General Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

[D4nny8oy]

DC, can't offer any advice re the S/S but other 1.2 owners all state that the MPG and performance improves once you have a few thousand miles on the clock.

Exactly- was the other 500 also brand-new and still tight? I notice a huge difference in performance when driving any Fiat after the first/second service and a car on PDI. And if your S/S isn't working 100% then you won't see a great benefit.

We've sold a large number now, with only a couple having an issue which was quickly sorted. Make a detailed list of when it happens and the conditions under which the fault occurs and it will help the Dealer pin-point the issue much quicker.

 

[306maxi]

I just can't believe this. I had so many problems getting my 500, and now this! I originaly ordered a car without S&S last year, but the dealer placed the order wrong so after waiting 8 months for it, the wrong car arrived. Eventually, after a very long battle with them and Fiat, they ordered me a new car which I now have. Unfortunately, because it's now 2010, it came with S&S, which I didn't even want, but I accepted because they didn't charge me for it.

About 3 weeks after I got the car I started getting the 'Start & Stop Unavailable' message popping up at random intervals, occasionally with the generic warning light as well. I'm not using the S&S much, but on most of the occasions where I have the car has just stalled on me. Then at the weekend I started the car up on a warm sunny morning, and all of the warning lights came on, the car spluttered away violently for a while and stalled. I was shocked. A brand new car should not be behaving like this!

The whole thing reminds me of the problems I had with my old Fiat Cinquecento, which I'm starting to seriously regret getting rid of!!

Fiat have always had a bad reputation when it comes to electrics, but the 500 was supposed to throw off all of that bad press. Obviously they've tried to run before they can walk with this S&S.

I'm so disappointed. I've been waiting to have a lovely, new, working car since I originally placed my order in September 2009. It's beyond a joke now, isn't it?

:Edit: As far as fuel conumption goes, I have been able to directly compare with and without S&S because I was driving a 1.2 POP with the exact spec (The previous car had a fixed glass roof and the new one has an opening roof) without S&S while I was waiting for this one. I drove exactly the same route to work each morning and back again. The MPG is almost exactly the same. The car with S&S feels heavier to drive and less powerful. I don't know if the extra weight is from the opening roof or the S&S or a bit of both, but it seems to be dragging a lot more, which is using any fuel saved by the S&S. It's not worth it, and I wish I didn't have it.

You also have wider tyres on a lounge or S&S compared to a pop.

 

[Puo Bear]

I picked my 500C up on Thursday and the start stop hasn't worked at all yet. I thought at first it was because the engine was new or the battery wasn't fully charged but it's done 300 miles now and still nothing. No warning lights, I was starting to think maybe they ordered me the wrong model and it doesn't have start stop but when I press the start stop off button on the dash I get the icon with the line through it and then when I press again I get a message "start stop activated". Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? It couldn't be because I have my I Pod plugged into the 12V socket could it? There does seem to be a very long list of circumstances where it won't work.

 

[Ulpian]

OK. Totally vague me I'm afraid, but I read a review a short time ago comparing the 500 s&s with other eco cars and the tester said that the s&s hadn't saved any fuel and anyway hadn't kicked in. Sorry not to remember the place I saw this, but the point is, this inaction seems to be commonplace.

So don't worry. It doesn't make any difference anyway, except to political green correctness. At the best of times the fuel saving would be minimal.

 

[Janep1]

It won't work if it's using too much power on anything else so your ipod could be stopping it.

Mine kicks in all the time and can be quite annoying especially when you've only stopped for a second in traffic before moving on again and the engine cuts out and then immediately restarts itself even before it's properly cut out!

So maybe if it doesn't save any fuel anyway, you're not really missing out on much.

 

[digimonsta]

...Eventually, Fiat have said that this is caused by driving style (!!!) ... Anyone had this explanation given to them for start and stop problems?

I had precisely the same explanation given to me after 5 visits to the dealer. At a busy junction, or crawling in traffic (especially on a hill), I would probably be inclined to hold the car at biting point for a few seconds. The car would register a fault which would, often take up to a week to clear before SS was available once more.

However, since adapting my driving style to the car, I haven't had a re-occurrence of the fault. When learning to drive, we are after all taught not to ride the clutch and to apply the handbrake and put the car into neutral. It's not ideal in real-life, but works. Personally I think the SS system would suit an automatic far better.

 

[keeforelli]

It won't work if it's using too much power on anything else so your ipod could be stopping it.

Mine kicks in all the time and can be quite annoying especially when you've only stopped for a second in traffic before moving on again and the engine cuts out and then immediately restarts itself even before it's properly cut out!

So maybe if it doesn't save any fuel anyway, you're not really missing out on much. [/



perhaps mine works perfectly then?.....will work after about 5 mins driving, in any weather or temperature, with pretty much any electrical item going, including the air con!.......it only kicks the engine in after a couple of minutes of not moving...

went round burger king yesterday and the S/S worked perfectly even as i was waiting ages for my food!

its strange the amount of disparity experienced here- maybe as i had the original S/S model as a trim level, plus an update, its begun to work as supposed to?

oh, and you DO have to change your driving style, as with ANY car with S/S...

 

[Janep1]

Sorry - I meant that it does work all the time, ie the engine cuts out when the car has stopped. But as most of my driving is in city traffic, sometimes you are not stopped for very long before moving on again, so it has to restart itself as soon as it's stopped. At traffic lights etc, it's fine and waits patiently until the lights go green before starting up again!

 

[D4nny8oy]

I picked my 500C up on Thursday and the start stop hasn't worked at all yet. I thought at first it was because the engine was new or the battery wasn't fully charged but it's done 300 miles now and still nothing. No warning lights, I was starting to think maybe they ordered me the wrong model and it doesn't have start stop but when I press the start stop off button on the dash I get the icon with the line through it and then when I press again I get a message "start stop activated". Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? It couldn't be because I have my I Pod plugged into the 12V socket could it? There does seem to be a very long list of circumstances where it won't work.

Are you keeping your foot on the clutch when stationary? Gearlever needs to be in neutral before it will 'stop'.

If there is a reason why it can't 'stop' (an I Pod wouldn't cause an issue) it will display "start/stop unavailable" on the dash.

 

[D4nny8oy]

Sorry - I meant that it does work all the time, ie the engine cuts out when the car has stopped. But as most of my driving is in city traffic, sometimes you are not stopped for very long before moving on again, so it has to restart itself as soon as it's stopped. At traffic lights etc, it's fine and waits patiently until the lights go green before starting up again!

If you're only going to be stationary for a few seconds, leave it in-gear with the clutch fully depressed and it'll continue running.

 

[Puo Bear]

Are you keeping your foot on the clutch when stationary? Gearlever needs to be in neutral before it will 'stop'.

If there is a reason why it can't 'stop' (an I Pod wouldn't cause an issue) it will display "start/stop unavailable" on the dash.

I have read, reread and rereread the manual and I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything right, am waiting for a call back from my dealer :bang: Am getting no warning lights/error messages.

 

[keeforelli]

I have read, reread and rereread the manual and I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything right, am waiting for a call back from my dealer :bang: Am getting no warning lights/error messages.

so when the car is warm...on pulling up to a stop, you release the clutch, and the engine always keeps running?

 

[Puo Bear]

yes it never stops. I spoke to the garage this morning and they wondered if maybe for some mad reason it didn't have start stop but it must have because I get the activated/deactivated message. Anyway they are looking at it this afternoon, will let you know what they say.

 

[keeforelli]

yes it never stops. I spoke to the garage this morning and they wondered if maybe for some mad reason it didn't have start stop but it must have because I get the activated/deactivated message. Anyway they are looking at it this afternoon, will let you know what they say.

bizarre...

 

[HWaight]

I also have this problem. I picked up my 10 plate Fiat 500 in April and since then, have had it at garage three times. There was no power in the vehicle since day one and then the stop/start technology kept cutting out and the warning light would come on.

The first time I took it into the garage, they said that they would need to car all day as the battery had to be charged! Why, on a brand new car, was the battery not fully charged? I use the car daily. They also said that there was a loose connection from the gear box which was causing the problems with the s/s. They insisted that the car had been "quality controlled" before I took the car home and that it was not sorted.

The car seemed ok when I drove it home. It had a lot more power than it had had since I bought it and the s/s technology seemed ok.

However, the next morning when driving to work, the s/s stopped working and was saying it was unavailable. I contacted the garage and they insisted that I was doing something wrong as they had tested it several times the previous day.

I asked my husband to take it out and he had the same problems.

All power has now gone again and the warning lights/no s/s are back.

Its booked into the garage for tomorrow so will keep you informed!

 

[Puo Bear]

my garage checked it out today and said it was working perfectly, they say that 90% of problems with the start stop are user error (hey don't shoot the messenger!:shrug They also said it was probably because I had the AC on, even though I swore blind it didn't have AC! Oh well, I will learn how to use it eventually I guess, or give up!

On the plus side, the garage balanced the wheels for me which should have been done at the factory but apparently hadn't. That would explain the violent shaking at 60mph.

 

[D4nny8oy]

If you're still unsure of how to work it, get either a Tech or Salesperson to go out with you and see where you're going wrong.

Are you sure it hasn't got A/C? You wouldn't be the first person to not realise the fan speed knob pushes in and lights up the snowflake symbol to activate the A/C.

 

[D4nny8oy]

I also have this problem. I picked up my 10 plate Fiat 500 in April and since then, have had it at garage three times. There was no power in the vehicle since day one and then the stop/start technology kept cutting out and the warning light would come on.

The first time I took it into the garage, they said that they would need to car all day as the battery had to be charged! Why, on a brand new car, was the battery not fully charged? I use the car daily. They also said that there was a loose connection from the gear box which was causing the problems with the s/s. They insisted that the car had been "quality controlled" before I took the car home and that it was not sorted.

The car seemed ok when I drove it home. It had a lot more power than it had had since I bought it and the s/s technology seemed ok.

However, the next morning when driving to work, the s/s stopped working and was saying it was unavailable. I contacted the garage and they insisted that I was doing something wrong as they had tested it several times the previous day.

I asked my husband to take it out and he had the same problems.

All power has now gone again and the warning lights/no s/s are back.

Its booked into the garage for tomorrow so will keep you informed!

They can view (and print off) a detailed list of all the parameters involved in the operation of S/S, and data showing how many times it has failed and the reasons why. It helps to prove if it's a vehicle fault or driver error.

It's possible the battery is faulty and not holding charge- it won't 'stop' if the system is not sure it will be able to 'start' again. The parameters will show this if it is the case.

 

[RobinPJ]

A quick question - does the stop 'n' start problem occur in cars with the Dualogic automatic gearbox? The supposed cause of this problem should mean that it would not happen on Dualogic cars, but having read all the way through this thread (phew) I don't recall seeing any reference to this.

Can anyone shed any light?

 

[D4nny8oy]

A quick question - does the stop 'n' start problem occur in cars with the Dualogic automatic gearbox? The supposed cause of this problem should mean that it would not happen on Dualogic cars, but having read all the way through this thread (phew) I don't recall seeing any reference to this.

Can anyone shed any light?

Good point, and helps to show the problem is related to people slipping the clutch/holding it at the biting point for too long which causes the confusion in the system.

Of the (few) cars we've had back with issues (and fixed), non have been dualogic models.