Technical Fiat 500 switches off - random warning messages - no rear lights

[Susie170911]

My fiat 500 has been starting and driving fine until last week - no warning lights or messages!

Last week whilst driving back from town my abs warning randomly came on wholst parked at lights it went off again but city mode kicked in even though I didn't press for it when I went round the next roundabout. Got the car home and tried to go out later. The car stater fine with no warning messages or lights but as soon as I tried to selected reverse to get off my drive the car cut out - screen went black for a few seconds and then came back on again with a series of warning messages including fuel cut off unavailable, start stop unavailable, check engine, check power steering. I turned off and restarted the car and no messages or lights came back up. I got the car into 1st and was able to pull it further forward on my drive but as soon as I touched the brake pedal it cut out again. Again screen went black and then came back on with random messages - including ones stated above and abs warning, temp warning, seatbelt warning. I turned off and back on all messages warnings were gone. I left the car to idle on the drive for a while to see if it might be a battery issue (it shouldn't be battery was only changed last year) it idled absolutely fine - went to put it into reverse and same thing happened again. Cut out and displayed random warnings. Each time they are random and different or add others in - it basically wants everything checking now - the dash it like a Christmas tree with lights! But switch off and on and the warnings disappear! I spoke to a friend who looked at the battery and he thinks battery is fine so he disconnected it for a while - reconnected it and now it does start up with warnings including check power steering, airbags and a couple of others. It will still idle and go into first gear but the second you touch the brake or go for reverse gear it cuts out. Someone suggested to me yesterday to check my rear brake lights as maybe an issue with wiring loom. Checked my lights last night and I have have no rear lights working at all and brake lights didnt come on when i pressed the brake pedal. The only ones that do are the indicators when locking / unlocking the car.

Sorry for the long post - has anyone else had this problem or have any ideas what it could be? Could it be the rear wiring loom? I should also say I had the blue and me module done last year as that broke. Checked it and it is working still at the min.

Thanks.

 

[mj2k]

I've not had it yet myself but that does sound like the tailgate loom has shorted out, from other descriptions.

So worth getting that checked / replaced as a start, once you've done obvious and low-cost things like checking the condition of the battery terminals for rust and replacing the battery.

 

[jackwhoo]

Definately get someone to look inside the rubber trunk going between top left of rear hatch and car body. Trunk can be seen with hatch open. The wires inside the trunk are a notorious problem, repair kits are available.

If not the above then could be -ve wire connecting battery to vehicle body , they can look ok but fail internally under insulation.

 

[Susie170911]

I've not had it yet myself but that does sound like the tailgate loom has shorted out, from other descriptions.

So worth getting that checked / replaced as a start, once you've done obvious and low-cost things like checking the condition of the battery terminals for rust and replacing the battery.

Thanks will see about getting it checked - the battery definitely shouldn't be the problem as less than 12 months old.

I had a nightmare with battery issues last year and had to replace twice in a short space of time due to drainage from blue and me module failing! So now very aware of the battery and making sure it's OK.

 

[Susie170911]

Definately get someone to look inside the rubber trunk going between top left of rear hatch and car body. Trunk can be seen with hatch open. The wires inside the trunk are a notorious problem, repair kits are available.

If not the above then could be -ve wire connecting battery to vehicle body , they can look ok but fail internally under insulation.

Thank you - don't suppose you know a rough idea of fixing it do you?

 

[Ralf S.]

Hopefully it is just the rear hatch wiring harness... since that is a bit of a nuisance but is not too difficult or expensive to fix.

There are replacement wiring loom repair kits available which are about £45 on eBay.

Some are better than others, coming complete (all the wires) and with the connectors already fitted etc. but in principle, an auto electrician or someone handy at crimping would only have to cut out the damaged wire(s) and replace the damaged section with a like-for-like new bit of wire.

You may want to replace all the wires regardless, on the basis that they could all be becoming frail and will likely go wrong soon too, if they're not actually going wrong now.. but theoretically you only need to replace the damaged wires.




Ralf S.

 

[A3jeroen]

And check the ground at the rearlightclusters.

gr J

 

[John202020]

Engine earth strap?
What age is the car?
Yep look at the hatch wiring
What happens if when idling you turn on the headlights? Does it stall

 

[Susie170911]

Engine earth strap?
What age is the car?
Yep look at the hatch wiring
What happens if when idling you turn on the headlights? Does it stall

It's a 61 plate - it idles fine with daylights on not tried it with full headlights on though

 

[Susie170911]

Update: just been to check the hatch wiring loom for any obvious damage before I get an electrical person to look at it - no wires hanging out and thr rubber casing is intact but when i pushed it slightly to check the underside I could hear slight intermittent buzzing from it! Does that point to a definite issue inside the rubber casing with the wires?

 

[jackwhoo]

Update: just been to check the hatch wiring loom for any obvious damage before I get an electrical person to look at it - no wires hanging out and thr rubber casing is intact but when i pushed it slightly to check the underside I could hear slight intermittent buzzing from it! Does that point to a definite issue inside the rubber casing with the wires?

The rubber trunk is not often damaged . The damage is to the wires inside trunk.

It definately should not be buzzing.

 

[John202020]

I would suggest disconnecting the battery before you investigate further and don't drive the car until you're certain of the fault, you don't want to fry say the abs computer?

 

[Susie170911]

I would suggest disconnecting the battery before you investigate further and don't drive the car until you're certain of the fault, you don't want to fry say the abs computer?

Thanks yeah I'm going to get someone to disconnect the battery later so we can have a proper look and I can't drive it anywhere at the min anyway as it cuts out the second you touch the brake!

 

[John202020]

Thanks yeah I'm going to get someone to disconnect the battery later so we can have a proper look and I can't drive it anywhere at the min anyway as it cuts out the second you touch the brake!

There's a quick disconnect lever on the black battery connector you just pull it "open" and lift off the connector/cable

 

[Texas149]

You might find that inside the rubber boot looks like this!!!