My daughter has a Fiat 500, so it's me who's registered on this forum as she knows absolutely nothing about cars.

She phoned me up last night in tears (in the middle of the Champions League match).

She had just left work, and when she tried to get in the car the central locking didn't work, and when she got in and put the key in, different lights on the dash were flashing, and the car wouldn't turn over.

After asking a few questions, she mentioned she might have left the internal light on. She did say "doesn't that go off when you close the car and lock it", so I guess that shows how much she knows about cars.

While she was talking she then said "all the lights on the dashboard have gone off". At this point I suggested to her that maybe the battery was flat. It was only then that she mentioned that she was using her mobile phone which was plugged into the cigarette lighter socket, which I told her was probably not a good idea.

I live 85 miles away from her, so I couldn't go down to the car. It's sat in her 24 hour secure work car park, so I wasn't worried about it.

Can anyone confirm that the most likely problem is a flat battery? Can anyone let me know what type and size of new battery will fit in the car(recharging's not an option, she doesn't have the facilities where she lives)?

The car's a Fiat 500 1.2 8v. It's an 09 plate, so it doesn't have stop/start. I would like to buy a battery before I go down and fit it, rather than go and look and thay have to buy one. Plus I prefer to deal with my regular tyre and battery supplier where I live as he's a good guy.

Will it mean having to enter the radio code, as I'm not sure whether my daughter has it. Are there any other things I should know about when changing a battery on the 500?

Thanks for reading this.

Hi,

I'm currently waiting on my 500 in Australia so I'm not much help to you at all, sorry. But in all fairness to your daughter, my 2003 Corolla does turn off any accidentally left on interior lights. So it's not a completely insane assumption to make

Hope you can sort it soon

Kind regards,
Tee

Yes it is almost certainly the battery and replacing it on a 4yr old car is a no-brainer. On a non-S/S equipped 1.2, the procedure is absolutely straightforward.

IIRC the radio security information is stored in NVRAM in the car's body computer, so you will only need the radio code if you want to move the radio to a different car.

bondquest said:

After asking a few questions, she mentioned she might have left the internal light on. She did say "doesn't that go off when you close the car and lock it", so I guess that shows how much she knows about cars.

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The 500 will automatically switch off the interior light after 20mins

At any rate a healthy 60Ah battery would take a theoretical 70 hours to drain to zero via the dome light.

UFI said:

The 500 will automatically switch off the interior light after 20mins

At any rate a healthy 60Ah battery would take a theoretical 70 hours to drain to zero via the dome light.

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The chances of a 4yr old battery still retaining a 60Ah charge retention capacity are virtually zero.

Just replace the da*n thing and your daughter can forget about any future battery problems for a few years.

Hence why I said healthy. My Wrangler battery is 8 years old and still kicking.

It's happened to me twice since buying the car 3 years ago! When you change battery system should reset itself without any worries or codes.

Probably just needs a decent charge. My battery is 4 and a bit years old and was acting up earlier this year, good charge and it's been fine for the last 8 months since

Thanks for all the speedy replies so far.

What size battery fits in the tray? Does the height matter? I can't seem to find anywhere on the internet where it says what battery I need, plus there's so many different battery codes.

Unfortunately my daughter works 12 shifts, and by the time she finishes tonight it'll be dark and she won't be able to read the battery details back to me.

I've got one of those portable starter thingy's (borrowed from a friend). I've been told that you should connect the positive to the positive battery terminal, but the negative to somewhere else on the car. Whereabouts is this please? Hopefully this should get the car moving, and back to her house where I can fit the battery without being hassled so much.

bondquest said:

Thanks for all the speedy replies so far.

What size battery fits in the tray? Does the height matter? I can't seem to find anywhere on the internet where it says what battery I need, plus there's so many different battery codes.

Unfortunately my daughter works 12 shifts, and by the time she finishes tonight it'll be dark and she won't be able to read the battery details back to me.

I've got one of those portable starter thingy's (borrowed from a friend). I've been told that you should connect the positive to the positive battery terminal, but the negative to somewhere else on the car. Whereabouts is this please? Hopefully this should get the car moving, and back to her house where I can fit the battery without being hassled so much.

Click to expand...

This is the battery I put in my non s/s Fiat 500.
It is bigger and more powerful than the OEM battery that is put by default in the Fiat 500 (which I consider rubbish), and it still fits perfectly fine in the car without any modifications so I recommend you this battery.

Bosch Starter battery, S5 (12V 54AH 550A (EN))

ahmett said:

This is the battery I put in my non s/s Fiat 500.
It is bigger and more powerful than the OEM battery that is put by default in the Fiat 500 (which I consider rubbish), and it still fits perfectly fine in the car without any modifications so I recommend you this battery.

Bosch Starter battery, S5 (12V 54AH 550A (EN))

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Is this the 175x175 size 063 Bosch S5?

Sorry to be a pain.

Hi I am on the Bosch Site right now and there are 2 S5 Batteries for the Fiat 500.





Starter battery, S5 (12V 54AH 550A (EN)) 0 092 S57 065

Starter battery, S5 (12V 60AH 560A) 0 092 S5E 050


The one for you is the 1st one as the 2nd one is bigger as it is a battery for S/S equipped cars.
Hope this helps.

Brilliant work by Ahmett - super helpful. Good stuff!

Bear in mind a S&S batter isn't just 'bigger' - it has a different design (glass matting) to ensure the electrolyte is held against the plates more effectively, improving charge acceptance and reducing internal resistance.

bondquest said:

Thanks for all the speedy replies so far.



I've got one of those portable starter thingy's (borrowed from a friend). I've been told that you should connect the positive to the positive battery terminal, but the negative to somewhere else on the car. Whereabouts is this please? Hopefully this should get the car moving, and back to her house where I can fit the battery without being hassled so much.

Click to expand...

connect the NEG. lead to a solid METAL part of the engine,

BUT - if the battery is that flat you may struggle to get it started,

maybe better to fit the replacement battery if possible.

Be aware that if you do jump the car with a starter pack expect a array of random errors such as EPS not working ABS and ASR if fitted errors

I've note had those sort of errors when jumpstarting the Panda from the 500 or vice versa.

Bondquest, where are you located?

www.varta-automotive.com

click: "search batteries" on the right.

I use the "Blue Dynamic" in all my cars for many years now, excellent quality.

I'm in Grimsby, but the car's in a car park in Leeds.

306maxi said:

I've note had those sort of errors when jumpstarting the Panda from the 500 or vice versa.

Bondquest, where are you located?

Click to expand...

I'm in Grimsby, but the car's in a car park in Leeds.