IEat^Wheels56
Member
Hello, guys!
Long story short, I am looking for someone who can drop the pack and revive it for me. I contacted a service center in Canada a while ago, but it seems too difficult to get my car there.
The long story:
Fall of 2019, my 2014 Fiat 500e wouldn't take charge, and the goalpost came on when plugged in. Window lifts, blinkers, etc., all work. I contacted a local dealership and had to wait two weeks for an appointment.
Diagnosis 1:
I was told I needed a new 12V battery because mine had a bad cell. I agreed to replace the old one home.
Result: My "old" 12V battery held a charge perfectly fine. I took it to a local auto store for testing and it was nothing wrong with it.
Diagnosis 2:
They told me I needed a new Power Inverter Module (PIM), costing over $7500.
I asked for the codes they used to determine this, and this is what I got:
The codes:
Diagnosis 3:
The next time I visited, they replaced the 12V battery and cleared all the codes. The IBS state of charge now read 89%, but the codes came back, showing active Battery Pack Control Module (BPCM) failures. They attempted to flash the BPCM with new software, but it failed, showing a negative, response from the Body Control Module (BCM). At this point, the topology showed the BPCM was orange. They attempted another reset, but it didn't resolve anything. They also reset the 12V system and unplugged the quick disconnect for the EV battery, then performed another full shutdown, but again, no success.
McKevitts stated that Star, and out-of-state service provider, had determined I needed a new PIM. They also informed me that Star wouldn't honor the high-voltage battery warranty. When I asked why, they told me to contact Fiat directly.
Denial of warranty:
First, Fiat denied that the battery was under warranty. When I informed them that I lived in California and bought the car here, they admitted that the high-voltage battery was still under warranty until September 2023.
The car at the dealership:
While all of this was happening, my car sat at McKevitts with the new 12V battery. I provided them with some suggestions for fixes, but none worked.
Diagnosis report:
On the day I picked up my car, an employee handed me their internal diagnostic report, which I didn't reach until much later.
This is what it said:
- McKevitts had diagnosed my car with a failed BPCM and indicated I needed a new HV battery.
- Star refused to authorize a new battery, insisting that the PIM be repaired first, as it "sometimes repairs the HV battery".
-McKevitts believed that Fiat needed to provide a valid reason for not honoring the battery warranty, as there were already two lawsuits regarding similar issues.
What is your opinion on this "repair the PIM first" strategy? Is this a common experience?
Precision Auto, to whom I sent the codes, said the PIM couldn't be diagnosed until the high-voltage battery was revived. I also reached out to a repair shop in another city that had fixed a similar car, and they said the large battery has a minimum voltage, and if it falls below this, the modules like BPCM and PIM stop working or behave erratically, leading to communication loss and other faults, just like your case. This can happen when the car sits unused for an extended time without being connected to a charger, and the 12V battery isn't fully charged. The large battey ends up pushing itself below the minimum boltage to keep charging the 12V battery. After restoring the large battery, we can check the PIM and other modules to determine if they need replacing.
Precision Auto said the same thing. The PIM and BPCM could only be checked after restoring the battery. I don't understand how Star could claim that fixing the PIM would resolve the HV battery issue.
Towing to another dealership
My car was towed to another dealership. When I spoke to the mechanic, he mentioned that Fiat might give me a new battery if I paid for a new PIM. He said the PIM is the price of admission. It is what Fiat makes customers pay to get a new HV battery. But according to several forum posts, even after fixing the PIM, people still didn't receive a new battery. This was also mentioned in the internal document I received from McKEvitts.
This dealership gave me another diagnostic code: P0A0C. They also informed me that the cost of the PIM has increased, with an estimated repair cost of $15,000/
I tried resolving the issue directly with Fiat, but customer service was unhelpful. They didn't seem to understand the problem, weren't willing to accept new info, and basically brushed me off.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, asking Fiat to either replace my battery under warranty, buy the car back, or replace it with an equivalent model. They responded by saying they would honor the warranty but never reached out to the dealership. The BBB closed the case.
Fiat's customer service informed me that they closed my case and would not honor the warranty. No explanation was given.
A few weeks later, I had to pick up my car from the service or they would start charging storage fees. I requested a full report, but hey only sent me a different code than what their previous repair manager provided: P0605.
They are now refusing to give me a complete report.
At the moment the car is in storage. I hope someone on this forum who has successfully revived their own Fiat 500e can help revive mine. If I can't find a fix, I will have to get rid of it, which would be a shame since it is in perfect condition and has only 16,230 miles on it. I bought it new at the end of 2019. Since it's a 2014 model, it sat at the dealer for about a year.
One last thing. Before the car went dead, I had charged it a few times at a public charging station instead of at home. I was surprised to see it stopped charging before reaching full capacity.
If anyone can assist, let me know. Thanks!
Long story short, I am looking for someone who can drop the pack and revive it for me. I contacted a service center in Canada a while ago, but it seems too difficult to get my car there.
The long story:
Fall of 2019, my 2014 Fiat 500e wouldn't take charge, and the goalpost came on when plugged in. Window lifts, blinkers, etc., all work. I contacted a local dealership and had to wait two weeks for an appointment.
Diagnosis 1:
I was told I needed a new 12V battery because mine had a bad cell. I agreed to replace the old one home.
Result: My "old" 12V battery held a charge perfectly fine. I took it to a local auto store for testing and it was nothing wrong with it.
Diagnosis 2:
They told me I needed a new Power Inverter Module (PIM), costing over $7500.
I asked for the codes they used to determine this, and this is what I got:
The codes:
- C1008-16 Active Battery voltage below threshold
- C10E0-64 Active Accumulator Pressure Signal Failure
- PIA14-00 Active RadiatorFan Module Feedback Circuit
- POA8F-00 Active DC to DC Converter System Performance
- C1200-16 Active Battery voltage low
- B11FA-00 Active Humidity sensor internal
- U1487-00 Active Implausible data received
Diagnosis 3:
The next time I visited, they replaced the 12V battery and cleared all the codes. The IBS state of charge now read 89%, but the codes came back, showing active Battery Pack Control Module (BPCM) failures. They attempted to flash the BPCM with new software, but it failed, showing a negative, response from the Body Control Module (BCM). At this point, the topology showed the BPCM was orange. They attempted another reset, but it didn't resolve anything. They also reset the 12V system and unplugged the quick disconnect for the EV battery, then performed another full shutdown, but again, no success.
McKevitts stated that Star, and out-of-state service provider, had determined I needed a new PIM. They also informed me that Star wouldn't honor the high-voltage battery warranty. When I asked why, they told me to contact Fiat directly.
Denial of warranty:
First, Fiat denied that the battery was under warranty. When I informed them that I lived in California and bought the car here, they admitted that the high-voltage battery was still under warranty until September 2023.
The car at the dealership:
While all of this was happening, my car sat at McKevitts with the new 12V battery. I provided them with some suggestions for fixes, but none worked.
Diagnosis report:
On the day I picked up my car, an employee handed me their internal diagnostic report, which I didn't reach until much later.
This is what it said:
- McKevitts had diagnosed my car with a failed BPCM and indicated I needed a new HV battery.
- Star refused to authorize a new battery, insisting that the PIM be repaired first, as it "sometimes repairs the HV battery".
-McKevitts believed that Fiat needed to provide a valid reason for not honoring the battery warranty, as there were already two lawsuits regarding similar issues.
What is your opinion on this "repair the PIM first" strategy? Is this a common experience?
Precision Auto, to whom I sent the codes, said the PIM couldn't be diagnosed until the high-voltage battery was revived. I also reached out to a repair shop in another city that had fixed a similar car, and they said the large battery has a minimum voltage, and if it falls below this, the modules like BPCM and PIM stop working or behave erratically, leading to communication loss and other faults, just like your case. This can happen when the car sits unused for an extended time without being connected to a charger, and the 12V battery isn't fully charged. The large battey ends up pushing itself below the minimum boltage to keep charging the 12V battery. After restoring the large battery, we can check the PIM and other modules to determine if they need replacing.
Precision Auto said the same thing. The PIM and BPCM could only be checked after restoring the battery. I don't understand how Star could claim that fixing the PIM would resolve the HV battery issue.
Towing to another dealership
My car was towed to another dealership. When I spoke to the mechanic, he mentioned that Fiat might give me a new battery if I paid for a new PIM. He said the PIM is the price of admission. It is what Fiat makes customers pay to get a new HV battery. But according to several forum posts, even after fixing the PIM, people still didn't receive a new battery. This was also mentioned in the internal document I received from McKEvitts.
This dealership gave me another diagnostic code: P0A0C. They also informed me that the cost of the PIM has increased, with an estimated repair cost of $15,000/
I tried resolving the issue directly with Fiat, but customer service was unhelpful. They didn't seem to understand the problem, weren't willing to accept new info, and basically brushed me off.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, asking Fiat to either replace my battery under warranty, buy the car back, or replace it with an equivalent model. They responded by saying they would honor the warranty but never reached out to the dealership. The BBB closed the case.
Fiat's customer service informed me that they closed my case and would not honor the warranty. No explanation was given.
A few weeks later, I had to pick up my car from the service or they would start charging storage fees. I requested a full report, but hey only sent me a different code than what their previous repair manager provided: P0605.
They are now refusing to give me a complete report.
At the moment the car is in storage. I hope someone on this forum who has successfully revived their own Fiat 500e can help revive mine. If I can't find a fix, I will have to get rid of it, which would be a shame since it is in perfect condition and has only 16,230 miles on it. I bought it new at the end of 2019. Since it's a 2014 model, it sat at the dealer for about a year.
One last thing. Before the car went dead, I had charged it a few times at a public charging station instead of at home. I was surprised to see it stopped charging before reaching full capacity.
If anyone can assist, let me know. Thanks!
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