Fiat Smart Alternator problems

[Fisherman]

My problem of non-starting turned out to have nothing to do with the smart alternator. The issue was the Phantom immobiliser, on a whim I called Phantom and they did a remote reset after which it was ok. However it happened again this year. I spoke to them. They say what appears to be happening is when it gets hot the immobiliser expands and temporarily seizes. Once it’s cooled a bit it will start again. When I get home they will relocate it to a cooler location.
The alternator continues to give odd low voltage readings, but it always comes back up when stopped a while, I think it’s just the way they work. Especially when it’s been on mains charge, the alternator tends to want the voltage to drop to give itself some headroom so it can operate its regenerative function.

Cheers for the heads up on the Phantom I have the same system.

As for the smart alternator I find if I run my fridge on auto whilst driving I lose power from my habitation batteries. I am having the battery and the alternator checked out at a Fiat garage next month. But I suspect they will state this is normal for a smart alternator.

 

[barge1914]

Cheers for the heads up on the Phantom I have the same system.

As for the smart alternator I find if I run my fridge on auto whilst driving I lose power from my habitation batteries. I am having the battery and the alternator checked out at a Fiat garage next month. But I suspect they will state this is normal for a smart alternator.

Interesting Bill. I had the same fridge problem for the first year, but having failed to remedy it with various tweaks the dealer replaced the whole fridge under the manufacture warranty, and it’s been excellent ever since. I note that the Phantom battery chart always gives a lower reading than the control panel or multimeter for the engine battery voltage.