Technical Start stop unavailble fault light

[Steveetee55]

This morning i had a stop start fault come up my dash with engine light and warning triangle i drove to where i was going when i came to the car after visiting a friend, about 10 mins later the light came on again, i pressed the stop start button off before i started it and it hasn't come on since drove and stopped again, still didn't come again im thinking it was the battery was a bit low, wondering has ever had this happen before, its a TA 4x4

 

[The Panda Nut]

My car is going on 6.5 years old and Im aware the battery is no longer 100%. Occasionally the stop start does not work, but charging the abttery seems to resore order for weeks or even months. Ive nver seen stop start EML and traingle together. Non funtioning is just that no warning lihgts or messages.

 

[Steveetee55]

Mine worked for about a week 2 years ago when i renewed the battery but has since but i do very short journeys to work and back and hardly drive it at the weekend which i thinks taking its toll on the battery, i will charge it up on the all singing and dancing charger at work see how it goes and if the fault appears again 1st thing monday morning i will plug in my ecu scan and see if i can find any fault codes

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

The loss of stop/start (with or without a warning) is one of the several clues the Panda gives that the battery is not in the best of health. Later it throws up warnings for ESC/HillHolder and/or 4x4 not available. In frequent use, with regular longish journeys to keep the charge 'up', a stop/start battery is good for about 4 or 5 years. then declines rapidly. The car will (generally) still start but then, one day it will simply die. (Been there, done that)

Try a 'search this forum' (top right of the page) and you'll find multiple treads about these various error messages... and in the end (after not always believing 'us', and talk of replacing sensors, switches and so on instead), the cure is simply a new battery

Even I had doubts: https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/sudden-and-nearly-unannounced-battery-failure.501373/

 

[Bonefish Blues]

This morning i had a stop start fault come up my dash with engine light and warning triangle i drove to where i was going when i came to the car after visiting a friend, about 10 mins later the light came on again, i pressed the stop start button off before i started it and it hasn't come on since drove and stopped again, still didn't come again im thinking it was the battery was a bit low, wondering has ever had this happen[ed] before, its a TA 4x4

Thinks for 1/100th of a second... HH's already beaten him to it during that thinking time

Could be any one of a whole battery of things. Drives everyone to distraction - so much so that several of us committed battery as a result.

Runs out of battery-related puns so goes to fish and chip shop where he finds the cod a little, well, battery tonight.

 

[WitleyPanda]

Thinks for 1/100th of a second... HH's already beaten him to it during that thinking time

Could be any one of a whole battery of things. Drives everyone to distraction - so much so that several of us committed battery as a result.

Runs out of battery-related puns so goes to fish and chip shop where he finds the cod a little, well, battery tonight.

No sure this the right plaice? But I am second in the roe, parked in the herring bone.

On topic batteries can last 8-10 years, it how they treated and stored rather than just an elapsed time/age. Worth checking earth straps and the terminal, including the charge/voltage sensor (IBS). The later is on the canbus, but if it fails, poor connection registers as a low battery rather than a disconnect. Earth strap cheap option.

 

[Steveetee55]

No sure this the right plaice? But I am second in the roe, parked in the herring bone.

On topic batteries can last 8-10 years, it how they treated and stored rather than just an elapsed time/age. Worth checking earth straps and the terminal, including the charge/voltage sensor (IBS). The later is on the canbus, but if it fails, poor connection registers as a low battery rather than a disconnect. Earth strap cheap option.

Been toying with fitting an earth cable can buy them cheap enough, the ibs is on the battery terminal i believe, checked the battery this morning was 13.6 but dropped down 13.29 with lights flicked on without engine running, i'm gonna charge it up on my work fancy dan charger tomorrow can't hurt really and check the earth from body to gearbox im expecting the fault to pop up tomorrow morning on the way in with lights and heater on as it will be dark and cold 6am

 

[euroben]

You can also get these issues if the battery terminals are corroded. Sometimes they don’t even look corroded, but clean them up and add a bit of lithium grease and that can solve the issue if the battery is good.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Been toying with fitting an earth cable can buy them cheap enough, the ibs is on the battery terminal i believe, checked the battery this morning was 13.6 but dropped down 13.29 with lights flicked on without engine running, i'm gonna charge it up on my work fancy dan charger tomorrow can't hurt really and check the earth from body to gearbox im expecting the fault to pop up tomorrow morning on the way in with lights and heater on as it will be dark and cold 6am

My battery is waning and will still show me 14.2v after switch off. Charger indicates its not healthy any more though. A decent battery shop would allow a quick substitution to check. Id back all the posts re the battery. condition.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Been toying with fitting an earth cable can buy them cheap enough, the ibs is on the battery terminal i believe, checked the battery this morning was 13.6 but dropped down 13.29 with lights flicked on without engine running, i'm gonna charge it up on my work fancy dan charger tomorrow can't hurt really and check the earth from body to gearbox im expecting the fault to pop up tomorrow morning on the way in with lights and heater on as it will be dark and cold 6am

Unlikely on a Panda of this age as they dont have the corrosion susceptible cable type. Try a jump lead 1st. Earth cables are expensive.

 

[Steveetee55]

Well so far so good not a peep this morning did have to put some air in the front left tyre and ive also read this can trigger this fault on fiat 500s, i will charge the battery up this morning i think its fine but wont hurt to try, see how it goes, it did have have little session of turning on its triangle about a year back for rear number plate light but i cleaned up the connection and it went away, still think its a dodgy connection somewhere the laptop and software are in the boot waiting for if it decides to play up again

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Im never convinced the talk of earth cables gets anywhere The battery is connected directly to the car bodywork and that provides the earth/negative return for most of the car's circuits, including the main ECU. The only 'high current' unit that really needs the chunky gearbox to bodyshell negative wire is the starter motor, so far as I know, and it seems that's working fine.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Been toying with fitting an earth cable can buy them cheap enough, the ibs is on the battery terminal i believe, checked the battery this morning was 13.6 but dropped down 13.29 with lights flicked on without engine running, i'm gonna charge it up on my work fancy dan charger tomorrow can't hurt really and check the earth from body to gearbox im expecting the fault to pop up tomorrow morning on the way in with lights and heater on as it will be dark and cold 6am

A fully-charged car battery should show 12.6 volts one the engine's been stopped a while and the chemistry has settled down. Unless something's changed in battery chemistry, that's the most a lead acid battery can generate (2.1volts per cell and 6 cells in the battery). With an 'old fashioned' alternator, it should show around 14.4v with the engine running. But with modern, intelligent alternators, the battery voltage is often nearer 12.6v while running (after a brief recharge from the starter having been used) – enough to power the car's electrics but not charge the battery. The voltage can very briefly can jump up to as much as 17v (at the alternator) during engine overrun, or during braking when the intelligent sensor detects the battery needs it. This is an issue to anyone with a spilt charge system for a caravan etc, as these used to rely on a voltage-sensing relay that triggered at 13.6 volts (ie only if the engine was running) to charge the leisure battery. More complex charging circuits are needed now that most vehicles have an intelligent charge system.

 

[Eltezz]

Im never convinced the talk of earth cables gets anywhere The battery is connected directly to the car bodywork and that provides the earth/negative return for most of the car's circuits, including the main ECU. The only 'high current' unit that really needs the chunky gearbox to bodyshell negative wire is the starter motor, so far as I know, and it seems that's working fine.

Thoroughly agree with this. if you could start the car and somehow disconnect the braid from under the battery I am certain the car would run perfectly normally in all respects. After all, every sensor on the engine and elsewhere has it’s own 0V wire for a good reason, to ensure signal integrity back to the various control units.

 

[Steveetee55]

Charged the battery at work, had a poke around lunchtime, found slight corrosion where the earth clamp bolts to the bodywork, the clamp on the live lead to the battery won't fully tighten up, so i will clean up the earth terminal and sort out the battery clamp saturday as i have a day on my own as mrs tee is off for a spar weekend break and i wont get my ear bent for being in the garage too much, while i'm at it i'm going to paint the front calipers which i've been meaning to do since the new ones were fitted, oh just me in my garage 'bliss'

 

[Steveetee55]

Oh and as for earth cables and wiring etc the cars italian and my experience of italian cars bikes and even industrial and agricultural their electrics never make any sense god knows how mang ruggerini twin cylinder diesels wiring and alternator windings we fixed was a weekly occurence at one point just broke for fun, magnet marelli made all the electrics in them got a dab hand removing flywheels to get at the windings