Forgive me this is a long one and sorry if it’s posted in wrong place.


I’ve been having major issues with my 2014 Fiat 500S 1.3 Diesel for nearly 2 month.
My car will only start when being jumped???
I have to use a jump pack every morning and evening to start my car to and from work. (I’ve had battery jumped from a car and also had it trickle charged over night which resolved issue for a day or two)
I’ve had battery and alternator tested, both 100% fine, had the battery removed and all earths cleaned.
This is the 4th battery I’ve replaced in my car in 2 years. (First one died within a month of buying the car, second one had a bad cell, last battery died and wouldn’t jump at all and then this battery also failing)
When I get into my car, I put the key in the ignition and turn it and pray to the god but the initial noise it makes just sounds like it’s dying and the dash light fade within 10 seconds, as if the car hasn’t been started for over a week even though I’d only drove it 6 hours before.
If I try to turn it over, it just clicks and clicks, and if it’s been more than 12 hours all sorts of electrical faults flash up on the dash then it just completely dies all together (no dash lights etc)
As soon as I connect the jump pack, it starts straight up and off I go except lastnight, where I ended up having to connect a spare negative jump cable to the battery and my car body as well as having the jump starter connected as it was trying to turn over but failing after 3 ‘spins’ , it seemed to resolve whatever the issue was with it lastnight.
My stop start has never worked in the car since I bought it in 2017, only every now and again, but the ‘stop/start not available’ light has been on my dash for almost 3 month now. I had a similar problem with it when I first bought it but replaced battery and issues was resolved for over a year.
I understand this 100% sounds like an alternator issue, but was told the alternator was charging the battery fine, battery is less than a year old and my 40 minute car journey to and from work should be more than sufficient to charge the battery. also read so much on these forums about alternate issues it could be.
I’m at my wits end with this car, I’ve had nothing but trouble with it since day 1.

(I also have a proxy alignment issue with car?, flashing odometer and no Bluetooth, don’t know if this could possibly be related at all as someone told me my problems could be due to this)

I’ve got videos of the issue if it’s any help but not sure how to post them on here .
Someone please help.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You have all the classic signs of a parasitic drain on the battery, which is causing it to discharge when the car is parked.

From what you've posted, I'd put at least some money on it being the bluetooth unit, these quite commonly fail and fail in such a way as to continually drain the battery. Used replacements can be had on ebay for a reasonable price, or you can buy a new replacement from a franchised dealer for a wholly unreasonable price. If you're not bothered about having bluetooth, you can just disconnect the Blue&Me module; it's located behind one of the rear quarter panels. If you want to remove it completely, it's secured by rivets, so be ready to drill them out.

If it were my car, my next step would be to remove the connector from the Blue&Me module and see if anything changes. @typecastboy is our resident expert on these modules and will likely be along soon.

@typecastboy - can this be disabled simply by pulling the appropriate fuse?

You'll be able to upload a video once you've made five posts.

One final thought - just confirm you've fitted the correct enhanced battery as specified for a S/S car? Sometimes folks have been known to wince at the price and fit a cheaper one; S/S rarely works for long in such cases.

To answer JR's question about a fuse. I imagine it would but if it's a parasitic drain, it may possibly leak out elsewhere if that's even a thing, so I would disconnect it at the unit itself, which means rear seats out etc. It has a multi connector on the side which has a little lever which you pull back and then it pulls out. There is another recent thread which I will post a link to saying how you do it and with a picture of it's location.

However!! I picked up on something in your original post. Without reading it as I'm typing I recall that you said you were having problems with the jump pack and had to put an extra earth on the body of the car and then it fired straight up? If I'm right in my interpretation of what you said, I'm going to suggest that it's not necessarily a drain but although you've cleaned up the earths, was that the ones that are attached to the top chassis leg under the battery? Also, maybe the earth straps themselves are faulty. These can easily be replaced. I think it's worth a try.

Annoying things like this are just a process of elimination. It's very frustrating and I've just had an airbag ECU problem on an associate's car that has beaten me but normally you can get to the bottom.

So to recap, get the battery and battery tray out. Replace the earth straps, maybe replace the earth quick release and braided cable too and then see what happens. If it still does it, get that Blue & Me disconnected. Maybe even do the Blue & Me disconnection first, that would be less hassle I guess.

Have a look at this thread and click the link at the end of it for the thread with the picture of the location of the Blue & Me module.

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/478216-bluetooth-node-causing-battery-drainage.html

New earth strap.
Has anyone measured the drain when everything is off?

I'm worried about your battery history.. it sounds shocking (do you see what I did there...? )

Were all the batteries new, or are you fitting any old second-hand battery you can get hold of? A new one should not die, have a dodgy cell or refuse to charge up or hold a charge. It sounds like your batteries have been duff second-hand ones or made in China with plates made from plasticine, instead of lead.

When the car is idling, turn the lights on and go stand in front of it (or shine the lights at a wall, if you don't have a glamorous assistant). Give it some steady revs (around 1500-1800 will do, you don't need to hit the red-line) and see what happens to the lights' intensity.

If the lights get brighter (a lot brighter) with a few rpm then the alternator regulator/rectifier is rubber ducked and that could be over-charging your battery. If you have a volt meter, measure the voltage across the battery cells when the engine is ticking over and also when you have a few revs on... it should say 14.3 volts and not change.

If the alternator is cooking the battery, then the battery won't ever hold the full complement of 12.3 volts for long, so everything else (won't start/goes flat and no S/S) is a consequence of that.

The B&Me issue does sound more like a battery drain issue... but to drain the battery in 6 hours, it must be draining enough current to power your town's street lights. It's possible though, so try disconnecting the B&M as above, since if it's a drain, it's a bad one (fire and smoke might be the next symptom).

If it does turn out to be the alternator regulator/rectifier then you can buy these new and fit them to your alternator, but the cost is usually more than the cost for a new (or even a reconditioned) alternator... so check out all the costs before deciding which way to go. A new/recon'd alternator will at least be "all new" so probably the option I'd choose, if the price was more or less the same as buying the parts and fitting them to your existing alternator (which may have other problems, or it may not).


Ralf S.

So something is draining the battery, it's in a permanent state of discharge too.
How far do you drive the car each time? If it's flat you'll need to drive for at least 2_3 hours to charge the battery so if you only drive say 20 mins each way a day with a fault(drain) things will never improve.
Have the drain measured and try and find the issue, replace the earth strap and either drive the car a long way or bench charge the battery, note if your current one has been in this flat state for some time it too may never recover?

Hi guys, thanks so much for all your replies.

I’m going to try getting the blue and me module took out and see if this help although I can’t understand how it’s took 2 years for this issue to arise to this level as the blue and me has always been an issue since I bought it.

I’ve always had new batteries in the car, bought brand new, my brother is a part dealer so he gets all genuine parts etc so I don’t believe it’s due to crap batteries.

I’ll also get some to measure the brain as I can maybe eliminate a lot of potential problems by doing this? Can I take my car to any garage to have this checked??

I drive the car 40 minutes to work with traffic and about 25 minutes back. My car does sit idle for 10-11 hours a day while I’m at work and this is what I think has exaggerated the issue of it being dead by tea time, this has only really become a huge issue since I started my new job but even so don’t believe a 14 plate car should be totally dead after 10 hours with a relatively new battery in.

I guess it’s just a case of process of elimination but spent £1000s on this car with previous issues so abit fed up of pouring money into a car that I can’t even rely on to get to work

Basic testing is cheap..

Look at this..

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2-2b-guides/337880-basic-battery-alternator-parasitic-drain-testing-guide.html?p=4513597


A basic meter is less than £10