Technical 4 dash warning lights appeared.

[Robotstar4]

2017 City cross 2WD model. My wife got out of the car to open the gate at the stable and heard the revs going up on the car, got back in to see this.

She cycled the ignition and got normal tickover, but still engine & triangle warning showing.

I don't have a code reader and the car is still under warranty so she can take it back, but I wondered if anyone had seen this before?. cheers.

 

[Funky Spike]

First thought would be the battery, especially if it's the original one.
They throw up all sorts when they're getting past their best.
Has the Stop/Start worked while you've had it?

Disconnecting the battery for half an hour can sometimes clear errors. I did it on my Abarth just yesterday when it threw up a "Hill Holder Unavailable" message.

Spike

 

[Robotstar4]

The battery looks fairly new, would Fiat use Mopar batteries?, we did try the Stop/Start the day after getting it (about 4 weeks ago) and it worked fine, but it's been turned off since.

 

[timmycm850]

If its under warranty in my book its straight back and let them sort it. If it becomes a reoccuring issue its happened during warranty.

Other than that yes i would suspect the battery first port of call due to minor loss of voltage. If its got down to 12.6v then a Fiat Panda will start showing codes etc. It needs to be up at 12.8 ideally. Yes it only takes that little amount of loss.

Tim

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

The battery looks fairly new, would Fiat use Mopar batteries?, we did try the Stop/Start the day after getting it (about 4 weeks ago) and it worked fine, but it's been turned off since.

Mopar is the original factor-fit. The Mopar brand was owned by Fiat Chrysler Autos (FCA), before being taken over by Stellantis, and many of the factory parts are marked Mopar along with the Fiat, Alfa and Lancia logos. Look closely and the Mopar battery is shown to be made by Exide.

 

[Robotstar4]

So the battery may be original, I will have to look for a date code on it.

After it had been resting for a few hours it was showing 12.66V

Started the car to check if it was charging OK and all the warning lights had cleared!, charging at 14.36V

I'll have to get the battery analyser on it tomorrow.

 

[timmycm850]

Think back over the preceeding journeys. If its only been short journeys it may just need a good long run but if its only holding 12.66 its likely to suffer next winters cold snaps

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

What year is the car? If that’s the original stop/start battery they start to give up after just four or five years. In the warmth of summer, a healthy battery should be able to hold a full charge of 12.8 volts. Anything below 12.5 is on the way out.

The charging voltage is trickier to judge owing to the smart alternator. This can deliver as much as 16-17volts at its output when there’s no load on the engine (such as coasting downhill) but much less at idle. And if the car only sees round-town runs, the alternator may not deliver these brief high charge moments specifically needed to keep a s/s battery happy. (Ironically, stop-start tech doesn’t like town-only driving

 

[Robotstar4]

Think back over the preceeding journeys. If its only been short journeys it may just need a good long run but if its only holding 12.66 its likely to suffer next winters cold snaps

It mainly does short journeys, it's just under 5 miles to the stables with 2 visits a day so probably not enough charging?

If it's the original battery it will be 8+ years old now so probably worth replacing before winter.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

It mainly does short journeys, it's just under 5 miles to the stables with 2 visits a day so probably not enough charging?

If it's the original battery it will be 8+ years old now so probably worth replacing before winter.

Definitely!! Check out Tayna batteries. About £100 delivered to the door makes it a no-brainer to keep the ECUs happy.

 

[Robotstar4]

Definitely!! Check out Tayna batteries. About £100 delivered to the door makes it a no-brainer to keep the ECUs happy.

I've used Battery Megastore for donkeys years, I have previously compared them to Tayna and the prices match within pennies, looks like I can get a Yuasa battery for £90

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

By the way, just realised you posted in December about ‘4x4 not available’ error messages. That too is a clear sign of failing battery with the 4x4 model…

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I've used Battery Megastore for donkeys years, I have previously compared them to Tayna and the prices match within pennies, looks like I can get a Yuasa battery for £90

Just fyi my Auto Electrician says that since it changed ownership a while ago Yuasa's previous excellent quality has declined. He steered me towards Bosch, which is now his preferred choice.

 

[Robotstar4]

By the way, just realised you posted in December about ‘4x4 not available’ error messages. That too is a clear sign of failing battery with the 4x4 model…

Doubt if that was me, we've only had the car a few weeks and 4x4 is permanently unavailable as it's a 2WD model

 

[Robotstar4]

Just fyi my Auto Electrician says that since it changed ownership a while ago Yuasa's previous excellent quality has declined. He steered me towards Bosch, which is now his preferred choice.

That's a shame, I've used Yuasa since the 80's and always been happy with their performance, maybe it's time to jump ship and try Bosch which also happens to be cheaper

 

[Bonefish Blues]

That's a shame, I've used Yuasa since the 80's and always been happy with their performance, maybe it's time to jump ship and try Bosch which also happens to be cheaper

Yes I'd been a loyal Yuasa customer for a long time - in fact I put one in my 4x4 not long before this (I had the XC70 in for parasitic drain diagnostics) conversation, so I fitted a Bosch myself.

 

[Robotstar4]

A bit of an update, I put the battery analyser on it this morning before starting it and it gave a "good" result.

Hopefully it will last through summer and I can replace it before winter.

 

[Mike1alike]

Hopefully it will last through summer and I can replace it before winter.

It will surely last. And wouldn't need replacing, IR 5.64 mΩ is very good. You could just put it on the charger a little bit.
Just... is that battery classic flooded lead-acid? If so, that is not quite ok for start/stop systems. For that you need an AGM type or at least an EFB one.
Also, charging voltage 14.36 very good. Is the alternator traditional or smart?

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

It will surely last. And wouldn't need replacing, IR 5.64 mΩ is very good. You could just put it on the charger a little bit.
Just... is that battery classic flooded lead-acid? If so, that is not quite ok for start/stop systems. For that you need an AGM type or at least an EFB one.
Also, charging voltage 14.36 very good. Is the alternator traditional or smart?

All Pandas with stop start use smart/intelligent alternators. And all Pandas with stop start use EFB batteries. Do you have a modern Panda? If you did you’d know this. Seems odd to comment here without that…

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

A bit of an update, I put the battery analyser on it this morning before starting it and it gave a "good" result.

View attachment 487999

Hopefully it will last through summer and I can replace it before winter.

A resting voltage of around 12.5 is not ‘good’ for stop-start battery. Replace it as soon as you feel you can as other errors will follow otherwise…. The car will start with much lower resting voltage than that, but the monitoring systems around the car will start to show errors if it drops any lower at start up.