Presumably they gave you the correct spec battery?
General Calling all start 'n' stop owners!
- Thread starter JimR123
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General Calling all start 'n' stop owners!
thank you for actually investigating the problem yourself! 
thank you for actually investigating the problem yourself!
:yeahthat:
Well, sort of...
But why should anyone have to investigate this problem themselves?
It's a common issue; any half decent Fiat tech should know by now that a fully functional battery is the first requirement of the S/S system and that a quick drop test isn't enough to rule out the battery as a cause. Too many dealers are taking the cheap, easy way out and throwing all manner of half plausible excuses at the customer to avoid replacing weak batteries.
It's not like everyone routinely carries a digital voltmeter in their pocket.
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I agree, but it's still admirable that someone got off their arse, thought about it and did something to resolve the issue rather than posting angrily on a forum.
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
Haven't checked to be honest, but the dealer is highly professional and they know me pretty well by now
so I wouldn't expect them to pull a swifty.Haven't checked to be honest, but the dealer is highly professional and they know me pretty well by now
Good result, lets hope it stays working but it should do. I received my car 5 weeks after build date and SS has worked flawlessly now for 7 months. You get very used to it and it seems weird if you find yourself stopped with the engine still running!
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
Mine has worked so infrequently that I still get an unsettling qualm when it 'stalls' on me - I hope to get used to that!
Can you tell me how many miles you normally cover after starting the car? There was a suggestion that I wasn't driving far enought to recharge the battery.
You will get used to it. My daily commute is about 25 miles but it works pretty much all the time once car has warmed up, I rarely use AC so theres never very much load on the battery
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
My commute is about half that but I'd still expect it to be enough, especially in our warmer climate. Don't want to try your patience but I have another query... When the S/S first begins to operate on a trip does it stop and restart after a few seconds with the interval getting longer each time or does it stay stopped until you move off the first time it operates?
No worries, it seems to stay stopped, I dont get the restart after about 20 secs syndrome if thats what you mean? It will restart as designed after about 3 mins though.
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
Yes, that's what I was getting at - when mine has operated at all it'd restart after a few seconds (even one!) and, if I kept on driving, the interval would get longer as time went on. They tried to tell me that was normal of course. Now I can see it was the crook battery.
I wonder how many people out there have been conned into thinking that's normal and just live with it...
G'night and thanks.
If all is as it should be, It'll start working once you've got a quarter way up the bars on the temperature gauge, and stay stopped for the full 3 minutes right from the off.
Cutting in early, with a progressively lengthening time stopped as your journey progresses, is a sure sign of a duff battery.
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
This is what I suspected, and proved, at least to my satisfaction. I didn't mention earlier, but I had to laugh at one of the comments the service guy made concerning my 'ancillary' equipment (mainly a dashcam and the little plug-in voltmeter, which between them pull about 200mA max.); "You've got to realise it's a very small battery"!!!
The battery in a S/S 500 is rated at 600CCA - double that in our old 1.0L Daihatsu and equal to that in my Mazda B-Series ute. When I showed my independent mechanic my new car he was impressed by two things - the smallest turbo scroll he'd ever seen (he'd eaten bigger coffee scrolls!) and the "man-sized" battery!
ameliamphoto
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Hey guys...
I Googled this issue yday after my BRAND NEW '14 plate POP's (basic model) Stop Start was intermittent. I told parents and they said "When it gets hot it won't work because the fan needs to be on to keep the engine cool so engine needs to keep running to power the cooling fan"...I presume this is why. It's annoying as hell though and my car can't have been hot as it was off for 1hr??? I'm thinking of driving to my local Fiat garage...
I Googled this issue yday after my BRAND NEW '14 plate POP's (basic model) Stop Start was intermittent. I told parents and they said "When it gets hot it won't work because the fan needs to be on to keep the engine cool so engine needs to keep running to power the cooling fan"...I presume this is why. It's annoying as hell though and my car can't have been hot as it was off for 1hr??? I'm thinking of driving to my local Fiat garage...
Having just had our own Stop/Start fixed under warranty, and actually, just so it is clear, there was nothing wrong with the S/S, it was affected by a failed motor flap in the climate control which caused the S/S to function incorrectly, I would personally take it back to your dealer and let them have a look at it.
It could just be that the battery needs charging properly, or it might be an issue that can only be discovered diagnostically. Whatever, if it is a brand new car, don't start messing with it, don't even try disconnecting the battery leads and reconnecting, just let the dealer sort it.
It could just be that the battery needs charging properly, or it might be an issue that can only be discovered diagnostically. Whatever, if it is a brand new car, don't start messing with it, don't even try disconnecting the battery leads and reconnecting, just let the dealer sort it.
Take it back. The fan theory doesn't work. Fan only runs if the engine it working and the car is driving at low speeds and the radiator isn't getting an air flow. When stationary SS should kick in, and with the engine not running there will be no heat generated and no need for the fan to be running.
If the fan is constantly running then this is a fault also which needs investigating.
Like you've said, back to the dealership, as mentioned above though, the battery might just need a decent pulse charge
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
Very interesting UFI. It's only now that I think of it that I realise I've never heard my fan operate even when the car is simply idling in the driveway for a period. In any case I'd expect the S/S to operate even if it were - it works at night when the headlights, parking lights and heater fan are all on and surely together they'd draw more current than the cooling fan. Or would they?
Ricard
New member
I find it incredible that this problem persists after so many years.
Shame on Fiat.
Shame on Fiat.
