Strange Alfa Brera issue
Discussion
Guys want to throw this issue out there to see if anyone has any ideas as Alfa are stumped and I cant get to see my specialist Alfa guy for a couple of weeks 
Have a Brera 2.4 Diesel
What seems to be a battery issue is plaguing my beautiful baby
Symptom is: Car wont start, press start button get a click from engine bay but no starty
Only way I have found that can start the car is to jump it from another, literally just attach jump leads and 1 min later the Brera starts and is faultless.
Have purchased a Bosch silver battery in the last 2 months (when issue first started) and was faultless for 6 weeks then now the bugger wont start again.
Alfa say its not the starter or the alternator, or even the +ve junction box on the top of the battery.
ECU doesn't report an error either.
Now am planning to start taking battery out at weekends and charging it fully and popping it back in so as to make sure I can start/stop during the week (this is my own theory and has no sensible basis at all!)
Anyone got any ideas please?
Cheers
Have a Brera 2.4 Diesel
What seems to be a battery issue is plaguing my beautiful baby
Symptom is: Car wont start, press start button get a click from engine bay but no starty
Only way I have found that can start the car is to jump it from another, literally just attach jump leads and 1 min later the Brera starts and is faultless.
Have purchased a Bosch silver battery in the last 2 months (when issue first started) and was faultless for 6 weeks then now the bugger wont start again.
Alfa say its not the starter or the alternator, or even the +ve junction box on the top of the battery.
ECU doesn't report an error either.
Now am planning to start taking battery out at weekends and charging it fully and popping it back in so as to make sure I can start/stop during the week (this is my own theory and has no sensible basis at all!)
Anyone got any ideas please?
Cheers
Put a multimeter on it to see if something is draining the current when parked up, or whether it's just a duff battery. If something is draining the current, then the detective work begins. I assume it's not something obvious like a interior light having been switched to permanently on(?)
I think Alfa may be wrong - It sounds like a classic busted alternator. Get a voltmeter and test the battery - should be over 12 volts. when the engine's running it should be somewhere around 13.5 volts.
-edit-
Out of interest, how do you drive this car? very long trips, or very short ones? what sort of mileage?
-edit-
Out of interest, how do you drive this car? very long trips, or very short ones? what sort of mileage?
Multimeter the car whilst off, then check it once on.
Once off, a healthy battery should read: 12.5-12.8 ish. When on with a healthy alternator, it should read 13.8-14.8 ish.
If you get similar readings to the above, you can rule out the above two options, and basically start checking for things like immobilisers, faulty earths etc.
Once off, a healthy battery should read: 12.5-12.8 ish. When on with a healthy alternator, it should read 13.8-14.8 ish.
If you get similar readings to the above, you can rule out the above two options, and basically start checking for things like immobilisers, faulty earths etc.
thanks for the replies guys
according to Fiat ECU scan:
Battery is at 12.3-12.5v when not running, will measure it when its running with a multimeter as ECU scan doesn't work when running
The immobiliser is "off"
Daily drive is 15 miles each way on pretty clear roads.
Drove from Wigan to Leek on Sunday, M6 and straight run all the way with only the radio on. Stopped in Leek for 5 mins and went to start the car, it was dead. Had to be jump started and it was fine from then on
I too think its the alternator but Alfa are adamant
according to Fiat ECU scan:
Battery is at 12.3-12.5v when not running, will measure it when its running with a multimeter as ECU scan doesn't work when running
The immobiliser is "off"
Daily drive is 15 miles each way on pretty clear roads.
Drove from Wigan to Leek on Sunday, M6 and straight run all the way with only the radio on. Stopped in Leek for 5 mins and went to start the car, it was dead. Had to be jump started and it was fine from then on
I too think its the alternator but Alfa are adamant
Kaelic said:
thanks for the replies guys
according to Fiat ECU scan:
Battery is at 12.3-12.5v when not running, will measure it when its running with a multimeter as ECU scan doesn't work when running
The immobiliser is "off"
Daily drive is 15 miles each way on pretty clear roads.
Drove from Wigan to Leek on Sunday, M6 and straight run all the way with only the radio on. Stopped in Leek for 5 mins and went to start the car, it was dead. Had to be jump started and it was fine from then on
I too think its the alternator but Alfa are adamant
Are you anywhere near St Helens? Gus at Alfatune would be able to sort you out I'm sure.according to Fiat ECU scan:
Battery is at 12.3-12.5v when not running, will measure it when its running with a multimeter as ECU scan doesn't work when running
The immobiliser is "off"
Daily drive is 15 miles each way on pretty clear roads.
Drove from Wigan to Leek on Sunday, M6 and straight run all the way with only the radio on. Stopped in Leek for 5 mins and went to start the car, it was dead. Had to be jump started and it was fine from then on
I too think its the alternator but Alfa are adamant
Just get a respected indy mechanic to have a look at it! I reckon it will be some sort of shorting going on somewhere that they have not found yet and they are over reliant on computer telling them what is wrong.
I bought an old 911 SC which had similar battery issues.
The person who had sold it had had battery draining issues -> he even excitedly pointed out that he had a new battery in there when I bought it but never mentioned the issues when he sold it!!!
I have a friend who is an excellent mechanic and he had a look for me. He spent ages and everything looked fine- i.e. looked like it held charge, was charging etc. All the tests he did pointed to nothing wrong!!
Then he spotted what was going on - it was being shorted as the previous owner had got a dvd screen put in the car (why in a 911????) BUT a wire was trapped in the catch of the front bonnet. i.e. with the bonnet open, no shorting, battery is fine etc. Close it and it was being shorted, of course you can't actually test the battery with the bonet closed (and wouldn't think to do so!).
I bought an old 911 SC which had similar battery issues.
The person who had sold it had had battery draining issues -> he even excitedly pointed out that he had a new battery in there when I bought it but never mentioned the issues when he sold it!!!
I have a friend who is an excellent mechanic and he had a look for me. He spent ages and everything looked fine- i.e. looked like it held charge, was charging etc. All the tests he did pointed to nothing wrong!!
Then he spotted what was going on - it was being shorted as the previous owner had got a dvd screen put in the car (why in a 911????) BUT a wire was trapped in the catch of the front bonnet. i.e. with the bonnet open, no shorting, battery is fine etc. Close it and it was being shorted, of course you can't actually test the battery with the bonet closed (and wouldn't think to do so!).
Edited by Rakoosh on Friday 23 March 10:16
ArsE92 said:
Are you anywhere near St Helens? Gus at Alfatune would be able to sort you out I'm sure.
It's Gus I use, great guy 
But cant get it to him for a couple of weeks as he is away and I am on a course all next week! He removed my DPF and remapped it and its been brilliant since, nothing but good things to say about Gus.Kaelic said:
ArsE92 said:
Are you anywhere near St Helens? Gus at Alfatune would be able to sort you out I'm sure.
It's Gus I use, great guy But cant get it to him for a couple of weeks as he is away and I am on a course all next week! He removed my DPF and remapped it and its been brilliant since, nothing but good things to say about Gus.
Worth checking the battery clamps. I had a similar problem on my 156 2.4 and it was the cable from the battery earth to the starter motor which was the problem. The clamps were cracking at the battery terminal. Once the car started everything was fine. Depending on how the clamp "rested" when I turned the car off it might be fine for the next start up...or it might not.
So give the battery cables a good hefty wiggle!
So give the battery cables a good hefty wiggle!
kambites said:
Sounds like an alternator fault to me - either putting out too low a voltage (so not charging the battery) or too high a voltage (so killing the battery). You should see something like 14v across the battery terminals with the engine running.
I'm guessing it's low - probably putting just enough to avoid throwing any codes, but not enough to charge the battery.I have found two issues here. One, I took the negative terminal off and cleaned it and it started fine (make sure its tight) the battery was showing 12.71 volts at rest.
Two if the click happens and there is a message about "security not engaged" or similar, its to do with the stearing lock.
insert the fob, wrestle the stearing lock off, pull the brake pedal back with your toe as far as it will go, then try again. I know it sounds implausibe but if you're a true Alfisti , you'll know anythings possible . happy journeys people
Two if the click happens and there is a message about "security not engaged" or similar, its to do with the stearing lock.
insert the fob, wrestle the stearing lock off, pull the brake pedal back with your toe as far as it will go, then try again. I know it sounds implausibe but if you're a true Alfisti , you'll know anythings possible . happy journeys people
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