rgcaston

Just to update my last comments about our 2016 Fabia stop start problem. We always switch that system off but the Yellow engine light has continued to come on. There seems to be no noticeable affect upon the running of the vehicle and it has passed the emission test at 2 MOTs. It is now a very low mileage car mainly used locally, which is not ideal for the battery. The battery was changed, for an AGM Stop/ Start battery, the old one had continued to start the car until it totally collapsed after 7 years in the car. However, the stop/ start error still comes up until the system is switched off and the engine light still illuminates, this can be switched off using a cheap code reader but re-appears quite quickly when the engine is running. The car failed the MOT recently because of the light and it is now at a garage being investigated. Incidentally my charger is designed for AGM batteries and I do used the earth point if and when charging is necessary. I would be interested to know if others have solved the Star/ Stop problem and will report the outcome of the current investigation.

This thread seems to have deviated from the original problem as to what would have triggered a 'Start stop error' to appear on my Fabia III display? The probable cause suggested was that the battery, being nearly 5 years old, coupled with the fact that the car hasn't been on a decent run for some weeks, may have been seen as incapable of supporting the start stop system. It was further suggested that a good charge might rectify the whole problem. The short answer to all that is that it made no difference, a long charge of 30 hrs +, followed by a 30 mile drive on a dual carriage way, made no difference. I had driven with the Start/Stop off until I returned to the village, when I switched it back on up came the error message. As the car started and drove perfectly well I will continue to use it until the next service is due, then see if it needs a new battery. All the chat about the relative merits of EFB vs AGM has been interesting, as has the research into the price of recommended replacements. Re the nostalgia about old cars - my Morris 1000 had a starting handle!

Thanks for all the advice. The battery, a MOLL EFB type, which is claimed to be the best available for hot conditions and high consumption e.g. Start stop (Moll's description) is now charging having been properly connected to the earthing point under the bonnet, where everything should remain reasonably cool under the silver hood. I never had problems like this with my 1957 Morris Minor 1000!

Thanks for the responses to my post. We have rarely use the start stop system as most journeys are short anyway. The car was an ex demonstration model and had done 22.000 miles in a few months, I would hazard a guess that the system had been 'demonstrated' many times. We have only put about 11.000 miles on the clock when the clutch began slipping and was down to the rivets when recently replaced, which suggests the car was worked hard in those 22,000. miles. Overall I have been quite pleased with the performance of the car. It does seem likely that the battery is ready for scrapping but will try a long cool charge before that, my charger is claimed to be suitable for AGM type batteries of up to 100Ah so it is worth a try.

My 2016 Fabia III has just developed this problem with the ECP light coming on and a message 'Start/Stop problem' coming on screen, the warning disappears when the Start /stop is switched off. The car has done very few miles recently, and warnings advising me to drive for a few miles to charge the battery have appeared. I bought a smart charger and have kept the battery charged. Having read all the reports about low battery power causing problems I checked the battery, (my charger gives an indication of charge level before being connected to the mains) it showed no charge present, even though it started the car. Plugging the charger in for just a few minutes appeared to raise the charge level to about 50%, more than enough to start the car but the start stop warning remained. Leaving the battery on charge until it indicated 100% charge on the charger, did not change anything, the car starts but the problem persisted. The battery is the original and is over 4 years old, although the voltage shows around 12+, could the car be detecting low capacity? I haven't taken the car on the road but it seems to run well enough with the Start-Stop switched off, would driving it cause any other problems - I might need to if I go to renew the battery.