500X Battery keeps draining

[Miss grey]

First post.
I'm at my wits end, I bought a 500x 1 year ago and have had nothing but issues with the battery. It has had 4 new batteries and been recovered 4 other times. It seems as though it is draining every 6 weeks or so. They said the alternator is doing its job and put it down to dud batteries so put new ons on from a different supplier. I don't travel far and have been told its down to this, but surely a 16 plate car should not die after not being run far, I find this difficult to accept that by only driving a few miles a day would cause my car to just not start, if this is the case then I find this of very poor quality as never had problem with any other car I've purchased before. Anybody shed any light on it for me please?

 

[RichardH13]

It could be that sometimes the interior light might look off, but takes some voltage and drains the battery over time.

Switch the interior light off, and see what happens

 

[varesecrazy]

First post.
I'm at my wits end, I bought a 500x 1 year ago and have had nothing but issues with the battery. It has had 4 new batteries and been recovered 4 other times. It seems as though it is draining every 6 weeks or so. They said the alternator is doing its job and put it down to dud batteries so put new ons on from a different supplier. I don't travel far and have been told its down to this, but surely a 16 plate car should not die after not being run far, I find this difficult to accept that by only driving a few miles a day would cause my car to just not start, if this is the case then I find this of very poor quality as never had problem with any other car I've purchased before. Anybody shed any light on it for me please?

Hi

Does it do these few miles EVERY DAY or just occasionally ?

Does the stop-start work properly?

Tell us a little more and we can advise you

Charlie

 

[Miss grey]

Hi Charlie, I travel 2 miles to work and 2 miles back every day, but travel occasionally further when we was allowed. My partner used it to travel to and from work recently approx 80 miles 5 days a week for 3 weeks, my glow plugs blew and a light bulb, not sure if just coincidence or related to battery issue!? Start stop works only when the car has warmed up to normal, so doesn't engage on my short travel to work. Sorry I have no more info other than that, as it just seems a battery drain or dud batteries as the garage where I purchased it from seems to think.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi.

Glowplugs need a fair bit of power.. could you tell us more about the bulb and plugs?

Charlie

 

[Miss grey]

Ok I'll try. The bulb that blew was the daytime running light on front passenger side. Simple replacement I assume. The glow plugs, I was told at my local repair shop were either 5 vault or 12 vault, he said if they were 5 vaults they cant be tested as they would all just blow, if they were 12 he could test, anyhow they turned out to be 5 vaults one had blown therefore I had the set replaced. I had however been told by my partner that they should have a life expectancy of 100,000 miles but car has done 39,000. I would assume the UK is not cold enough to have glow plug issues, but not sure just an assumption.

 

[varesecrazy]

hi again.

The glow plugs are heated when you first start the engine..
In many disels it will cover 100 miles once running

It sounds like yours is doing less than 5


A rule of thumb.. used to be..

The engine had to run for 20 minutes to replace the energy in the battery used to start the engine

People do tend to note battery charge issues (power steering faults) who only do short trips..
A decent run will alleviate that.. but of course that isnt always practical.

It might be worth getting the possibilty of the battery being drained through a faulty component ruled out properly

See this GUIDE regarding 'parasitic drain'

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

Charlie

 

[Miss grey]

Hi thanks for feedback. I'd had recovery out again this morning and he seemed to think that it's because I'm not going far, however as I said before it's never caused issues with others cars I've owned doing the same distance, however they were petrol not diesel, this is my first diesel car, maybe it's my bad food going with diesel.maybe need to investigate a little more.

 

[Alanw47]

Not necessarily directly related to this post but I had similar issues with my 2.0 MJ with the current restrictions on going places, short journeys leading to battery problems, the 500X seemingly quite sensitive once the voltage drops below 11.5 volts.

I resolved it quite easily and cheaply with a solar panel trickle charger recommended by the AA. Problem sorted, no more flat batteries or dashboards full of warning lights.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi thanks for feedback. I'd had recovery out again this morning and he seemed to think that it's because I'm not going far, however as I said before it's never caused issues with others cars I've owned doing the same distance, however they were petrol not diesel, this is my first diesel car, maybe it's my bad food going with diesel.maybe need to investigate a little more.

To be frank.. diesels like miles..

Your car will have a DPF ( SOOT TRAP ) DieselParticulate Filter

This is a filter in the cars exhaust that catches dirty particles in the exhaust gases ( all diesels since 2010 are required to have them.. )

To Clean itself.. it pumps extra fuel into the engine.. and under certain conditions will set off a reaction that gets the DPF very HOT.. burning off the soot

People who have DPF problems tend to be the same ones who do little trips

Alans suggestion of a solar chsrger is a good one.. and certainly highlights that the Alarm and other kit that is constantly running out of view take their toll on the battery

Food for thought..

Charlie

 

[Alanw47]

Just in case you were in any doubt, it does not need bright sunshine to work, British Standard Daylight is quite sufficient.

 

[varesecrazy]

Just in case you were in any doubt, it does not need bright sunshine to work, British Standard Daylight is quite sufficient.

I had one in my 1.9 diesel estate when it got used 6 times a year.. worked fine.. cost @£12

 

[johnnypasta]

First post.
I'm at my wits end, I bought a 500x 1 year ago and have had nothing but issues with the battery. It has had 4 new batteries and been recovered 4 other times. It seems as though it is draining every 6 weeks or so. They said the alternator is doing its job and put it down to dud batteries so put new ons on from a different supplier. I don't travel far and have been told its down to this, but surely a 16 plate car should not die after not being run far, I find this difficult to accept that by only driving a few miles a day would cause my car to just not start, if this is the case then I find this of very poor quality as never had problem with any other car I've purchased before. Anybody shed any light on it for me please?

Hi,
I'm not sure if you've sorted your problem out but I'd thought I'd throw in a suggestion!
Maybe as an experiment you could disconnect the Intelligent Battery Sensor ( IBS!) It's fitted to the negative terminal of the car's battery and just unclips off. It might be that this sensor is playing up and giving the car's computer wrong information about the voltage state of the battery and therefore not giving it enough charge when running. I'd imagine if you disconnect the IBS, eventually the "Start Stop Unavailable" light will come on but don't I wouldn't worry about as it sounds like it doesn't come on anyway on your journey.
If you can, I'd recharge the battery up first just so you have a starting point ( no pun intended !)

 

[easygoing]

I have same problem on a 16 reg car battery drains been like it from new been back to fiat garage said nothing wrong with it. Now it's over three old they said it's got a drain on it which was easy to check but I refuse to pay to have it looked at when car had the same problem from day one. Using car every day its fine stop start works I've only changed the battery the day the warranty run out if I go away for a few days it won't start I have argued with both garage and who offered to make a contribution to costs. I know just take negative lead off as it clicks off and on easy no tools required not the best fix. I have traced it down to a drain from body control computer but can't find any information about the plugs on back of unit.

 

[Miss grey]

I created this post 10 months ago, I still have the problem, it has had another 2 new batteries on it since as I keep getting told that its a battery thing, its now in a fiat dealership who have just informed me that they can't find anything wrong, battery tested good, hence they can't fix whats not broken.... the saga continues.....

 

[varesecrazy]

Quite a few people on smaller FIAT vehicles finding the Blue and Me is draining batteries..

Worth checking..

 

[Franklux]

Hi,
I had this problem. The battery is flat in the morning, drive the car after a jump start. get to office, car is ok but next morning - same again. Fiat changed the battery - no better.

Went back 3 times. They then fixed it by replacing an 'earth strap' which apparently wasn't allowing the battery to deliver full current to the starter.
All good since (over a year ago)

 

[GdSmrtn]

I created this post 10 months ago, I still have the problem, it has had another 2 new batteries on it since as I keep getting told that its a battery thing, its now in a fiat dealership who have just informed me that they can't find anything wrong, battery tested good, hence they can't fix whats not broken.... the saga continues.....

Just wondering if you ever had any luck or even still have the car, Yesterday I worked with a 500x which had a small drain of 0.15Amps, the drain disappeared when pulling out fuse F36 15A which controls audio, heater, a/c, interior lights and USB port, the cause of this drain turned out to be the USB port in the centre console.

There is a small gap behind the port so it can be unplugged without having to remove any trims, if you can try unplugging that For a couple of weeks and see how you get on.

 

[Ralf S.]

Yes.. something is draining the battery and it's not a battery problem.

The Younger Mrs S. 500 does a couple of short trips a day (4 miles each) and doesn't have any problems, even with the smallest battery spec'd for her car . Her S&S no longer switches off the engine (it worked fine when it gets charged up on a few long trips) so it knows to be careful, but it starts on S&S if she stalls it.

It's worth testing the alternator output. With the engine running at a fast idle (1500rpm) the voltage across the terminals (if you have a voltmeter) should be 14.5 volts. If it's significantly less than that, then the alternator is not charging the battery enough, so it will go flat.

You can do an "analogue"/caveman test by parking the car up against a wall with the lights on and revving the engine from idle. If the lights get brighter, then that also suggests an alternator (regulator/rectifier) issue..

But you car is 40k old and the alternator is Japanese so it's unlikely to be wonky.

Do you have an aftermarket stereo, reversing sensors, seat warmer, personal electrical items, etc. wired in to the car? If so, try disconnecting them and see whether that stops the drain.

Otherwise, check that the interior lights are all going off (any in the boot, or inside the car). Make sure they go out after any delay period. The boot light (if you have one) can be tested by folding the seat down so you can see it through a window.



Ralf S.

 

[cowabunga]

I've read the comments and as others infer its very unlikely to be the battery but a drain somewhere on the battery.

I have one more possible suggestion.

I bought my 66 plate in 2017, 8 months old, 11 miles on the clock. Used it a bit at first and then it sat for a couple of weeks. I went to open and it was a dead as a dodo, I couldnt even open the doors on the central locking. Came on here at the time and read comments and early battery failures seemed commonplace.

The car was towed to a Fiat garage, changed the battery, and I believe said the old software was a bit dodgy, and sometimes even with the car closed, ignition off, the radio could activate on/off at random by itself. After a software update mine has been fine since.

Something to consider perhaps?