Technical New Battery dead, not charging..

[Peter Rawlings]

Hi,

It has been a while since being on the forum…but I have hit an issue and need some advice…

My car: Panda 4 x 4 Cross, twin air, 2016, 113,000 miles. MOT due 6.1.23

Car serviced by brilliant mechanic at local garage since 2019 (Fiat dealership over an hour away). The mechanic has done some excellent work on the car for the last three years, throughout the pandemic etc…so..

About 3 months ago the original battery died (at about 109k) and replaced by a new, high power battery. A month ago the new battery was flat after the car had stood on the drive for three days. Mechanic charged it to full, did a complete battery test: battery ok. He could not find the fault, believed that something was draining it but has not got the Fiat diagnostic kit needed to discover the problem. I decided to stop using stop/start and the car has been fine since then…until..I parked the car in the drive on Thursday and have not driven it since, so yesterday decided to scrape the snow off and just start it to run it a bit and clear the rest of the snow and ice. No start! The battery is completely dead again. I realise that it is very cold but this should not happen.

The mechanic is going to come later today or tomorrow to charge it up and take it back to the garage (just 750 metres away) to run his check on the battery and scratch his head again. Like me!

The Blue and Me unit failed 15 months ago but I decided to not replace it and the mileage is still being recorded for the MOT etc. Up until the original battery failed I had no electrical issues other than this and do not believe that this might be the cause of the battery drain, but wonder if I am correct? The car has been running fine except for this fault…

Ideas, suggestions, advice welcomed !

cheers

Pete

 

[Peter Rawlings]

An addendum……due to reading other threads about E5 v E10 petrol…..Well, I have been running on E10 since its introduction unaware of any issues at all…then last Thursday (when I last drove the car) I did put just £5 worth of E5 in as I had parked alongside this pump not realising until I had started to fill the tank…and after this filled the car with E10. Is the battery issue connected? I cannot see why it would be and think it only a coincidence….but more Panda wise heads than me might know otherwise?

 

[jrkitching]

The Blue and Me unit failed 15 months ago but I decided to not replace it

Has the Blue&Me unit been physically disconnected?

It's known that a failed Blue&Me unit can sometimes cause a permanent parasitic drain on the battery (even with the ignition off) if this isn't done. Physically unplugging the connector from the unit will stop the drain. Disabling it in MES isn't sufficient.

E5 vs E10 fuel is just a red herring in this case.

 

[Peter Rawlings]

Has the Blue&Me unit been physically disconnected?

It's known that a failed Blue&Me unit can sometimes cause a permanent parasitic drain on the battery (even with the ignition off) if this isn't done. Physically unplugging the connector from the unit will stop the drain. Disabling it in MES isn't sufficient.

E5 vs E10 fuel is just a red herring in this case.

This is so helpful, and so quick! Thanks.

No, Blue and Me has not been disconnected! A parasitic drain! Great phrase! And that surely must be the reason…so will notify the mechanic and ask him to do that when he takes the car back to his “warmer” garage.

i will post outcomes later.

Thanks so much.

Pete

 

[varesecrazy]

Do let us know what you find

 

[Peter Rawlings]

So Blue and Me disconnected and battery charged enough…hopefully it will still be ok in the morning!

I found a company that fixes the Blue and Me module for £95 so I will go this route in the new year…

Here is the link:

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

 

[varesecrazy]

Somebody used a Company on Morecambe Bay recently..

Similar pricing

Good to know these services exist

Charlie

 

[Panda IIs]

So Blue and Me disconnected and battery charged enough…hopefully it will still be ok in the morning!

I found a company that fixes the Blue and Me module for £95 so I will go this route in the new year…

Here is the link:

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

This is a bargain! My B&M module failed a couple of years ago, cheapest exchange repair was 250 euro in Italy...
Make sure you disconnected the B&M at source (under the drivers seat for RHD). If you disconnect at the radio/head unit battery drain will persist.

With a failed B&M module the tell tale is a flashing odometer which doesn't go away until a working unit is fitted. There seems to be a few myths around suggesting that you need to reprogramme the body computer (proxy alignment is a term you'll see recurring). This was not required for my 4x4 TA 63 plate (and it was a module from an Alfa...).

Do tell us how you get on.

 

[Peter Rawlings]

Update: Blue & Me fixed by Revtronic (see the link in the above thread) for £95. It still needed proxy alignment because I had to jump start when the battery was dead and Revtronic advised that as an issue. I took to Toby the head mechanic at Jenkins and Sons here in Tregaron (Ceredigion) who put his electronic gizmo onto the system and managed to complete the proxy alignment. Total cost for everything was £115! Fiat I believe would charge £350-£500 approximately (for a new unit, not a repair) and the proxy alignment.