Put simply, after 400 miles, it doesn't function! The dealer acknowledges this but their diagnostic tests say everything is fine. They are scratching their heads atm! Anyone else had difficulty with the start stop on a twin air panda?

The other problem is that I am getting the low fuel beep and message way before the low fuel light comes on and when the gauge is still showing 1/3 full!

Bit miffed cos my 500 1.2 was perfect!

Cheers

I can't help much, but I'm two days into Panda ownership, with 134 miles on the clock, and the Start&Stop hasn't started working yet.
The manual gives a list of some of the conditions when this function is disabled, including "during the first period of use for a new car, to initialise the system".

I will be following this thread, and post when/if mine starts functioning.

And welcome to FiatForum.com

chr1s said:

I can't help much, but I'm two days into Panda ownership, with 134 miles on the clock, and the Start&Stop hasn't started working yet.
The manual gives a list of some of the conditions when this function is disabled, including "during the first period of use for a new car, to initialise the system".

I will be following this thread, and post when/if mine starts functioning.

And welcome to FiatForum.com

Click to expand...

Thanks mate! Let me know how it goes. I will keep you posted!

chr1s said:

I can't help much, but I'm two days into Panda ownership, with 134 miles on the clock, and the Start&Stop hasn't started working yet.
The manual gives a list of some of the conditions when this function is disabled, including "during the first period of use for a new car, to initialise the system".

I will be following this thread, and post when/if mine starts functioning.

And welcome to FiatForum.com

Click to expand...

chr1s, your car will definitely benefit from a charge of the battery.
Even though your car may start perfectly, the stop/start system is very fussy over voltages. Since your car will have been stood around for a while it'll need a proper charge to get it working properly.

Myself, I have a problem with my car restarting. It cuts out perfectly, stays turned off for minutes at a time, but occasionally (40% of the time) it doesn't restart. I have to turn the key off, and back on again.

Of course it always works fine when I take to the dealer

pandapops said:

Put simply, after 400 miles, it doesn't function! The dealer acknowledges this but their diagnostic tests say everything is fine. They are scratching their heads atm! Anyone else had difficulty with the start stop on a twin air panda?

The other problem is that I am getting the low fuel beep and message way before the low fuel light comes on and when the gauge is still showing 1/3 full!

Bit miffed cos my 500 1.2 was perfect!

Cheers

Click to expand...

Hi pandapops,

Welcome to the forum as well.

Just like me, you've swapped your 1.2 500 for a Panda Easy in turquoise - nice choice! However I still stuck with the 1.2, I'd have loved to get a TA but I just couldn't justify the extra wedge required to buy one.

Now then...Start&Stop...if you have got literally hours and hours to play with, you might want to consult this epic thread on the 500 section:
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/205211-calling-all-start-n-stop-owners-55.html

However, what deeyup has suggested appears to be the main cause of most of the issues seen on here. Obviously I don't know what checks the dealer has performed, but I would certainly question them regarding the state of the battery.

In the meantime, whilst you are waiting to find out what is wrong, you might want to just disable it every time you get in. Only reason I suggest that is really to give you a bit of peace of mind and so that you can just enjoy driving the car and savouring everything that is good about the TA. If it's not on then you don't have to worry about whether it's working or not!

Maybe that sounds defeatist, but IMO it is not a system that is worth worrying about too much. Of course there are people who want their car to work as it should given the money they've shelled out for it, which is perfectly fair enough. Me personally, I just think S&S is a nice idea, but if it doesn't work then it doesn't work. Perhaps I am just too lazy for my own good!

As for the fuel gauge, that does sound a bit weird. The low fuel light is supposed to come on when the range says 80 miles (I think), and then the beep activates when the range falls below 30 miles. The beep shouldn't be coming on before the low fuel light anyway, it does sound like something isn't quite right. I'd certainly mention it to the dealer for them to take a look at it.

deeyup said:

chr1s, your car will definitely benefit from a charge of the battery.
Even though your car may start perfectly, the stop/start system is very fussy over voltages. Since your car will have been stood around for a while it'll need a proper charge to get it working properly.

Myself, I have a problem with my car restarting. It cuts out perfectly, stays turned off for minutes at a time, but occasionally (40% of the time) it doesn't restart. I have to turn the key off, and back on again.

Of course it always works fine when I take to the dealer

Click to expand...

Aargh! That's my idea of hell, lol!

I have always had an irrational fear of any of my cars failing to start, I can't imagine what sort of state I would be in if S&S regularly failed to restart my car...

Thank you for your reply - really helpful. I still think it battery related but the dealer say they are waiting for Fiat Technical to advise them! lol. I imagine this will end up with the fitting of a new battery.

I love this car. The TA is well worth the extra - just for the NOISE!

Thanks again!

today my start-stop did not want to turn off the engine at traffic lights ,i'm not sure why ,I know that in certain times it does not work ,always first when you use the car ,I shall have to see later on if the system does want to work

Mine didnt work properly for a few hundred miles but the weather was pretty cold during that period and according to the manual it has to be at least 5deg? Or maybe more, can't remember now. Also the car has to have been travelling at least 10kph before it will cut in and the engine needs to be up to temperature. I thought mine was faulty to begin with but it works flawlessly now. Hopefully I haven't just given it the kiss of death by saying that...:-S

How long is it before yours cuts out completely Deeyup? I also read that after 2 or so mins (again, can't remember the exact figure) the system will cut out completely meaning you have to start it with the key. It sounds like this function could be happening prematurely if it's before the set time period?

deeyup said:

chr1s, your car will definitely benefit from a charge of the battery.
Even though your car may start perfectly, the stop/start system is very fussy over voltages. Since your car will have been stood around for a while it'll need a proper charge to get it working properly.

Click to expand...

After a 12-hour battery charge last night, on a Smart Charger, stop/start is working this morning. Hopefully it will continue to work.

chr1s said:

After a 12-hour battery charge last night, on a Smart Charger, stop/start is working this morning. Hopefully it will continue to work.

Click to expand...

Did you leave the battery stand off charge for 2 hours before fitting ? This allows surface charge to dissipate which can fool the system

If it starts playing up again when you park up pop bonnet then lock car after 10 mins measure battery voltage if it's under 12.72v chances are the battery is faulty

The battery was charged in the car, with the main 'positive' lead removed, as shown in the Manual. I probably left it about half an hour before driving.
I don't think the battery is faulty - it was over 13 volts when I started charging.

This car only drove 11 miles between arrival in the UK (sometime before January, possibly November when it was registered) and June. I am sure that the car had the battery connected for most / all of that time, without any extra charging, because the time was set to GMT, not BST. (If the positive lead was disconnected, to recharge the battery, then the time and date settings would be lost). That's plenty of time to lose some charge, but if the battery was damaged I would expect to have seen a lower voltage, even after driving a further 170 miles.

(It seems that one of the drawbacks to buying from a car supermarket is that they don't perform PDI as you should expect from a Fiat dealer, including overnight battery charge !)

chr1s said:

The battery was charged in the car, with the main 'positive' lead removed, as shown in the Manual. I probably left it about half an hour before driving.
I don't think the battery is faulty - it was over 13 volts when I started charging.

This car only drove 11 miles between arrival in the UK (sometime before January, possibly November when it was registered) and June. I am sure that the car had the battery connected for most / all of that time, without any extra charging, because the time was set to GMT, not BST. (If the positive lead was disconnected, to recharge the battery, then the time and date settings would be lost). That's plenty of time to lose some charge, but if the battery was damaged I would expect to have seen a lower voltage, even after driving a further 170 miles.

(It seems that one of the drawbacks to buying from a car supermarket is that they don't perform PDI as you should expect from a Fiat dealer, including overnight battery charge !)

Click to expand...

That's the issue I had with my gp EVO it was pre reg and sat for 6 months in a compound. The battery inevitably ended up u/s

I'm having problems too. My panda starts too quick after start/stop has shut down the engine. Fiat checked the battery and found it okay.

You might wanna read this
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/06/the-shocking-truth-about-start-stop-systems/

Thanks for all your posts.

Well, I had my Panda at the dealership all day yesterday. They called me to say that FIAT technical wanted to come up and look at it which surprised me. It turns out that in addition to a U/S start n stop, I have an incorrect air con pipe which is catching when I depress the clutch pedal.

The upshot is that FIAT have agreed to replace the battery and the Intelligent Battery Sensor as well as replacing the pipes in my air con system.

Quite pleased that they have taken things seriously and speedily!

Bloomin' FANTASTIC car despite these little niggles which I hope will be cleared up in a day or two. Hats off to Research Garage in Nuneaton as well for being quick off the mark and courteous!

Cheers!

glad to here that your car is working Ok now ,after I let my car run not using the Start/stop system my car did work Ok using start-stop ,I still leave the s&s On but keep the clutch pedal down So it does not stop the Engine,I'll use the S&s 1 or 2 times in a journey and leave the Engine to Keep the Battery charge up ,because when using s&s your Drl lights are still on and the air con still works also if you have the radio/CD or Mp3 music On and any other electric powered Item still will drain the Battery

I switch mine off most of the time too (Doblo), but don't forget that the ECU allows for and monitors all the electrical loads and cuts the S&S when the battery is 'challenged'.

Ulpian said:

I switch mine off most of the time too (Doblo), but don't forget that the ECU allows for and monitors all the electrical loads and cuts the S&S when the battery is 'challenged'.

Click to expand...

My TwinAir's S&S has been working fine whenever I've expected it to,
but so far I've been using the Panda frequently, to get miles on early,
and get any teething faults fixed ASAP (thankfully nowt so far )

Once into my 'normal' car use regime, it won't get used for periods of
up to a fortnight, and the battery's state will probably inhibit S&S

Not really an issue, as I rarely drive in urban conditions



Chris

I have stop start on my scooter and when i notice its finding it a little harder to start in the mornings, i turn the stop start off for a day or so to recharge the battery.
Also i am not sure how it is on cars being a little more advanced maybe, but it wont activate (cut the engine) unless its up to temperature.

I'm glad fiat sorted it all for you so fast!

Well I'm just back from the dealer and the start stop is now working perfectly. New battery and IBS, plus they've fitted a new air con pipe and that now works better too!

I guess they must have reset the trip computer aswell because the best av mpg I was getting before today was 37.5 and its already shot up to 43.8 and is still going up!

RESULT

Thanks for all the tips!