General Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

[allan1954]

what do you guys get to gallon on your fiat 500 my car has 1.495 miles getting about 45 mind this is not looking at the trip computer.this is local and distance driving i know that when you get a few thousand more miles on the clock it might improve.this is a petrol car also does the car have a screw on oil filter.

 

[RobinPJ]

With our 1.2, as low as 35 when it is being used for its main diet of 4 times a day school runs in a very traffic riddled town. It is also driven mainly by my wife who is not what you'd call sympathetic to cars (or husbands for that matter).

On the rare occasions when it gets longer runs that can improve to about your level, or higher if I am very careful. Plenty of outhers on here are significantly more frugal than I am though.

**FRA**

 

[Super Uwe]

thanks but the other dealer i rang and told him the problem he said it is normal stop start not to work he said it is probaly the battery.i said do you want the warranty work on my car he said no as they over loaded with work and i would have to wait for about 5 weeks before i could get a apointment.i said if i bought my car in in 5 weeks would he have a courtsey car as i needed it for work he said no courtsey cars customers only that buy there cars from them. it is possible to live with out stop start but you know when you buy new you expect every thing to work.

Really sorry to hear this Allan. Totally unacceptable based on what you've said here (the bit in bold is particularly bad).

As I mentioned before, I think your only option is to give Customer Services a ring and fill them in with the whole story. Then they can get in touch with the dealer and tell them to sort it out for you rather than just fobbing you off with p*** poor excuses.

 

[AdrianB]

Well, I have to say what excellent service I received today from the Fiat dealer at Cirencester, Gloucestershire. We took our 500 there to have the stop/start warning lights problem diagnosed and they gave it a computer 'Health Check' and showed us a printout diagnosis on what caused the problem. Primary cause was the low battery charge from being sat in the dealer's showroom for months without being driven. Second reason was that if you start the car before putting your seat belt on, this will also cause the stop/start warning lights to come on! Apparently I had been guilty of this 128 times since purchased, according to the computer print-out. However I hasten to add that the car did not move before I put my seat belt on, just started! Our Looby-Loo is just fine now!

 

[The Littlest Hobo]

I can't see too much of a problem with the courtesy car thing tbh.

Dealership is not our personal charity. A courtesy fleet costs a lot of money to run and if you didn't buy the car from the dealership in question you have already demonstrated you willingness to go elsewhere. A good business practice is too look after your loyal customer base 1st. Too much these days is geared towards searching for new business to the detriment of existing customers.

So you are bringing in a warranty job which will need loads of diagnostic work due to the nature of the fault. It will most likely cost the dealer to carry out the work because fiat will pay for what's wrong and a token amount of diagnostic work. AND you guys are moaning about a courtesy car.

If they are booked up for 5 wks it sounds like they are busy enough with work that will earn them money and don't need to chase your work. What about the dealer you bought it from?

 

[RUI]

I can't see too much of a problem with the courtesy car thing tbh.

Dealership is not our personal charity. A courtesy fleet costs a lot of money to run and if you didn't buy the car from the dealership in question you have already demonstrated you willingness to go elsewhere. A good business practice is too look after your loyal customer base 1st. Too much these days is geared towards searching for new business to the detriment of existing customers.

So you are bringing in a warranty job which will need loads of diagnostic work due to the nature of the fault. It will most likely cost the dealer to carry out the work because fiat will pay for what's wrong and a token amount of diagnostic work. AND you guys are moaning about a courtesy car.

If they are booked up for 5 wks it sounds like they are busy enough with work that will earn them money and don't need to chase your work. What about the dealer you bought it from?

And all of that is exactly what is wrong with Fiat dealers they do not care about customers of the brand. You should work for them you would fit in no problem

 

[The Littlest Hobo]

Rui where did I state that they shouldn't care about customers of the brand. I said their priority should be to existing customers who have purchased from them. I reckon i have therefore asked for fiat customers to be the priority, have i not? Not enough of that these days.

Now Allan, I don't know your dealer so can't comment on if he is an a hole . I have read around this forum that it doesn't seem to be a straightforward fix on the Ss system. My load of rubbish is entirely correct laddie. The manufacturer will pay labour rate for fixing or replacing the malfunctioning part. It may take half a dozen things to be removed and checked to diagnose this at a lower than retail labour rate. I suspect fiat aren't as bad as Mercedes in that they do cross reference any multiple parts being used to repair one issue. At merc if you think it's a part that needs replaced and it turns out incorrect, you will be answering questions why and possibly rejected. This is why diagnosing issues is very important.

 

[robertt]

Morning all,

I've just recently bought a 1.2 Lounge (3 weeks ago) and experienced this problem for the first time yesterday upon starting the car after leaving it parked all day as usual.

In addition to the start/stop deactivated light being on, I also see the general warning "!" triangle light AND the orange engine light. The messages I get are "START STOP UNAVAILABLE" and "CHECK ENGINE".

Is this what everybody else is seeing or should I contact my dealer before driving the car again?

Up until now I've been really impressed with the start/stop. I had a long drive on Sunday and was in a lot of stop and go slow motorway (ironic, isn't it?!) traffic on the way home - with aircon on - but had the clutch depressed most of time (not riding it - fully depressed while still in gear, brake depressed) and wasn't really 'using' start/stop. Can't imagine that would be an issue.

Stoping and restarting the car didn't help - the lights came on straight away, before I engaged reverse.

What do you think?

 

[Mercky]

. Second reason was that if you start the car before putting your seat belt on, this will also cause the stop/start warning lights to come on!

Cant believe this is the case, there is no logical reason to interlock SS and seatbelts surely. Can anyone else confirm this or is it more bizzarre software design from fiat / bosch?

 

[chas379]

Morning all,

I've just recently bought a 1.2 Lounge (3 weeks ago) and experienced this problem for the first time yesterday upon starting the car after leaving it parked all day as usual.

In addition to the start/stop deactivated light being on, I also see the general warning "!" triangle light AND the orange engine light. The messages I get are "START STOP UNAVAILABLE" and "CHECK ENGINE".

Is this what everybody else is seeing or should I contact my dealer before driving the car again?

Up until now I've been really impressed with the start/stop. I had a long drive on Sunday and was in a lot of stop and go slow motorway (ironic, isn't it?!) traffic on the way home - with aircon on - but had the clutch depressed most of time (not riding it - fully depressed while still in gear, brake depressed) and wasn't really 'using' start/stop. Can't imagine that would be an issue.

Stoping and restarting the car didn't help - the lights came on straight away, before I engaged reverse.

What do you think?

My TA Lounge experienced the same (warning lights and S/S unavailable).

First time it was checked out by dealership they indicated the battery charge level was low and rectified same.

A couple of weeks later it happened again but the engine was running very 'lumpy'. Dealership found one of the 2 coil packs had failed.

This was replaced and to date the S/S has behaved perfectly.

 

[robertt]

My TA Lounge experienced the same (warning lights and S/S unavailable).

First time it was checked out by dealership they indicated the battery charge level was low and rectified same.

A couple of weeks later it happened again but the engine was running very 'lumpy'. Dealership found one of the 2 coil packs had failed.

This was replaced and to date the S/S has behaved perfectly.

Thanks chas379

I called the dealer and was told that the newest models display the engine warning light also to indicate that there has been an error - possibly caused by me riding the clutch after all (hm, not sure there) or something else it didn't 'like' I was also told that it should reset itself after 3 starts so I'll see. They've said I can take it in if I wish and they'll check it over so no problems with their level of willingness to help.

Apart from that the car is driving fine. I'll give it a day or two and see if it's reset!

 

[bgunn]

I had occasional funny issues with S&S (put down to not using the car much), when I took the car in for its service yesterday they told me that it came under campaign 5589 (Ign coils needed replacement) - these have been done and the car seems sweeter and smoother on idle and startup, and S&S seems much more reliable than ever.

Otherwise, the car had a completely clean bill of health.

 

[robertt]

Well, lo and behold: Upon starting the car for the fourth time after first seeing the warning lights come on yesterday (i.e. fourth time with a fair time interval between starts - I doubt if it'd work if you just stop and start the engine four times in succession ), no warning lights and S/S back to working beautifully.

I guess the car was trying to tell me I need to change my ways in motorway traffic jams!

I find this whole S/S thing pretty fascinating: The system does seem to have some intelligent programming built into it and it's an interesting experience getting to know how it works - and working with the car. Most people don't think about how they drive and how it effects economy or even wear and tear. Let's see how it goes over time!

 

[loveshandbags]

I find this whole S/S thing pretty fascinating: The system does seem to have some intelligent programming built into it and it's an interesting experience getting to know how it works - and working with the car. Most people don't think about how they drive and how it effects economy or even wear and tear. Let's see how it goes over time!

Haven't heard that before. LOL. I like the 'bit' where it cuts out and then starts again after a few moments when it thinks it low on battery power.

 

[robertt]

Haven't heard that before. LOL. I like the 'bit' where it cuts out and then starts again after a few moments when it thinks it low on battery power.

Precisely! Believe me, that takes some intelligent programming - much better than cutting out and staying that way while you get embarrassed at the traffic lights Agreed, it would be better if it didn't cut out at all in those situations but mine doesn't cut out if I'm in stop/start traffic for more than a few stop/start 'operations'.

No, really: Work with it. Apart from the ignition coils problem, it sounds like there really aren't any real problems with the system - more features that need to be fully understood... We people most likely just don't like to be 'told' how we should drive

 

[Ricard]

What a fantastic resource forums like this are, we can share experiences.

My stop-start is working fine though I doubt it's down to the expertise of the dealer and his mechanics who sold me the 500 and whilst all this time-wasting bitching is going on-on this thread i've been desperate to share stuff about my Ducato wheel bearings, or Fiat wheel bearings on another thread, but no-one responds.

 

[Andy Monty]

Well, as suggested, my wife has been giving our Fiat 500 a good run to and from her work all last week and no warning lights have come on! Great, I thought, solved...until I drove it today, reversed out of a parking slot in a car park and 'bingo', on come the 'S' crossed out and the Triangle warning lights again! Contacted my nearest Fiat dealer by e.mail and they immediately replied saying there is a Software Fix and to bring it in.
Considering our Fiat is only 18 months old, surely this problem shouldn't be still going on, as I have read forum posts on this issue going back to 2009?

read your handbook i get the start stop unavailable message when reversing..


ENGINE STOPPING FAILURE CONDITIONS
With the device activated, for reasons of comfort,
limiting emissions and safety, the engine does not
stop in certain conditions, including:
rengine still cold
rparticularly cold external temperatures, if the
corresponding indication is provided
rbattery not sufficiently charged
rheated rear window activated
rwindscreen wipers working at maximum speed
rparticulate filter regeneration in progress (diesel
engines only)
rdriver's door not shut
rdriver's seat belt not fastened
rreverse gear engaged (for example, for parking
manoeuvres)
rautomatic climate control, if a suitable thermal
comfort level has not yet been reached or to
enable MAX-DEF function;
rduring the first period of use, to initialise the
system.
In the above cases there is an information message in
the display and, where provided, the warning light
fig. 68 will flash on the instrument panel.

 

[william portchouse]

i have had to register a new name to post on here as i can not log in on my other user name i am sorry what i said about all you people on here the mods maxi robinpj venters jrkitchin and i did use a android tablet to register an other account i will leave.i got so angry about one thing and an other i will not cause chaos thanks allan1954 if you other i upset i will stay online to say i am sorry for all the arguments i caused.also stu i am sorry what i said about you.

 

[306maxi]

Allan ir whatever your name is, people were just trying to help. You don't need to apologise because at the end if the day your words didn't hurt me at all, as fir others, well I can't speak for them....

 

[bludvl_x19]

Well, I have been amused. Not likely to help in the future, seeing as my helpful pointers have been ignored


Posted from my iPod Touch, using a little care and the autocorrect feature built into just about every iDevice.

(Seriously, how hard is it?)