I've mentioned in a couple of other threads the premature ejaculation issues that had started to afflict my 4x4 TA recently, with 7400 miles on the clock after 10 months. Though stopping was slightly reluctant, the problem was that the car always restarted within a few seconds, often showing the ESC warning light and putting up an ELD not available message on the restart. The ELD message was clearly spurious as an immediate select/deselect of ELD always worked OK.

I popped into Vospers in Exeter a week or so ago and outlined the problem; they suggested I gave the car a serious run with minimal electrics loading the battery to see if that cured the problem; I did and it didn't. Booked in today; hour and a half later car returned with a new battery under warranty and updated software. All appears to be cured.

I wonder if the - apparently - higher-rated battery that's supposed to accompany Stop/Start is not always fitted, saving Fiat a couple of quid per car - minus the warranty costs that they've just incurred.

Same thing happened to me over the very same issue....now working normally!

babbo_umbro said:

I've mentioned in a couple of other threads the premature ejaculation issues that had started to afflict my 4x4 TA recently....

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This amused me greatly!

Glad you got it sorted, though... -- although I'm still in two minds about the effectiveness and usefulness of S/S. When we test-drove the TA Panda, before we bought a Mk3, instead -- it was extremely temperamental, and therefore a bit 'disturbing' (IYSWIM).

Because it needs the battery in tip-top condition, as well, I also wonder if batteries will be discarded before they normally would: therefore negating the small eco-benefits that S/S is supposed to provide, in the first place.... :chin:

homeward said:

This amused me greatly!

Glad you got it sorted, though... -- although I'm still in two minds about the effectiveness and usefulness of S/S. When we test-drove the TA Panda, before we bought a Mk3, instead -- it was extremely temperamental, and therefore a bit 'disturbing' (IYSWIM).

Because it needs the battery in tip-top condition, as well, I also wonder if batteries will be discarded before they normally would: therefore negating the small eco-benefits that S/S is supposed to provide, in the first place.... :chin:

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I think, like many of these systems, there are times when S/S is a good idea and times when it's not; at least it can be switched off, or suppressed by keeping the clutch pedal down - though that's not a good idea if used often. I was really at least as concerned about the ELD warning as that could have suggested that there was something going awry in that system or its electronics.

By the way, there's an underpass under a railway bridge on one way into the Marsh Barton trading estate in Exeter that was flooded with a foot or more of water this afternoon; several cars had obviously drowned out and the police had arrived to control things but the 4x4 had no issues.

I must be really lucky as stop start has worked flawlessly on my trekking. But maybe not so lucky as need a new gearbox :banghead:

I've started using start stop recently and about 3 or 4 times now it just hasn't restarted. It seems that car sensor for the clutch bring pressed hasn't operated so it just sits there.

Is this the same behaviour others observed on the 4x4 TA ?

I had three software updates not that long ago so I don't think a software upgrade is the answer. I used to get ELD unavailable occasionally when starting from cold but that has been cured post the last round of
software updates.

Yes myself and a few others have had this problem. Took it to Fiat and as usual these days if the diagnosis machine says nowt then everything must be ok. Living with it at the moment (to be honest it's gone the other way now, rarely operates and when it does only briefly) but I've a few other niggles so when it gets booked in for them I'll ask them to take another look

philboo said:

I've started using start stop recently and about 3 or 4 times now it just hasn't restarted. It seems that car sensor for the clutch bring pressed hasn't operated so it just sits there.

Is this the same behaviour others observed on the 4x4 TA ?

I had three software updates not that long ago so I don't think a software upgrade is the answer. I used to get ELD unavailable occasionally when starting from cold but that has been cured post the last round of
software updates.

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The opposite of the problem I had on my 4x4 TA - just coming up to a year old -even when fully warmed up the engine wouldn't stop when it should have. A single software update cured it.

Yes, my car is still effected by this. It mostly doesn't restart nowadays after a stop. Pain in the armpit!

The car was supposed to go in for a week whilst we went to France in February, but VW crashed our bus whilst that was in for service which totally fudged things up time wise and I just could get the car there.

I'd really like it to be fixed (the stop/start problem) as it drives me mental!

Bought a Varta Start and Stop battery for £100 on eBay and all problems are solved

Dunturin said:

Bought a Varta Start and Stop battery for £100 on eBay and all problems are solved

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But surely the dealer should have been sorting this out under warranty.

I would rather fix it myself in 15 minutes than leave my car in the dealer all day and let them replace the battery with another inferior one

So far my s/s has behaved since the dealer did a software update and replaced the battery a couple months ago....

My S and S works fine now - the only thing is that it sounds like I have just turned the key in the ignition when it starts up again - I drove a VW recently and the S and S was almost silent

A friend of mine started to get problems like this. Because he doesn't do much city driving he took it to the dealer and had the Stop-Start turned off permanently. I do think that some of these 'fuel saving devices' do absolutely nothing to save fuel and, in the long run, may use even more fuel if they are not set up properly. If they do go wrong it costs quite a bit to get them fixed, also you haven't got an engine with a mega amount of litres running anyhow. It seems that the only use of this type of 'inprovement' is to look good on the firm's green credentials - whether or not they actually achieve anything.

David Bliss said:

A friend of mine started to get problems like this. Because he doesn't do much city driving he took it to the dealer and had the Stop-Start turned off permanently. I do think that some of these 'fuel saving devices' do absolutely nothing to save fuel and, in the long run, may use even more fuel if they are not set up properly. If they do go wrong it costs quite a bit to get them fixed, also you haven't got an engine with a mega amount of litres running anyhow. It seems that the only use of this type of 'inprovement' is to look good on the firm's green credentials - whether or not they actually achieve anything.

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I can't remember now - does S&S automatically switch itself on with the ignition if you've been running with it switched off? I'm somewhat sceptical about over-elaboration as well, but, now that it's working without any problems I just let S&S do its job, occasionally switching it off in certain traffic conditions when the constant on/off every few seconds and every couple of feet is tiresome and just goes against good practice, I think. My only concern about disabling it permanently would be any implications for other engine management functions as I assume its firmly embedded in the system.

David Bliss said:

A friend of mine started to get problems like this. Because he doesn't do much city driving he took it to the dealer and had the Stop-Start turned off permanently. I do think that some of these 'fuel saving devices' do absolutely nothing to save fuel and, in the long run, may use even more fuel if they are not set up properly. If they do go wrong it costs quite a bit to get them fixed, also you haven't got an engine with a mega amount of litres running anyhow. It seems that the only use of this type of 'inprovement' is to look good on the firm's green credentials - whether or not they actually achieve anything.

Click to expand...

I can't remember now - does S&S automatically switch itself on with the ignition if you've been running with it switched off? I'm somewhat sceptical about over-elaboration as well, but, now that it's working without any problems I just let S&S do its job, occasionally switching it off in certain traffic conditions when the constant on/off every few seconds and every couple of feet is tiresome and just goes against good practice, I think. My only concern about disabling it permanently would be any implications for other engine management functions as I assume its firmly embedded in the system.

It used to be like that on the 500 until they updated the software in late 2012.
On the panda though, and the latest 500's , it remembers what setting it was on last time, so it stays off if that's what you want.

So there's no point in having it disabled.

babbo_umbro said:

So there's no point in having it disabled.

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None at all, one press of your finger does the same