Palio battery light on after service

DonnieDarko · 26th June 2011, 14:14

Friends,

I gave my Palio 1.2 for a regular basic service( wash, oil change etc.) a few days back, when the car was returned to me the battery light was on even when the engine was running, the driver dropped the car and went off. I drove the car for some distance and noticed that the battery light was not going off under any circumstances. I called the service station S.A next day in the morning, told him what is happening and he said that "it was alright when they took test drive after the car was serviced and then they sent it for wash". But when I received the car the battery light was on, then he agreed to get the car picked up to be checked.

The feedback that I have got from him today is that they have checked everything from wiring and other things but everything is alright so they have to take down alternator assembly and send it to the Bosch guys for a diagnosis. He will give me the feedback given from them on Tuesday. I told him clearly that when the car was sent to them it did not have this problem and when I got it back, this problem was present so he replied, "at most, what we can do is not charge the labor charges but I will have to pay the charges of parts if that's required" , is this alright ? The car went for service and after that the problem occurred isn't this their responsibility ? Although I have agreed for his offer of paying the charges of parts, I am confused if I am being taken for a ride and that they should have rectified the problem all on their own since it started after they serviced the vehicle before that it was absolutely fine.

It has become quite a long post but I wanted to give the whole picture, please suggest what should be done in this situation.

P.S. Mods, I have re-posted this post over here since I didn't get a response in the other existing thread of a related topic.

finneyp · 26th June 2011, 18:57

This is a tricky situation!
Did you get it serviced at at Fiat-Tata ASC?
If yes, you can mail the details to service@fiapl.com, Fiat can help you if the ASC has really messed it up.

DonnieDarko · 26th June 2011, 19:19

@finneyp, Thanks for the reply, Yes I got it serviced at Fiat-Tata ASC, this car has always been sent for service at ASC. Do you think Fiat can do anything in this matter ? I think the problem could be with the regulator/ rectifier, I will wait to see what Bosch guys have to say about it.

bottle · 26th June 2011, 21:34

Could be a coincidence that the part failed at that time as well. Anyway wait and see what reason they come back with and try to push them to bear the entire cost.

DonnieDarko · 26th June 2011, 23:46

@bottle, Yes thats what I thought that it could be a coincidence that if a part has failed then it just coincidentally failed at that time, but that seems too much of a coincidence that it failed only after the car wash as said by the service adviser himself, now it depends on what exactly is the problem with the alternator assembly, will get to know only when Bosch people give their feedback.

DonnieDarko · 27th June 2011, 10:29

The feedback from Bosch is that the regulator and two bearings in the alternator need to be replaced, in addition S.A is saying that the alternator belt also needs replacement, the total bill would be around Rs. 4500, this is when A.S.C is not charging their labor charges. The approximate break up as told by S.A is as follows,

Regulator - 2800 or 2900
Bearing and service charges at Bosch - 1200-1300
Alternator belt - whatever it costs.

When I asked him if he can send me the bill for the work done by Bosch, he was a little hesitant and said he doesn't know whether they can send the these bills to customer since they are directly sent from Bosch to the accounts department of A.S.C.

Does Bosch give any kind of warranty or limited assurance on any such work undertaken by them ?

bottle · 27th June 2011, 18:55

At least push for a discount if not completely FOC

I think i remember reading somewhere that works carried out at Bosch centers had some sort of warranty for about 6 months, you may want to investigate that

libranof1987 · 27th June 2011, 19:10

Did you send an email to Fiat regarding this?

What, during a routine service, could have resulted in the regulator failing? What is an alternator belt btw?

I think you should find out the reason for the co-incidence (service -> battery light) before you agree for the repair. And rightly ask for it to be FOC.

DonnieDarko · 27th June 2011, 20:04

@bottle, I tried to push for a discount but they only agreed for not charging the labor charges, :( , their argument was that your vehicle is almost 9 years old and such things could happen anytime at this juncture and I could not argue with that because I thought they could be given the benefit of doubt in such a scenario, but then I am very skeptical about the timing of the failure of regulator.

@libranof1987, No, I have not written a email to Fiat regarding this matter till now I don't believe that they can do much in this case since they would have the same point of vehicle being 9 years old. No idea regarding what must have happened that resulted in regulator failing, but what the S.A said, "we took test drive after all the work was done and the battery light was not glowing at that time and then we sent the car for wash", this implies that something must have happened during the car wash, may be while washing the engine bay. Alternator belt - I think he might be referring to the 'serpentine belt' that connects the alternator with the crankshaft, I am not sure.

Thanks guys for replying, I agreed for the expenses as I need the car to be home tomorrow, I will be leaving for 12 days trip and I just didn't want it to be at A.S.C any more than one day, trying to reach the bottom of this would have taken time and if I was not going out of town then I would have surely done that. Depending on the quality of work undertaken I will take it up with Fiat later on.

DonnieDarko · 27th June 2011, 21:22

Thanks for the reply guys, I replied earlier but I don't know why it has not got posted here,

@bottle, Yes I tried to get some discount but all I got was "no labor charges" and since I am going out of town the day after, I wanted to get the car back as soon as possible

@libranof1987, No, I have not written to Fiat till now but I surely will once I am back from the trip, trying to find out the reason for this would have taken awful lot of time and I am short on that right now, so I agreed for what I could get quickly and I will decide the further course of action depending upon quality of their work. Yes, I should have pushed for FOC but I don't have much time right now to wait and argue with them :(

Alternator belt - I think S.A might be referring to the 'serpentine belt' which connects the alternator to the engine, I am not very sure about this.

26th June 2011, 14:14	#1
DonnieDarko BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 28 Thanked: Once	Palio battery light on after service Friends, I gave my Palio 1.2 for a regular basic service( wash, oil change etc.) a few days back, when the car was returned to me the battery light was on even when the engine was running, the driver dropped the car and went off. I drove the car for some distance and noticed that the battery light was not going off under any circumstances. I called the service station S.A next day in the morning, told him what is happening and he said that "it was alright when they took test drive after the car was serviced and then they sent it for wash". But when I received the car the battery light was on, then he agreed to get the car picked up to be checked. The feedback that I have got from him today is that they have checked everything from wiring and other things but everything is alright so they have to take down alternator assembly and send it to the Bosch guys for a diagnosis. He will give me the feedback given from them on Tuesday. I told him clearly that when the car was sent to them it did not have this problem and when I got it back, this problem was present so he replied, "at most, what we can do is not charge the labor charges but I will have to pay the charges of parts if that's required" , is this alright ? The car went for service and after that the problem occurred isn't this their responsibility ? Although I have agreed for his offer of paying the charges of parts, I am confused if I am being taken for a ride and that they should have rectified the problem all on their own since it started after they serviced the vehicle before that it was absolutely fine. It has become quite a long post but I wanted to give the whole picture, please suggest what should be done in this situation. P.S. Mods, I have re-posted this post over here since I didn't get a response in the other existing thread of a related topic.
	() Thanks

26th June 2011, 18:57	#2
finneyp Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,716 Thanked: 319 Times View My Garage	Re: Palio battery light on after service This is a tricky situation! Did you get it serviced at at Fiat-Tata ASC? If yes, you can mail the details to service@fiapl.com, Fiat can help you if the ASC has really messed it up.
	(2) Thanks

26th June 2011, 19:19	#3
DonnieDarko BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 28 Thanked: Once	Re: Palio battery light on after service @finneyp, Thanks for the reply, Yes I got it serviced at Fiat-Tata ASC, this car has always been sent for service at ASC. Do you think Fiat can do anything in this matter ? I think the problem could be with the regulator/ rectifier, I will wait to see what Bosch guys have to say about it.
	() Thanks

26th June 2011, 21:34	#4
bottle Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,634 Thanked: 274 Times View My Garage	Re: Palio battery light on after service Could be a coincidence that the part failed at that time as well. Anyway wait and see what reason they come back with and try to push them to bear the entire cost.
	() Thanks

26th June 2011, 23:46	#5
DonnieDarko BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 28 Thanked: Once	Re: Palio battery light on after service @bottle, Yes thats what I thought that it could be a coincidence that if a part has failed then it just coincidentally failed at that time, but that seems too much of a coincidence that it failed only after the car wash as said by the service adviser himself, now it depends on what exactly is the problem with the alternator assembly, will get to know only when Bosch people give their feedback.
	() Thanks

27th June 2011, 10:29	#6
DonnieDarko BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 28 Thanked: Once	Re: Palio battery light on after service The feedback from Bosch is that the regulator and two bearings in the alternator need to be replaced, in addition S.A is saying that the alternator belt also needs replacement, the total bill would be around Rs. 4500, this is when A.S.C is not charging their labor charges. The approximate break up as told by S.A is as follows, Regulator - 2800 or 2900 Bearing and service charges at Bosch - 1200-1300 Alternator belt - whatever it costs. When I asked him if he can send me the bill for the work done by Bosch, he was a little hesitant and said he doesn't know whether they can send the these bills to customer since they are directly sent from Bosch to the accounts department of A.S.C. Does Bosch give any kind of warranty or limited assurance on any such work undertaken by them ?
	() Thanks

27th June 2011, 18:55	#7
bottle Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,634 Thanked: 274 Times View My Garage	Re: Palio battery light on after service At least push for a discount if not completely FOC I think i remember reading somewhere that works carried out at Bosch centers had some sort of warranty for about 6 months, you may want to investigate that
	() Thanks

27th June 2011, 19:10	#8
libranof1987 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: All over! Posts: 7,612 Thanked: 18,333 Times	Re: Palio battery light on after service Did you send an email to Fiat regarding this? What, during a routine service, could have resulted in the regulator failing? What is an alternator belt btw? I think you should find out the reason for the co-incidence (service -> battery light) before you agree for the repair. And rightly ask for it to be FOC.
	() Thanks

27th June 2011, 20:04	#9
DonnieDarko BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 28 Thanked: Once	Re: Palio battery light on after service @bottle, I tried to push for a discount but they only agreed for not charging the labor charges, :( , their argument was that your vehicle is almost 9 years old and such things could happen anytime at this juncture and I could not argue with that because I thought they could be given the benefit of doubt in such a scenario, but then I am very skeptical about the timing of the failure of regulator. @libranof1987, No, I have not written a email to Fiat regarding this matter till now I don't believe that they can do much in this case since they would have the same point of vehicle being 9 years old. No idea regarding what must have happened that resulted in regulator failing, but what the S.A said, "we took test drive after all the work was done and the battery light was not glowing at that time and then we sent the car for wash", this implies that something must have happened during the car wash, may be while washing the engine bay. Alternator belt - I think he might be referring to the 'serpentine belt' that connects the alternator with the crankshaft, I am not sure. Thanks guys for replying, I agreed for the expenses as I need the car to be home tomorrow, I will be leaving for 12 days trip and I just didn't want it to be at A.S.C any more than one day, trying to reach the bottom of this would have taken time and if I was not going out of town then I would have surely done that. Depending on the quality of work undertaken I will take it up with Fiat later on.
	() Thanks

27th June 2011, 21:22	#10
DonnieDarko BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 28 Thanked: Once	Re: Palio battery light on after service Thanks for the reply guys, I replied earlier but I don't know why it has not got posted here, @bottle, Yes I tried to get some discount but all I got was "no labor charges" and since I am going out of town the day after, I wanted to get the car back as soon as possible @libranof1987, No, I have not written to Fiat till now but I surely will once I am back from the trip, trying to find out the reason for this would have taken awful lot of time and I am short on that right now, so I agreed for what I could get quickly and I will decide the further course of action depending upon quality of their work. Yes, I should have pushed for FOC but I don't have much time right now to wait and argue with them :( Alternator belt - I think S.A might be referring to the 'serpentine belt' which connects the alternator to the engine, I am not very sure about this.
	() Thanks