(T) Power loss under acceleration (and other bizarre issues)

Hi Folks,

Having a problem with my 52 plate stilo 1.2. When I put my foot down the car seems to momentarily lose power / judder between 2000-3000rpm. Everytime I have one of these 'judders' the speedo and fuel gauge drop and then return to correct position (the rev counter stays steady despite the loss in power). The juddering varies in intensity but seems to be worse under hard acceleration. After a while I get 'ASR Fail' warning and a couple of times Ive had 'Engine Fault' but this isnt consistant. Even more strange is that it adds 2miles onto the mileage clock with each judder. Ive just got back from a 20mile trip and according to the trip computer and counter done 40!? It might be worth mentioning that the problems dont start until the car is up to temprature.

Its booked in to an independent garage but any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Ben

Well worth changing over the coil-packs, one at a time, down the line of cylinders. You should really carry one anyway so no expense is involved and you only need that one for the test. If the fault is still there then move on to next cylinder etc.

Check the Guides for how to change if you're not certain.

Cheers for that,

Just been out and had a look at one of the coils. I'll order a one up but are there any visual checks you can do? The one I had out didnt have anything obviously wrong with it.

Out of interest, any ideas why this would cause all the problems on the dash?

It's always a good clue if something looks suspect but it's rarely that easy.

Things like this have come up before but don't assume it's the answer - but it is one of the easier (and cheaper) things you can check

Well its been a few weeks now and despite it being in two different garages its still not fixed.

After trying the coil packs the first garage didnt even want to touch it. Made some excuse about it not talking to the diagnostic equipment. Sounds like a bit of a cop-off to me...

The chap in the second garage said its was chucking up loads of fault codes relating to sensors, abs, cylinder misfires on 1,2 and 3 (but never 4), etc, etc. He said that there cant be faults on all these things at once, and as there are problems on the dash, that was most likely the problem. So he took the dash off, checked the connection and cabels put it back together and told me he couldnt fix it.

This leaves me with a bit of a problem... Well actualy alot of a problem. Due to my (and most of the UKs) financial situation as far as I can see I have 4 options.

A) Take it to Fiat but tell them to stop working on it if the labour/ parts cost get over £500 fixed or not. If it is the dash thats playing up Im told it could be around a grand to replace and even this might not fix it.

B) Try to buy and replace all the electrical components one by one myself. Not a great idea, I like to think of myself as fairly technicaly minded but im by no means a mechanic.

C) Part exchange it for somthing else. Any ideas how much i'd get for it if I was honest about the problem? I'd rather not lie...

D) Insurance job!? Only joking but if I got away with out getting done for dangerous driving or fraud or both then it seems like my best option.

If money wasnt such a problem then Id have it fixed but I cant keep pouring money into it in case it doesnt get fixed. Ill need somthing left for a new car!

Answers on a postcard???

So are you certain a new coil pack was used for all 4 cylinders and the fault still remained?

It also helps if you can get all the fault codes listed and posted on the Forum.