[Flash]

I am very glad to read the follow up, Z.

I lost sleep over this last night.

 

[jamiealfa]

I don't think that it's your fault, my thought is its a design v/s safety issue so the safety issue is the terminal needs to be easy to remove, but Alfa and most other manufacturers use a spring to tension the clamp which has give in it. Then the corrosion works its way in and because there is some give in the clamp it works its way between the clamp and the pole and you get a very high resistance joint which stops the car starting

 

[Racer Z]

I'm at the dealer now. They're going to read the OBDII and look into it. Essex, my mechanic thinks there will be enough fault code storage to read still.

 

[Racer Z]

They read the codes and sent them off to FCA for analysis. At my request, they showed me the codes. All over the place. Nothing consistent. The only one I remember for sure is: "Low Fuel Warning"; But, I've got a full tank.

I scheduled a major service for next week now that I have 15,000 miles. That will be $800 or $900. This is a full nut & bolt of the entire car and includes oil change and loaner car. They claimed it would be done in eight hours.

 

[Docron]

What are the Codes?

Gas cap/door seal leak?

 

[jamiealfa]

You know what racerz this is also consistent with the battery earth terminal issue, when it happens you get lots of weird codes as most the systems don't like the voltage drop and so flag up weird codes the ABS ,VDC and air bag systems are particularly susceptible, as I said earlier you need to remove it and clean it.

(ESC is part of the braking system)

 

[kazkioken]

You know what racerz this is also consistent with the battery earth terminal issue, when it happens you get lots of weird codes as most the systems don't like the voltage drop and so flag up weird codes the ABS ,VDC and air bag systems are particularly susceptible, as I said earlier you need to remove it and clean it.

(ESC is part of the braking system)

I know totally unrelated, but this is how my Range Rover behaves when the terminal has an issue...each system that needs power fails as it is powering up and throws a code. Very random stuff like transmission failure, ABS, airbags, etc.

 

[Racer Z]

More follow-up. When I was at the dealer and they were checking into this, I did mention to them the comments about corrosion. They later said they checked and didn't find any corrosion on the battery terminals.

As I was leaving, I felt suspicious somehow. If the battery was disconnected, the clocks would be wrong. Ok, so they reset my clocks, nice. But what about the tripometer? Wouldn't that loose memory and be zero? Not sure, but mine didn't change.

So when I got home, I looked. Not only did I find corrosion, but when I was done, the tripometer was zero.

This puts me in a very awkward position now. Trust issues with my dealer.

 

[4Canada]

I'd say lack of trust issues - and I would have driven right back and shown them the corrosion (if you could get the car started, that is).

 

[Barth Vader]

That's going to be awkward. The good news is that you found the corrosion, which is hopefully the source of your woes and a simple fix.

I'd call your sales manager and tell him about your experience. I'd be willing to be that he's going to walk over to the service department and rise hell on your behalf.

 

[4Canada]

That's going to be awkward. The good news is that you found the corrosion, which is hopefully the source of your woes and a simple fix.

I'd call your sales manager and tell him about your experience. I'd be willing to be that he's going to walk over to the service department and rise hell on your behalf.

And I'd be willing to bet that it will make zero difference in the end.
Sad, but likely the case.
Service manager would be a better bet. And doing it oneself, instead of relying that the sales manager would even actually have bothered.
I mean, how do you know that he didn't approach the service staff the same way they investigated the battery?

 

[jamiealfa]

Can I be smug again PLEASE > or do you think that it would not be fitting yet?????

 

[Barth Vader]

And I'd be willing to bet that it will make zero difference in the end.
Sad, but likely the case.
Service manager would be a better bet. And doing it oneself, instead of relying that the sales manager would even actually have bothered.
I mean, how do you know that he didn't approach the service staff the same way they investigated the battery?

You may be correct. Fortunately for me I've had very positive experiences with my sales managers raising all sorts of hell on my behalf.

 

[Racer Z]

First things first. I protected the fender with a soft cloth.

The positive terminal cover snaps off. I probably didn't need to remove it, but I did anyway.

The negative (-) terminal has a snap fit making it easy to disconnect and reconnect. Always remove this first. When finished, this is the last terminal to reconnect.
ALWAYS.

The positive side (+) required a 10 mm socket. A wrench would have worked.

Then I scrubbed all four parts with a battery terminal brush, available at any auto parts store for just a few dollars.

I only scrubbed the battery terminals, not the axillary connectors. This is where corrosion starts. All lead acid batteries have this problem.

I reconnected the terminals, positive first, negative last and started the engine. While the engine warmed, I reset the clocks and checked the rest of the settings in the menu.

That was a few days ago. Power of suggestion is, ... powerful and can be misleading. It does seem to be starting and running better. Not by leaps and bounds, just little things.

She had been developing a minor miss or hicop while cold. That seems to have gone away.

She's had been starting to oscillate or surge in low gear (1 & 2) at mild throttle. That oscillation seems to be gone.

As for the idiot lights, the had already gone away. So far they have not returned.

 

[vabene4C]

In my experience with my transmission issue, when the CEL is on, you are relegated to the natural mode, I suspect some kind of fail-safe measure. Fran

 

[jamiealfa]

Please see updated index on racerz's starting issue AND ADD SOME IDEAS http://4c-forums.com/386762-post30.html

 

[Racer Z]

Pictures of proof and technical reference.

 

[Racer Z]

The last of the pictures.

 

[4Canada]

Thanks for the pictures!
Did the parrot lose its presets?

 

[Racer Z]

Thanks for the pictures!
Did the parrot lose its presets?

My parrot never had any presets. It's wired wrong and looses it's presets every time I turn off the engine. I did reset the parrot clock.