General Stop/Start not working

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

Its even worse if you have an Italian wife! and two half-Italian daughters !+three grandchildren and three great-grand children!!!- its no bloody wonder i am grey and worn out!

Well, there ya go mate- it's self-inflicted...!

 

[Johnrambo18]

This thread seems to have gone rather off topic! But update on stop/start - at the moment it does seem to be working, so let's hope running the car and getting the battery more charged up has solved it.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

This thread seems to have gone rather off topic! But update on stop/start - at the moment it does seem to be working, so let's hope running the car and getting the battery more charged up has solved it.

Good. Will it go the full three minutes?

 

[Johnrambo18]

Reviving this topic with a update. I've had the car 2 months and am still not satisfied that the stop/start is working correctly. Previous ideas about battery charge or lack of miles are no longer applicable, but the operation remains the same. Here is an example:
I did a 15 mile journey, part of which was motorway. After a few minutes of setting off the s/s kicked in and was working fine. After 10 minutes I stopped and parked up to deliver something. This took 3 or 4 minutes. After that I resumed journey. Now s/s was not working for remainder of trip. All settings were same, no aircon or similar. It just does not make sense to me, so is this normal or do I have a fault with the car?

 

[Baglady1990]

Reviving this topic with a update. I've had the car 2 months and am still not satisfied that the stop/start is working correctly. Previous ideas about battery charge or lack of miles are no longer applicable, but the operation remains the same. Here is an example:
I did a 15 mile journey, part of which was motorway. After a few minutes of setting off the s/s kicked in and was working fine. After 10 minutes I stopped and parked up to deliver something. This took 3 or 4 minutes. After that I resumed journey. Now s/s was not working for remainder of trip. All settings were same, no aircon or similar. It just does not make sense to me, so is this normal or do I have a fault with the car?

My SS was non existent with a Halfords SS battery as soon as I changed to a varta silver dynamic cleaned up all the terminals my SS has worked faultlessly ever since regardless of aircon or not!
I did put in a brand new alternator a couple of years back too
The only time my SS does not work straight away is if I’ve not driven my car for a day!

To be fair tho I turn it off as soon as I get in the car these days as I’m still running on my 2011 starter motor so I’m conscious of the wear on that!

 

[steveras57]

This suggests to me that one (or more) of the (many many) values that effects the stop/ start system are fluctuating in and out of the expected parameters due to one (or more ) of the components not falling within the ECU,s expectations leading to random operation!.

I had a nightmare trying to sort mine out replacing all the "normal" parts such as plugs leads coil pack, earth strap etc etc, moving on to manifold seals, throttle body, maf sensor, all to no avail! in the end swapping the fuel injectors out cured it! but all along the way the diagnostics only gave random clues such as cylinder 1 misfire! its a minefield and to be honest i feel it was blind luck that i sorted mine! once everything is sorted it should work reliably and consistently so yours does have a problem! however what that is is almost impossible to tell!.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Reviving this topic with a update. I've had the car 2 months and am still not satisfied that the stop/start is working correctly. Previous ideas about battery charge or lack of miles are no longer applicable, but the operation remains the same. Here is an example:
I did a 15 mile journey, part of which was motorway. After a few minutes of setting off the s/s kicked in and was working fine. After 10 minutes I stopped and parked up to deliver something. This took 3 or 4 minutes. After that I resumed journey. Now s/s was not working for remainder of trip. All settings were same, no aircon or similar. It just does not make sense to me, so is this normal or do I have a fault with the car?

My SS was non existent with a Halfords SS battery as soon as I changed to a varta silver dynamic cleaned up all the terminals my SS has worked faultlessly ever since regardless of aircon or not!
I did put in a brand new alternator a couple of years back too
The only time my SS does not work straight away is if I’ve not driven my car for a day!

To be fair tho I turn it off as soon as I get in the car these days as I’m still running on my 2011 starter motor so I’m conscious of the wear on that!

This suggests to me that one (or more) of the (many many) values that effects the stop/ start system are fluctuating in and out of the expected parameters due to one (or more ) of the components not falling within the ECU,s expectations leading to random operation!.

I had a nightmare trying to sort mine out replacing all the "normal" parts such as plugs leads coil pack, earth strap etc etc, moving on to manifold seals, throttle body, maf sensor, all to no avail! in the end swapping the fuel injectors out cured it! but all along the way the diagnostics only gave random clues such as cylinder 1 misfire! its a minefield and to be honest i feel it was blind luck that i sorted mine! once everything is sorted it should work reliably and consistently so yours does have a problem! however what that is is almost impossible to tell!.

Starting point has got to be checking the battery open circuit voltage. So, after a reasonable run, say half an hour, to charge the battery, let the car stand for a couple of hours to let the surface charge dissipate from the plates. You can achieve a similar effect by turning the headlights on for 5 to 10 minutes if you're in a hurry but many modern vehicles won't let heavy loads - head lights, rear screen heater, etc - be turned on unless the engine is running. Then, without starting the engine or turning any electrical load on, check the battery voltage with a voltmeter/multimeter. If you decide to do this then post the result on here and we'll all have a think about the result.

Like Baglady, If I'm in a car with stop/start I turn it off every time I start up in sympathy with the starter motor/battery/flywheel ring gear/avoiding localized boiling of coolant/turbo/and other stuff which doesn't come to mind at the moment. So, for me, I take failure of the stop/start as an early warning to check battery condition and if that's ok then the the fact stop/start isn't kicking in is a bonus!

EDIT Just because it's such a commonly reported failure, I'd have a quick look at the gearbox earth strap (under the battery box) for evidence of rot, but it's unlikely to be the problem if the engine is starting normally and the car is working well in all other respects. You could also try your local Halfords and ask if they'll do a free battery condition check for you - ours is happy to do this. This procedure is very quick and involves using a battery condition analyser to check the battery's internal cell resistance. The result gives you a much better idea of the battery condition than any simple test you can do at home - unless you have a condition analyser yourself?

Here's the "DIY" one Gendan does in case anyone is interested: https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_FXBT100.html And just to show I'm not biased, another that interests me greatly is the Topdon BT 200: https://www.topdon.com/products/battery-tester-bt200

 

[jrkitching]

This procedure is very quick and involves using a battery condition analyser to check the battery's internal cell resistance. The result gives you a much better idea of the battery condition than any simple test you can do at home - unless you have a condition analyser yourself?

There is an even better way of establishing the condition of a battery; better than any analyser regardless of cost.

Put it in a S/S 500; if S/S works correctly, then the battery is 100%.

It's the gold standard test for battery condition!

 

[GettinBetter]

... It's the gold standard test for battery condition!..

It certainly seems to be.

..and buying the cheapest battery for the 500 is just buying trouble. You'll more than likely get what you pay for.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

It certainly seems to be.

..and buying the cheapest battery for the 500 is just buying trouble. You'll more than likely get what you pay for.

I'll drink to that (any excuse)! After reading this I switched on my S/S yesterday during an outing for the first time in a couple of years - it worked perfectly even though the EFB battery is now seven year's old.

 

[steveras57]

Bet ya felt lost without the little yellow lamp glowing at ya from the speedo!!!

 

[Baglady1990]

It’s a funny thing SS … I want it to work however I can’t stand it

 

[steveras57]

It’s a funny thing SS … I want it to work however I can’t stand it

Completely understand where your coming from I spent many months (and loads of money!) changing parts to get mine to work and hate it!- id would turn it off but cant stand the orange light from hell glaring at me from the speedo! thing is my mindset is if its there then it SHOULD be working!! no matter how much it riles me!!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

It’s a funny thing SS … I want it to work however I can’t stand it

Completely understand where your coming from I spent many months (and loads of money!) changing parts to get mine to work and hate it!- id would turn it off but cant stand the orange light from hell glaring at me from the speedo! thing is my mindset is if its there then it SHOULD be working!! no matter how much it riles me!!

Yup, exactly how I feel. If it's not working I want to "fix" it even though I'll then turn it off every time I start the car! Humans are illogical beings though.

 

[steveras57]

Good job too! or fiat would be out of business

 

[Bonefish Blues]

So let me get this correct by way of a summary of what I think I heard.

People who drive Fiats (of all marques!) want everything to work all of the time in order that they can then choose not to use the broken functions that they've spent time, cash, sweat, tears and much else making work, and which when they elect not to use them still annoy them.

I do have this correct, don't I?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

So let me get this correct by way of a summary of what I think I heard.

People who drive Fiats (of all marques!) want everything to work all of the time in order that they can then choose not to use the broken functions that they've spent time, cash, sweat, tears and much else making work, and which when they elect not to use them still annoy them.

I do have this correct, don't I?

Spot on! I said it's not logical - in fact possibly verging on insanity?

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Spot on! I said it's not logical - in fact possibly verging on insanity?

Bloody Fiat drivers eh, who'd be one*?

That's all I have to say about that.

[In the words of the great Bard himself, Forrest Gump]

*I have spotted the flaw in my own argument, of course. Only a DRL light out at the moment, so I have that reassuring little triangle for company

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

Bet ya felt lost without the little yellow lamp glowing at ya from the speedo!!!

Ya know, I quite honestly looked at the speedo and thought "Something's missing...".

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

So let me get this correct by way of a summary of what I think I heard.

People who drive Fiats (of all marques!) want everything to work all of the time in order that they can then choose not to use the broken functions that they've spent time, cash, sweat, tears and much else making work, and which when they elect not to use them still annoy them.

I do have this correct, don't I?

Yup! To misapply the title of a 1957 book about Australians;

Coincidentally, and ostensibly, written by an Italian...