Hi my name is marc im only 19 years old and have recently got myself a very nice ice green metallic 1.6 active sport stilo with only 54k on the clocks, when I got the car it wouldn't start as the previous owner had used dirty fuel then left it sitting for over a year so I started by draining the complete fuel system and installing a second hand fuel pump then I refilled with £20 of bp ultimate and £20 regular unleaded and gave the plugs a clean and adjusted the gaps and finally that got her running (just) I then realised that the alternator was shot so ordered a second hand one of ebay which works fine and replaced the battery now she runs but a bit lumpy which I hope that a good service and possibly a new fuel rail will sort if redex doesn't, anyway the problem now is that when running I have no power steering my airbag light comes on also a loose connection warning and after a little while It says engine fault aswell ? its really confusing as I really cant understand the problem as it was a family member who owned it before me and I know for a fact there wasn't any of these problems before it got parked up so its left me thinking that a earth point could possibly have been corroded and causing problems as the only other thing I could think of if the ecu being fryed but it was fine when parked up so ive ruled that problem out of the equation although I may be wrong hopefully someone here can help me

All comments and suggestions welcome and will be greatly appreciated as this is my first car to learn in so im itching to get it going right

Thanks Marc

Hi Marc, and welcome,
stilo are fussy with electrics,
could well be the alternator / poor battery has upset things,
a CODE reader will be a sound investment,
ask for tips in the stilo Section,
charlie

Welcome marc, your in the right place ok going on what you've described I'ld say the "loose connection" and "engine fault" code will be related to the lumpy engine running so possibly a coil? Or as you've alluded to maybe fuel related. It is possible that once the problem is sorted the warnings may disappear but you may well have to have the codes reset.

The lack of power steering may be down to that alternator you fitted. Power steering on the Stilo is electrically powered and when you disconnect the alternator you loose it completely. I know this because my alternator belt snapped last year rendering me with no assisted steering as the alternator must directly feed the steering motor, so make sure it's connected up properly.

The airbag warning light is the only one I can't advise on? Like varesscary says a code reader would be a worthwhile investment

welcome to the club!


if the car was stood a long time, my first job (in the case of your electrical issues) would be to get into the fuses on the battery and start checking them all. Check your cables and clamps and earth wire - you might find that with it being stood, the electrics are still wet etc so I would also get some wd40 where ever you can to try force out any moisture that may be causing issues.

All the symptoms you describe except maybe the airbag warning can be caused by low volts. As you say the battery has been changed, it could be a poor connection or poor earth, particularly as the car has been unused for a while. (like what Clivvy says)

Welcome to the wonderful world of electrical issues with the stilo.
I'm a mechanic and I've got two stilo's.
Both with electrical gremlins.
Make sure you have a fully charged battery before you start.
Clean all earth points.
Take out the fuse box,clean all connectors,use chain lube instead of wd40,it lasts and protects everything.
Any drop in voltage will throw up all manner of faults.
Don't try to start the car with the fuel light on.
You'll get an orange triangle on,plus rear brake bulb failure.
Plus random sensor failure warnings.
Take the battery off for half an hour to sort it out.
I've got my own snap on diagnostic gear,and it's been an absolute bugger to sort out.
ECU failures are common.
Don't take it to fiat to sort out.
Contact yellow stilo on here for a cleared ECU.
About £250 ish.

hi guys very sorry about the delay in replying to this ad only arrived back in the country on monday unfortunatly,

have recently had to move the car to my freinds private land as i came home to find a number of letters of the police advising me that my car was illegally parked as it was not on private land whilst sorned (which it was as i live in a bought house we own a private parking space) so after a lot of hassle all week i managed to get the deeds to my home and prove that it is private land to which they then changed there story and decided that they would accept its private land and im not in the wrong but then proceeded to tell me that if i dont get it insured then it will be seized which i dont understand as surely if it is not being drove then it doesnt need insured and if someone hits it then they are liable but i got fed up with arguing with them and moved it to a plot of land owned by my freinds family where no other cars are anywere near to avoid any more drama from clearly incompitent police officers !!

Also managed to get a look again and realised that the alternator i thought was fine actually is only giving the battery a very slight trickle charge so that will need replaced or rebuilt whichever is cheaper (any info on were to get a rebuild kit would be very much appreciated) ,so if my alternator is still faulty could that be why im getting so many fault codes or could it still be a fryed ecu , also have just recieved a new launch code reader to help me but as soon as i clear the codes they just appear again as soon as engine is started

All suggestion or comments welcome and will be appreciated greatly

Thanks marc

Not sure why police are involved with your car as they don't bother with sorned vehicles on private land. We only get involved with vehicles causing unnecessary obstruction ect. Normally Dvla who deal.

kincaid1994 said:

... police advising me that my car was illegally parked as it was not on private land whilst sorned (which it was as i live in a bought house we own a private parking space) ... but then proceeded to tell me that if i dont get it insured then it will be seized which i dont understand ...

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I assume it is parked in a parking space close to your property (probably easily accessible from the public highway)? If so then it could be a potential liabilty, eg handbrake failure, fire hazard to adjacent vehicles & property, etc (however unlikely) and should therefore be insured.

Can't see where you're coming from tbh. What if a car parked on a drive in a hill rolls out of it then.....

heraldsteve said:

fire hazard to adjacent vehicles & property, etc (however unlikely) and should therefore be insured.

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The car catching fire and setting fire to adjacent vehicles / buildings etc is something insurance co of each vehicle / building affected would pay out for. Insurance company for the vehicle which was first on fire is only responsible to pay out should the fire have started due to the insured's negligence.