdown guy had trouble getting it going but eventually did.
I took it back to the garage where it was under warranty, they replaced the starter motor and off I went. Few miles up the road, the 3 lights came on again. I turned around and took it back. They took it out and tested it and said it needed a new ignition coil which they replaced along with the spark plugs. They took it before returning the keys to me and said there were no codes or lights popping up.
Few miles down the road... same thing happened.
They asked me to carry on home (another 50 miles) this time and the engine management light flashed in that time, at least twice which was not pleasant in heavy motorway traffic.
Since then it's been starting and running fine but the same 3 lights will come on, on a daily basis.

I've read a few threads on this forum with vaguely similar issues.
Some mention low battery, hovering hand on the gear stick as there is a sensor in there?, etc...

This is my 2nd car after letting my 17 year old Corsa go, which I had for 10 years and my excitement of having a new fun car was very brief as this has been bothering me. Sorry, I am not technically savvy when it comes to cars but any ideas on what could be the problem/solution would be welcome.
It is going back to the garage on Wednesday for a few days for them to test more whilst I have a courtesy car. Not a Fiat.

Thanks...

Hi, and welcome,

if there are other issues with the car - look for your money back.

the lights are probably due to the battery being at the end of it's life ( the stop / start batteries are expensive..)

charlie

 

[Tor79]

I forgot to add that it doesn't matter if I disable S/S myself or not.
Car is under warranty at mo so I'm not paying anything but has been a big inconvenience & very disappointing so far.

 

[dtimmins1985]

Get them to replace battery... doubt you would have corroded earths on a 5 or 6 yr old motor.

 

[portland_bill]

An independent garage should be able to read the diagnostic codes for the engine as these should be standard. However, to gain a better reading Fiat specific software is needed. Some of us on here have MultiECUscan (MES), a great package that mostly mimics the Fiat dealer software.
Ideally, the car needs its codes read. If you say where you are, there may be someone on here with MES who can help and at least help point the garage in the right direction.
The problem is likely to be simple to fix, once the fault is known, so don't lose heart with the car just yet.
Battery is the most likely cause, as it is the right age to fail, and is likely to have been sat for a while waiting to be sold, which will be the last straw for an old battery.

Talk to the garage and suggest they replace the battery. Have a look at it first, and note down the specs from any labels. This will ensure they replace it with a stop/start battery, not just an ordinary one. An ordinary one will cost a third of the price, but will fail in a few months. So don't be fobbed off with a cheap battery.

 

[swifty500]

The whole pointof engine lights is that on complex modern cars, a multitude of problems can occur and plug in scanners usually narrow it down to 2 or so components-Just changing everything until you hit the jackpot is a poor approach and expensive! New battery is the favourite and if that does not work, get the codes read-I would relay this information to whoever is fixing it!
Ask the dealer to fit a new battery before doing anything else!
Sorry to hear this is happening on your new car-all fixable so don't worry!