Topic: Electronic Trottle Contol light came on... Fiat 500

[Slow_lane]

Our 2015 Fiat 500 was stored all winter in garage. Battery charge always maintained with trickle charger. Came out of storage last week and has been used for a few short trips.

Yesterday it snowed and I just moved the car to street while clearing snow from driveway. Ran for 2 minutes. When I pulled it back in I saw that both the check engine and Electronic Throttle Control light was on. Car seems to be running normally.

I put my scanner on it and it came up with no codes. I do not know how that can be. Weird ....

I checked to ensure battery terminals were secure. They were. Now charging battery again on trickle charger. Will charge overnight and see how things are tomorrow.

Previous owner told me he changed battery in fall of 2021. So it is only 3 years old.

I can find very little info on this. One thing I found was recommendation to remove cable from negative terminal for 10 minutes and see if things reset. I plan to try that tomorrow after battery is completely charged.

This is my scanner Panlong PL310

https://www.amazon.ca/Panlong-Scanner-Reader-Engine-Emission/dp/B09VGNSH6N/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

[Allen]

Previous owner told me he changed battery in fall of 2021. So it is only 3 years old.

Bayttery age doesn't mean much, just had to replace the battery in my wife's 2022 HRV with 13.5K on it, had to boost it one morning and it wouldn't take a charge. Honda service guy said its because all she does is short trips, take the battery and have it load tested..

[Slow_lane]

Previous owner told me he changed battery in fall of 2021. So it is only 3 years old.

Bayttery age doesn't mean much, just had to replace the battery in my wife's 2022 HRV with 13.5K on it, had to boost it one morning and it wouldn't take a charge. Honda service guy said its because all she does is short trips, take the battery and have it load tested..

So do you think the battery could be the cause of the problem? This car is used for short trips often.

[Allen]

Don't know, I know the day my wife's went the dash had all sorts of lights on while we tried to turn it over, the service guy said that was normal when the battery has little charge and can't turn over. After the new battery everything cleared. So take the battery out, places like Parts Source can load test it and tell you if it's still good. If it is then you have eliminated the battery if not then new battery and see where it goes from there

[Slow_lane]

Went out this morning after charging battery overnight. Started car and the lights were still on. Tried again to find and clear codes with OBD2. That did not seem to work at all. But when I started car again all lights were out. Took car for a good run and everything seems fine.

Will now get battery load tested. Wonder if I can do that with my multi-meter?

[ktm525]

Went out this morning after charging battery overnight. Started car and the lights were still on. Tried again to find and clear codes with OBD2. That did not seem to work at all. But when I started car again all lights were out. Took car for a good run and everything seems fine.

Will now get battery load tested. Wonder if I can do that with my multi-meter?

s
Yes. Hook multi meter to battery and note voltage. Turn on headlights for about 2 minutes, note voltage. Should see  (12.4 - 12.8V). Then have someone crank the car and see what the voltage drops to momentarily. You need to be fast as the voltage will drop and then bounce back. If your multimeter has a voltage history (low) then much easier. Anything under about 10.5V and your battery is weak. Anything below 11V is suspect.

[Slow_lane]

Went out this morning after charging battery overnight. Started car and the lights were still on. Tried again to find and clear codes with OBD2. That did not seem to work at all. But when I started car again all lights were out. Took car for a good run and everything seems fine.

Will now get battery load tested. Wonder if I can do that with my multi-meter?

s
Yes. Hook multi meter to battery and note voltage. Turn on headlights for about 2 minutes, note voltage. Should see  (12.4 - 12.8V). Then have someone crank the car and see what the voltage drops to momentarily. You need to be fast as the voltage will drop and then bounce back. If your multimeter has a voltage history (low) then much easier. Anything under about 10.5V and your battery is weak. Anything below 11V is suspect.

Thanks.

Yesterday was pretty cold. The car had not moved in a few days. When I put it on the street I left flashers on while I shoveled the snow (busy street). That and the short drives my wife takes might have been too much for the battery. The battery is made by CrossCountry.

I guess if I end up replacing this battery I should spring the extra $$$ for an AGM battery. In reading it may hold up better to my wife's habits of short drives.

[ktm525]

Short drives are tough on batteries. Our Volvo XC60 will kick up low voltage warnings . Winter starts, electric heated windscreen, rear defrost, heated steering wheel and multiple heated seats + short drive takes it's toll. I am going to install some permanent leads (SAE) style to facilitate quick battery tender hookup.

[Slow_lane]

Went out this morning after charging battery overnight. Started car and the lights were still on. Tried again to find and clear codes with OBD2. That did not seem to work at all. But when I started car again all lights were out. Took car for a good run and everything seems fine.

Will now get battery load tested. Wonder if I can do that with my multi-meter?

s
Yes. Hook multi meter to battery and note voltage. Turn on headlights for about 2 minutes, note voltage. Should see  (12.4 - 12.8V). Then have someone crank the car and see what the voltage drops to momentarily. You need to be fast as the voltage will drop and then bounce back. If your multimeter has a voltage history (low) then much easier. Anything under about 10.5V and your battery is weak. Anything below 11V is suspect.

Thanks.

Yesterday was pretty cold. The car had not moved in a few days. When I put it on the street I left flashers on while I shoveled the snow (busy street). That and the short drives my wife takes might have been too much for the battery. The battery is made by CrossCountry.

I guess if I end up replacing this battery I should spring the extra $$$ for an AGM battery. In reading it may hold up better to my wife's habits of short drives.

Results of test

Fully charged battery 12.99
After lights on for a little over 2 minutes 12.80
I have no min/max feature on meter so I watched it as my wife started car. Go fast but lowest number I saw on start-up was 11..00
With car idling it was showing 14.6 so charging is good.

So I think battery may be OK  and we just have to be more diligent about taking car out for longer runs. I also ran it with headlights on all the time. After this experience I will now turn them off and use them only at night.

Thanks for the advice. 

Lastly.... If battery charge was the issue I do not know why the battery icon did not come on as opposed to Electronic Throttle Control warning.

[ktm525]

Good.