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Technical Parasitic drain on the battery of 2013 Fiat 500C. 72,000 miles

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Technical Parasitic drain on the battery of 2013 Fiat 500C. 72,000 miles

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Jasmine2

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Fiat 500C 2013 has had problems starting since we got it 3 years ago, but not if used everyday. Mielage flashes all the time. RAC said to get a new battery. Bosch battery fitted, but still the same problem of the battery going flat

Used car everyday and no problem starting.

Last weekend after using car, it then refused to start again to get me home. After a few tries of turning the key, words suddenly stated flashing on the screen:
No Hill Start consult handbook thern
No ABS consult handbook then
No E(and two other letters) consult handbook. Then back to Hill Start again etc

When the breakdown firm came, their battery tester showed the battery was low, but then it rose again even though the engine was off. Was told it needed an new alternator.

Garage fitted new alternator and the car started and test drove, but then wouldn’t start again later because of the battery drain.

Another battery was tried, but still the same problem. Battery charged overnight and it was 14.3 but after a test drive and then the car standing for a while with the engine off, it dropped to 10.6.

Now, sometimes the radio works and sometimes it doesn’t; that hasn’t happened before.

Tried proxy alignment a few times but could't do this.

Blue and Me has been disconnected (under the dash) but there is still a drain on the battery of 3.1v over 24 hours.

Any ideas on what is causing this battery drain?

thanks.
 
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The B&M is the usual suspect, but you say you've disconnected it? Probably now you need to connect an ammeter in series with the battery - so, with all switches off, doors closed, etc (in other words all loads switched off) take a battery terminal off and connect one ammeter terminal to the battery terminal and the other ammeter terminal to the disconnected lead - so the ammeter becomes an inline part of the circuit. Observe the amps being passed. You might expect to see up to 100 milliamps or less? on a modern car because there is likely to be "always on" electronic stuff. If it's showing a reading in the amps range then you need to start pulling fuses, one at a time, until you suddenly see a drop in current draw. That'll narrow it down to either one component/circuit or a small number of components and their associated circuitry.

You need to be very careful with an ammeter connected into the circuitry because you can easily fry it by operating anything which draws large current - starter motor, maybe rear screen heater, etc. so don't switch anything on including the ignition or open a door.

For those not used to doing circuit testing - and I include myself here - it's worth remembering that testing with a voltmeter (multimeter set to voltage ranges) is pretty safe as a voltmeter measures the "pressure" of voltage in the system without letting it flow through the meter or circuitry. An ammeter is potentially dangerous because it has no ability to hold back voltage (and thereby current) so if there isn't something else in the circuit you're connecting into which has the ability to hold the electricity back then the meter will try to flow it all and will either burn itself out or burn out any protecting fuse. - BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN USING AN AMMETER. Ifeel very relaxed and calm when using a voltmeter, but I'm a nervous wreck with an ammeter!

Common culprits in my experience are: "hidden" lights like glove box and boot not switching off. - Abraded insulation on wires (which can be a sod to find if inside a loom). - Faulty relays sticking on. - Failed electronic sealed units (like the B&M for instance). You've just got to systematically narrow it down.

Now I'm probably going to learn a lot as all you clever clogs who know about electronics/electrics start posting and telling me how to do this "properly"
 
Thanks for moving this to the correct area.

We were only told this week by a different garage that the mileometer should not have be flashing. A garage sold it to my daughter like that and none of the garages it has been to, RAC or garages for AutoAid that have jumped started it, have told us this was not correct. Now of course, she/I know this was a fault and we found this forum.

It hasn't been driven many miles since she bought it and just used around town/London, with just a few times on the M25. In the last year it has done 3,470 miles.

The log book states it is a Fiat 500 C Lounge Covertable 1242cc Petrol. It's a manual gearbox, has red leather seats which are not heated. The roof has always opened and closed without a problem. There was a problem with the boot opening last year but a garage said this was likely loose wiring and this is now opening ok.

The Blue and Me has been disconected under the dash: is this enough to stop it being a drain on the battery?

Last winter, one recovery man did a reading to see if there was a parasitic drain; with the engine off; on a small machine that gave the reading on paper and said there was no parasitic drain and he said the reading was very good/low. Another garage had the car for a day in November and found no parasitic drain, but I asked them to keep it overnight too and in the morning it didn't start and they jumped started it. Driving it every day meant it started ok.
 
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Jasmine2 said:
Fiat 500 C Lounge Covertable 1242cc Petrol.
Click to expand...
Ok, so it's a 500C, not a 500L.

The 500C is a convertible 500.

The 500L is a B segment mini MPV and looks like this; it actually has little in common with the 500 apart from the name, which is why we have a different section for it.

FIAT used the 500 name for their mini MPV for marketing reasons; it has confused a lot of folks in the past, and still does.


Jasmine2 said:
Thanks for moving this to the correct area.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I moved it away from the correct area; it does belong in the 500 (2007) section.

I'll get it moved back.
 
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Jasmine2 said:
The Blue and Me has been discontected under the dash: is this enough to stop it being a drain on the battery?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not; you need to disconnect the main connector at the module itself to stop the power drain.

The Blue&Me module is located behind the trim panel in the rear compartment on the passengers side.

This description explains what's happening; it's a link to a company which offers a repair service for faulty Blue&Me modules. I'm not suggesting you should have the module repaired (though you can if you want to); it's just a convenient explanation of this extremely common issue. Blue & Me functionality is so archaic and limited by today's standards that most folks here just disconnect it if (when?) this happens.

It's likely that disconnecting the module will put an end to your battery drain issue, and that most or all of the other work that has been done was never necessary.
 
jrkitching said:
Ok, so it's a 500C, not a 500L.

The 500C is a convertible 500.

The 500L is a B segment mini MPV and looks like this; it actually has little in common with the 500 apart from the name, which is why we have a different section for it.

FIAT used the 500 name for their mini MPV for marketing reasons; it has confused a lot of folks in the past, and still does.



Unfortunately I moved it away from the correct area; it does belong in the 500 (2007) section.

I'll get it moved back.
Click to expand...
No, it doesn't look like that picture in the link. Sorry for messing you around.

It's a smart looking car, but it's not well.
 
You have 2 issues there..

Low use and an electrical problem

Modern cars have so much kit.. they need a good battery and a good run
(Older cars wanted 20 minutes running after EVERY START..)
My 500 does manage to sit ok for weeks..But I replaced the old S.S battery so should be in fantastic shape.. and does 2 hour trips when used


BUT.. your bigger issue is the drain

B+M Is indeed the prime suspect here !


Interested to see what you find :)
 
Jasmine2 said:
No, it doesn't look like that picture in the link. Sorry for messing you around.

It's a smart looking car, but it's not well.
Click to expand...
No problem, it's an easy mistake to make - and we're all back in the right place now.

Hopefully disconnecting your Blue&Me module from its power supply will get it back into good health.
 
So just pulling out the connecter on the Blue & Me module (looks like a scart socket) could stop the drain? And if it does, the car doesn't need a Blue & Me? And can run without the Blue & Me module connected?

The Fiat garage wants £850 to replace the Blue and Me and told the garage where the car is that this might not fix the problem anyway.
 
Jasmine2 said:
So just pulling out the connecter on the Blue & Me module (looks like a scart socket) could stop the drain? And if it does, the car doesn't need a Blue & Me? And can run without the Blue & Me module connected?
Click to expand...
Yes.

Once that cable is disconnected, the mileage may still flash, but the battery drain should stop.

You can then stop the mileage flashing by running an appropriate diagnostic tool; MES can do this, and there may be another member on this forum local to you who can help out.

For now, let's concentrate on stopping the battery drain.

@typecastboy has done several of these (he has a hobby rebuilding crashed 500's), and may have something further to add.
 
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Just an update.

Yesterday morning I phoned the garage where the car has been since the 13th (who said it was the alternator but thought there was problems with the Blue and Me too) and told them what you suggested; disconnect the Blue and Me; and where the Blue and Me is. I found this thread https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/fiat-500-blue-and-me-removal.481611/ so said it would likely mean the back seat had to come out.

Phoned back in the afternoon to see how it going, but he said they hadn't done this as they have an electrical engineer coming tomorrow (today). I asked for the Blue & Me to be disconnected today (yesterday) as you had said that is likely the problem and he said they would do that this afternoon (yesterday). They said that they need to run 2 battery parasitic checks so that they can compare readings, one today (yesterday) and one tomorrow (today).

I'll phone them in a minute and see what the reading was yesterday and let you know.
 
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They took the Blue and Me out yesterday and disconneted it. They tested the battery for 30 minutes and it was 10.3 which he said was still the same.

The battery is now on charge and they said this should go to 12 - 12.3. They will then retest for a couple of hours and see if it is still being drained.
 
Is holding 10.3 vaults good?

Was their 30 minutes test enough? As said above, another breakdown guy did a readout on a machine that gave a printout on a piece of paper that looked like a shop receipt; and said there was no parasitc drain? And another garage did a battery test but said it wasn't being drained; until they kept it overnight and the battery was flat?

What is a StopStart battery? The battery was replaced with a Bosch becasue we were told the problem was the battery (and now it's the alternator).

I know nothing about cars:(
 
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