Fiat Abarth starting quirk - help!
Discussion
A strange thing happens with the missuses Abarth 500 2013 (has the automatic robotised gearbox) when starting the car in cold weather....
Turn the key, ignition lights come on, turn against the resistance of the ignition barrel and the car will attempt to start but as though you were turning the power on and off quickly. It does start fine but on that first turn it is as though the power is being switched quickly on/off/on/off and then it starts.
I did wonder about iffy battery terminal connections, but those are fine and have been cleaned, and i have traced the battery earth straps and removed, cleaned and replaced those.
Only seems to do it in cold weather, and this morning it did it's usual routine. if the weather is warm it seems fine. Could it be an iffy relay somewhere with a poor internal connection that gets worse as the metal contacts are cold?
Battery is fine showing 11.3 volts prior to turning the key. Car can be left for a week or so and will start (with this quirk depending on temperature) so I'm assuming the battery is ok (?)
Any help would be appreciated.
Turn the key, ignition lights come on, turn against the resistance of the ignition barrel and the car will attempt to start but as though you were turning the power on and off quickly. It does start fine but on that first turn it is as though the power is being switched quickly on/off/on/off and then it starts.
I did wonder about iffy battery terminal connections, but those are fine and have been cleaned, and i have traced the battery earth straps and removed, cleaned and replaced those.
Only seems to do it in cold weather, and this morning it did it's usual routine. if the weather is warm it seems fine. Could it be an iffy relay somewhere with a poor internal connection that gets worse as the metal contacts are cold?
Battery is fine showing 11.3 volts prior to turning the key. Car can be left for a week or so and will start (with this quirk depending on temperature) so I'm assuming the battery is ok (?)
Any help would be appreciated.
11.3V is on the low side - I suspect the battery is on the way out.
One way to eliminate the ignition key/switch from the equation is to attach a long cable to the battery positive terminal and then touch this to the LOW TENSION (thin) wire on the solenoid. NOT the thick cable!!! This should activate the solenoid and start the car. If the car starts normally using this method there's a bad contact somewhere in the ignition wiring.
The first thing I'd try would be either charging or replacing the battery.
One way to eliminate the ignition key/switch from the equation is to attach a long cable to the battery positive terminal and then touch this to the LOW TENSION (thin) wire on the solenoid. NOT the thick cable!!! This should activate the solenoid and start the car. If the car starts normally using this method there's a bad contact somewhere in the ignition wiring.
The first thing I'd try would be either charging or replacing the battery.
11.3 volts (if accurate) is flatter than a flat thing that has then been sat on by an elephant, crushed by a road roller and had a 270 tonne pile of bricks put on top!
A 12v battery is actually 6 x 2.1 volt calls in series giving 12.6 volts for a healthy fully charged battery.
Every 0.1 volts below that represents a loss of 20% of its charge.
As I said at the start, that is assuming your 11.3 is accurate, try another meter.
A 12v battery is actually 6 x 2.1 volt calls in series giving 12.6 volts for a healthy fully charged battery.
Every 0.1 volts below that represents a loss of 20% of its charge.
As I said at the start, that is assuming your 11.3 is accurate, try another meter.
Thank you all... I need to recheck the voltage thing. I have a bluetooth gadget which plugs in to the 12v socket and when the ignition is first switched on it displays the battery voltage before you turn the key, I'm sure it said 11.3v (without the engine running).
Will check!
Any further thoughts welcome.
Will check!
Any further thoughts welcome.
Pupbelly said:
Thank you all... I need to recheck the voltage thing. I have a bluetooth gadget which plugs in to the 12v socket and when the ignition is first switched on it displays the battery voltage before you turn the key, I'm sure it said 11.3v (without the engine running).
Will check!
Any further thoughts welcome.
You need amulti meter on the battery terminalsWill check!
Any further thoughts welcome.
It's common to drop a bolt from the battery to the 12v socket they are normally multiple connections and wire changes on the way to the socket that all reduce voltage a little
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