Technical Engine light and stop start unavailable while driving

[Hattersj]

Hi you lovely people.
I recently bought a ‘new to me’ qubo, 1.3 multijet, I think, with 70k miles on the clock, all seemed fine, though the battery was flat when I first tried it after not being used for a week. Having stalked this forum, I thought that might be the blue & me thingy so tried unplugging that, and the battery drain seems to have stopped. However the odometer is flashing (maybe because the battery was unplugged to charge), and after driving it for about 15 miles ,the engine light and start stop message comes up. Seemed to carry on driving fine, so carried on, and then when I restarted it again, a few day’s later, it was fine, for another 15 miles or so, when it happened again.
I’m a bit worried about wasting time and money going to a fiat dealer to just be subjected to expensive head scratching, and wondered if anyone else had had this experience. I was wondering if a new battery might help, but wasn’t sure why it would happen after driving (not in town)
I am sad as I was hoping for a similar quirky experience of fiats having had a Punto a few years ago, which I loved. Any suggestions appreciated, or advice of where to get diagnostics away from a main dealer.

 

[Noony]

Funnily enough I have a 2012 Qubo 1.3D which I have owned for 3 1/2 years with very little issues. Last Saturday I noticed my mileage flashing and no B&M and this morning the battery sounded almost flat (not started for nearly 2 days) but she did fire up, so when my Wife comes home later I am going to unplug B&M and then see how the battery fairs. I think I may book mine in to my local Fiat dealer (Rockingham Cars Corby), as they have been very reasonable on prices in the past. From what I understand it will need a new B&M unit under the drivers seat but I have no idea how much it will be. I will report once I know.

 

[Hattersj]

Funnily enough I have a 2012 Qubo 1.3D which I have owned for 3 1/2 years with very little issues. Last Saturday I noticed my mileage flashing and no B&M and this morning the battery sounded almost flat (not started for nearly 2 days) but she did fire up, so when my Wife comes home later I am going to unplug B&M and then see how the battery fairs. I think I may book mine in to my local Fiat dealer (Rockingham Cars Corby), as they have been very reasonable on prices in the past. From what I understand it will need a new B&M unit under the drivers seat but I have no idea how much it will be. I will report once I know.

Thank you, I’ll be interested to know what the quote is. I have seen people replace the unit with a preloved one, but not sure how that would be as it seems to be a common fault, so I’m assuming that wouldn’t take long to fail. I wouldn’t need it for the Bluetooth, I’ve never had it in a car so wouldn’t miss it, but if it affected other electrics it might be inconvenient. Corby is a bit far from me but it might be worth making the trip if it’s a great dealership.

 

[Noony]

Thank you, I’ll be interested to know what the quote is. I have seen people replace the unit with a preloved one, but not sure how that would be as it seems to be a common fault, so I’m assuming that wouldn’t take long to fail. I wouldn’t need it for the Bluetooth, I’ve never had it in a car so wouldn’t miss it, but if it affected other electrics it might be inconvenient. Corby is a bit far from me but it might be worth making the trip if it’s a great dealership.

Well I have just spoken to Rockingham Cars and they have said the unit will have to come from Italy on "special order" at a cost of £504 plus an hours labour for fitting, £617 in total including 2 years warranty. It comes from Italy pre programmed to my qubo so will need to be paid for in full when ordering.

I described the symptoms to the service man and he said the mileage flashing does indicate a drain on the battery when the ignition is off. I then told him that the battery does not drain when I unplug B&M to which he then said yes it sounds like a B&M failure.

So I am not sure weather to bite the bullet or frig the B&M off and get a new stereo instead that can do bluetooth and hands free calls.

Any stereo suggestions would be very helpful, I'd rather like a double din radio if possible.

 

[Hattersj]

Ouch!

 

[Noony]

Ouch is exactly what I thought. I really enjoy my Qubo but I am not sure I enjoy it that much, however, I do like my vehicles to be fully functional but we will have to see. Mine has only just covered 65K miles so, in theory, there should be many more years left in her yet.

 

[g8rpi]

Note that Blue and Me modules can be repaired. One ompany is:

Fiat Blue and Me Repair Service

Fiat Blue and Me Repair Service , No Bluetooth Connection , Blinking Cluster, odo flashing, Cannot Connect phone to the vehicle, Intermittent power

www.revtronic.com

I've NOT used this service and have no connection to them. As it is a repair to your module it does not need to be code to your car. It will need a proxi-alignment on refitting though.

Robert G8RPI.

 

[g8rpi]

I've had a look at Hattersj's Qubo. First time was clear faults and a proxi-alignment with MES to stop the un-plugged B&M causing faults. There was no Stop-Start failure apparent on this visit. The Stop-Start not available came back the next day so I had another look.
Intially no messages and no error codes. During invstigation with MES the The Stop-Start not available message came back on. This was engine idling, vehicle parked. Interestingly there were no error messges but the The Stop-Start function was set to temporarily disabled. This cleared on a power off cycle. After a bit of messing around with the laptop I finally did what I KNOW I should have done first - check the basics. The battery was at 12.6V at idle. It rose marginally with headlights on. Body and engine ECUs were reporting similar voltage. This is clearly too low. The Qubo (1.3D) has an "intelligent" alternor so the ECU can vary the charge voltage / rate. While trying to disconnect the battery sensor signal plug I found the clamp and sensor retated on the battery post. Not Good. I disconnected the negative cable quick disconnect and with a quick wiggle with bare fingers and the clamp & sensor came off the post! The "gap" on the clamp was fully closed suggesting it had not been pushed onto the post when it last tightned. This would have been when the new battery was fitted.
So signal cable unplugged, Clamp refitted properly and sensor cable plugged in. Wait 30 seconds then the power cable connected. The Qubo sarted ok with no errors on dash or MES. More importantly the battery voltage was now 13.6V rising to 13.9 with full beam on. Ran for a bit and no errors
I await further reports but a clear problem with measurable change when corrected looks like a fix.
Most important thing, check the basics first!

Robert G8RPI.