[geeash]

@nomind

They have already replaced it under extended warranty mate !! yay!!

[geeash]

Problems galore:

Yesterday morning i was in for a shock. i got ready for the hospital and went to my car park. i pressed the remote key and car wouldn't show any signs of life. the car didn't unlock nor did the indicator glow in response for unlock.
I thought the battery for the remote would have gone off ! and went and manually unlocked the car using the desmodronic key. i put the key in the dashboard and turned the ignition to MAR. Horror!!. No lights on the dash console. the MID was dead and no information on it. Tried to start the car............ no signs of life again.......not even a sound of engine trying to start....... tried again......failed........ tried again..........No response.

i was stupefied!!. the car was perfect just the day before evening . i had driven the car back myself back from the hospital and switched of the lights and the a/c and shut the engine off!! and now it is dead !!

Just then it occurred to me that car did not start nor the lights because probably something wrong with the battery.

opened the bonnet tried to remove the terminals and clean the battery and tried to start the car. again no response.......it finally occurred to me that the battery must be dead or down. again removed the terminals and the battery fastening screws and took the battery out. Phew!! its heavy.........it occurred just then that i had seen a battery shop a kilometer away from my house. took the battery to them in my two wheeler.

horror. the man in the shop came with a voltmeter and checked the battery voltage and it showed 4 volts!!! its a 12 volt battery the engine needs 12volts to start even a small bulb needs 12V to glow and it merely showed 4v.

the batterywala said the battery is manufactured in march 2009 and its been 2 and half years and probably the battery is dying.

inquired the price for a new one. seems it is a 6 pin battery and it comes only in exide , amaron, tatagreen. the minimum battery cost would e 6300rs ( tata green with 2 years warranty). My dads verna battery costed me only 3.5k last year and now this one is nearly double.......

genuine person he is, he told me that he will try cleaning the acid and the cells in the battery and to put charge to see whether it charges again. he told if the battery didn't budge then i will have to buy a new one !! he told me to come back today after 24hrs

Went back today morning and he was ready he took the battery from his charging console and checked. i was praying!! thank god it showed 12V again.
He told me to use the battery for a couple of days/ week and see if the charge drops again. if it drops again i might have to change it for good.

Took the battery and came back and plonked it in place and fitted the terminals and thank god the dash lights came back. the car finally started again............tried to restart and it started again.......

finally issue is temporarily solved........ i am now praying that it doesn't conk off again in a week or it is again 7k down the drain.........

In retrospect thinking, i am never a person who leaves the lights on the car nor the a/c. i always make sure i switch of the headlights and a/c and stereo before i switch the engine off!! it is absolutely surprising how the car battery dies down overnight without any of these!!!???. If the battery was weak as i used to experience in my dads car the car wouldn't start properly, sometimes the car wouldn't crank or weakly crank if i had switched on the lights at night. None of this happened in my car. it was all fine just the day before before it gave me jitters in the morning.

The car had gone for service only in the month of April where they would/ should have charged the battery and battery suddenly going down dead is somewhat puzzling!! is there something wrong here ? can anyone help me find out ?? !!!

[julupani]

Did you ever notice a battery low indicator flashing on the dash ever before??? Because the car should warn you of a weak battery before it gets to a position that you got to.

It is possible for the battery to fall of a cliff sort of, but the low battery warning light should generally show up once in a while at least before it does.

[Sunney]

Linea: I found many times you guys are frustrated on Linea.
1. Is it the car or the service men faulty?
2. What about the Car? Do you think it has inherent mfg. problems ?

I too got a Linea Emotion D just 6th month. So far no big problems.
I was planning a long drive, upto Nainital.
Will you with your 'experiences' say No...No to me?

I cannot afford costly replacements/ repairs. Should I keep her in garage with cover and hire a Innova?

[julupani]

Cmon Man, this is what kills FIAT. One faulty battery and we are thinking of manufacturing problems. This over bearing exaggeration of problems is what is FIAT faces in the marketplace and is the primary reason why they cant sell even superb cars like the Punto and Linea.

Take out your Linea upto Nainital. I say take it right upto Gangotri. You will be one satisfied guy at the end of the drive.

[Sunney]

Jhulupani,
After seeing a thread full of complaints,complaints.....I want to hear some good words from somebody. You did it, thanks.

Otherwise I am a satisfied, proud owner of my Linea...

[geeash]

@julupani
nope mate !. it never flashed even for once !! all of a sudden it was dead.!!

@sunney
go ahead dude you will enjoy.

The car as such is a dream to drive. but for the niggles...
may be julupani is right. many of us are so apprehensive about fiat that we take a microscope and look at the problems. nevertheless these problems exists in every other car and it is just that we are over cautious about the brand........probably this will benefit too on the long run as we owners put up a comprehensive details on the niggles and how to solve it. .fiat can take a cue from uis to rectify all these niggles........

[rameshnanda]

@sunney
Take your car for that long ride. I am sure you will be happy with that.

I have taken my Punto twice to Munnar. Once I drove to Guruvayoor. Thrice to Salem and twice to Coimbatore. All from Chennai. I never had any issues.

Originally Posted by Sunney

I was planning a long drive, upto Nainital.

No worries, Sunney. My Linea visited MH, GJ, RJ, UP, DL and HR in last November/December covering more than 6600 km. Again, now she is ready for Leh expedition in this month. Just have your Linea thoroughly serviced before embarking on your Nainital trip.

[Sunney]

Thanks geeash, Ramesh, Raviji,
As I said I am very happy buying Linea and great expectations on her.
It is such a car at such medium budget hover you equal to the big guys; the comfort, size, beauty, safety....all.
Still I want opinions of diverse people, from diverse areas to reaffirm.

Leh to this Month?
Then your travelogue will be a great 'rehearsal' for me on my trip next month to UK.

[drdeepudev]

Dear sunney sir, take your car. I too own a linea E pk MJD for the past 20 months. I am so confident about the car that I use it for my interstate travels, mainly at night. Its a fun to drive car and I feel safe and comfortable in my linea. The last trip I made was Alleppey to Kodai with my family and the car was performing just fine. Problems? Which car is not prone to it? Some say, FIAT = trouble, stay away from it. But, I beg to differ. Keep your Fiat road side assistance number handy. I had to use it once and the service is good. (Hope you are covered under fiat first programme). Enjoy the trip and give us a nice photo treat.

[geeash]

Update:

The battery is dead again. didn't even last for 1 day !! it is just the same repeat of the above said incident. found it dead yesterday morning!!

Planning to buy a battery after a weeks time after conducting all sorts of experiments with the present one!!

Looks like the time is up for the car and the battery!! for the past 3 months i have been at the receiving end of all the wrath the car can give me.

The a/c problems for umpteenth time, The combination switch problem and now the battery drain & dead.

Looks like its time to move on. Will try one last time changing the battery and hope for less trouble, but it deinitely looks like time for curtains !! This Mindset has come!!

[julupani]

Hmm, I would still want you to check out whether something is shorting in car. I am not sure of this, but I think something may be shorting out causing the battery to discharge overnight, especially since the low battery sign is not lighting up.

You dont want to buy a new battery and have that draining out overnight.

[aks_karthik]

Ashwin,

call Kiruba and ask to come with a temporary battery and try it for somedays before going for new one.
Seems, it's not a problem with Battery, might be the issue with the car electricals, some Electrical/Electronic culprits have drained the battery insanely.

[Sunney]

Originally Posted by julupani

Hmm, I would still want you to check out whether something is shorting in car. I am not sure of this, but I think something may be shorting out causing the battery to discharge overnight, especially since the low battery sign is not lighting up.

You dont want to buy a new battery and have that draining out overnight.

Yeah, I fully agree with Julupani.
It is not fair to accuse 'the car', even the cheapest or '20 year-junk' one !
Because the Electrical system and engine, body are separate entities, just put together.

You have to check your electrical system with some other expert 'Auto electrician', if you fed-up with the current Electrician at the dealer, he is not necessarily be an expert one.

I advice this 'extra-Dealer Electrician' just because it seems you lost faith in your Fiat dealer.