# Italian Electrics #Alfa_Romeo [[Articles]] ![[alfa_romeo_small.png]] A friend once described Italian car electrics as being made from pasta and salami. I wouldn't go that far but I do acknowledge that Alfas have a bit of a history when it comes to the sparky bits. Last day of the holiday, half an hour before the eviction time for the accommodation. All packed and ready to go, time to load up. Placed my hand on the driver's door handle expecting the usual acknowledgement with the doors unlocking and the mirrors swinging out. All I got was a half-hearted blink from the indicators, no beep, no reassuring sound of the unlocking of the doors. Bugger! After a bit of fiddling, I managed to find the manual key within the key fob, inserted it into the lock and hey presto the door opened. Unfortunately, the electrics were still not playing ball: the dash was completely lifeless. No amount of pushing the start button was making any difference. No choice - contacted Alfa Assistance who put me in touch with their contracted breakdown company. Over the next hour, their anticipated response time ranged from 90 minutes to six hours - not impressed. I contacted an alternative recovery service, of which I was still a member - received an update 45 minutes later to say that they would be another hour. Meanwhile, a friendly neighbour seeing my plight arrived with a battery pack and started the car. Breakdown services cancelled[^1]. ### The Cause? I still don't know what caused the problem. The car is regularly left for upwards of a couple of weeks without any starting issues. One of Stelvio forums suggests that the problem may lie with leaving the key fob in range of the car, causing the systems not to shut down properly - perpetual state of expecting a hand on the door handle. If the signal to the car was intermittent I guess it could have repeatedly turned on the 'welcome' lights during the night. My new best friends: ![[alfa-battery-2.jpg]] ![[alfa-battery-1.jpg]] (Other battery packs and monitors are available). [^1]: The second service, whom I shall not be renewing with, advised me of their ‘28 day rule’ - “You can't call us out for the same problem again within the next 28 days” - Great!