General Fiat 500 twin air 0.9 2014

[Ceri1983]

Hi there I have a Fiat500 0.9 twin 2014 plate .I have had the car since dec 2019 it was fine until just before this Christmas cold weather it wouldn’t start .jump started it and engine light come on .It went into the garage and they done an oil change and spark plugs and diagnostics and give me the car back and said see how it goes that was 3 weeks ago since then the battery has gone flat twice .once just needed jump starting the second time it started fine was driving. For ten mins and then the start stop kicked in and everything went dead .today I went to Halfords and had a battery fitted and they told me the voltage from the alternator is not right the car is currently running but don’t know where to go to from here ?would you suggest a normal garage or a Fiat specialist?or has anyone had similar problems

 

[The Panda Nut]

Just see if the new battery does the trick. I expect it might. If you access to a volt meter it should settle quite quickly at 14.2 - 14.4. If it does so you are probably good to go. I find it un likely it will not be this. If you can have all the electrical things switched on with the engine ticking over at idle and the lights are bright your alternator will be OK. It really sounds like failing battery to me. I had two Pandas battery fails a few weeks back. Both went flat, ran OK after charging for a few days, then failed completely. Both now fine with new batteries.

 

[Cornish Ian]

Hi there I have a Fiat500 0.9 twin 2014 plate .I have had the car since dec 2019 it was fine until just before this Christmas cold weather it wouldn’t start .jump started it and engine light come on .It went into the garage and they done an oil change and spark plugs and diagnostics and give me the car back and said see how it goes that was 3 weeks ago since then the battery has gone flat twice .once just needed jump starting the second time it started fine was driving. For ten mins and then the start stop kicked in and everything went dead .today I went to Halfords and had a battery fitted and they told me the voltage from the alternator is not right the car is currently running but don’t know where to go to from here ?would you suggest a normal garage or a Fiat specialist?or has anyone had similar problems

Depends how much you trust Halfords saying the alternator was giving the wrong voltage. Do as the Panda nut suggests and check the voltage when running. If you haven’t a multimeter it would be a good investment. They can be bought for little money, easy to use and I’m sure you would get plenty of advice here if you are unsure about anything.
The problem is that although a new battery might solve your issue short term if your alternator is supplying a voltage that is too high or too low it’s likely to be detrimental to your new battery’s longevity.

 

[John202020]

Bluetooth killing battery?
Disconnect the Bluetooth module in the rear passenger door panel?

 

[Ceri1983]

Just see if the new battery does the trick. I expect it might. If you access to a volt meter it should settle quite quickly at 14.2 - 14.4. If it does so you are probably good to go. I find it un likely it will not be this. If you can have all the electrical things switched on with the engine ticking over at idle and the lights are bright your alternator will be OK. It really sounds like failing battery to me. I had two Pandas battery fails a few weeks back. Both went flat, ran OK after charging for a few days, then failed completely. Both now fine with new batteries.

Thanks for the info Halfords said even with the new battery the voltage is to high or to low so have booked in a local garage again to see what’s going on as scared of breaking down again

 

[Ceri1983]

Depends how much you trust Halfords saying the alternator was giving the wrong voltage. Do as the Panda nut suggests and check the voltage when running. If you haven’t a multimeter it would be a good investment. They can be bought for little money, easy to use and I’m sure you would get plenty of advice here if you are unsure about anything.
The problem is that although a new battery might solve your issue short term if your alternator is supplying a voltage that is too high or too low it’s likely to be detrimental to your new battery’s longevity.

Thankyou for the information I’m useless with cars and wouldn’t know where to begin with testing it ,my dad always sorted my cars out but passed away it’s booked into my local garage for them to test find out what’s wrong

 

[The Panda Nut]

Thanks for the info Halfords said even with the new battery the voltage is to high or to low so have booked in a local garage again to see what’s going on as scared of breaking down again

See if there is someone on the MES register near you and use the private messaging on here to ask for assistance. My car appeared too low, but when switched off the car is doing tjhings with its computer. Ours seems to be slow finding its level. If you have any doubts seek a second opinion. A voltage test takes a very very short time to complete. 5 minutes should do this. I have my doubts about Halfords having bee misled by them several times - unwittingly rather than deliberate but there is a question over how accurate they are.....