(T) Noob with ECU problem

Hi folks.
Been reading up on here recently as I'm sure one of you lovely peeps will be able to help.
I have an 03 Stilo Active Aircon. Last week it gave up the ghost on the way home from work, I got in the car and it wouldn't do anything. Instrument panel wouldn't light up, engine wouldn't start etc. Took key out and left it a few mins and then just a whirring noise coming from behind the bulkhead somewhere.
Managed to hoik it eventually 2 miles up the road to a supermarket where it died on me again. Couldn't get a thing out of it as the Engine Management Thingy was shouting EBD Failure, ABS Failure, Airbag Failure. Engine starts but refuses to turn over.

The very nice man from the AA towed me home and then next morning took me to my local Fiat stealership in Bury (Richard Cort Italia). At first glance man said it was the coils (which I read about on the older Puntos but then another chappie said it was not the problem apparently).

Now then - they are completely confuzzled at the problem. They can't work out what it is and why the car refuses to start. They reckoned the transponder in both my sets of keys was faulty so they got the codes again from Fiat - and guess what - it doesn't recognise them anymore! The immobiliser code also isn't recognised. My car seems to have gone into some weird space/time void....

Latest today is that they hooked it up to the diagnostics 'puter and it reckons...(i.e. it's making it up) that it went wonky when I got jump started at some stage. News to me, this has never occurred in the 3yrs I've had the car - I got it 6mths old off their forecourt, pre-registered with 5 miles on the clock. The car's never been out of my sight other than for servicing/new clutch (don't blame me, ex husband burnt it out with his yeti like heavy handedness...grrr...). I don't even own a set of jump leads!

They are now calling in the 'men in the white coats'/Fiat Brainiacs as for the life of them the service blokes at Richard Cort cannot think what is up. I really really hope I don't have to have a new ECU as they've quoted me £600...

I see other folk have had similar problems but not so bad as what appears to be 'total meltdown'. I'm not best pleased seeing as the car's 6mths out of warranty - and...and...last month I paid up all my finance on it early including my final payment. So much for being a good girl!

I have to say I'm always a bit dubious about the main dealers but the guys at my local place are always alright with me and have been ringing me 2/3 times a day with updates but Stephen Hawking himself probably won't be able to work out this problem!

Has anyone any clues at all what I can do?

Cheers
Hells x

Welcome

Did you have any earlier issues before this problem (aside from the clutch) ?

What about the "Power Steering Failure" message - any of those?

Just would like to say you dont have to pay those prices for a new ECU if its that problem you can buy or get it rebuilt at www.ecuexchange.biz

The issue is you have a FIAT and therefore they are totally unrealiable.

I had a BCU fault and a faulty key had to pay £420 to get it fixed by FIAT.

Erm thanks guys.
I've never had any electrical problems with the car before, yes there has been the odd intermittent 'stop engine' message ages ago but from what i read on here that's quite regular and it's righted itself by stopping and starting again and then didn't come back for like 6 months.
The only faults that showed up for me were as above:
EBR Failure/ABS Failure/Airbag Failure.

I wish I could get my hands on some spare cash..to get a new car! It's very annoying that on only a 3.5 y.o car something major as this happens. I've driven much older cars before (with ECU's in them) with no issues at all!

As for getting the ECU rebuilt do they sort of 'format' the ECU again, like wiping a computer hard drive and reinstalling the car's 'operating system'?
That sounds good but no idea how to go about it, and indeed would no doubt be asked to 'move my car' away from the Fiat premises if I took that stance. Will have to have a word with bloke at dealership tomorrow. It's not as if I'd be invalidating my warranty anyhow...lol.

How reliable are these ecuexchange folk then? Opinions/experience would be appreciated.
Ta

I think you've got a difficult one here, mainly since you can't easily move the car and you seem to trust the dealer.

I'd start with basic facts:
Which part is required (part #)?
What checks have the garage made to come to that conclusion?

Post the results here.

You really need to find out how much they intend to charge for diagnosis to get an idea what it will cost to move the car to another garage.

I have to say that any garage that thinks both of your keys have developed faults at the same time doesn't sound too clever to me.

Not sure what Fiat specialists you have nearby but if you can find one that has a good reputation then you could ask them what they think of the diagnosis. If they take on an enlightened look then you could move the car to them for a 2nd opinion.

There's some risk but it might be worth it if £600 or more is involved.

Dude - I've read 3 different posts by you now and they have all said the same thing. We get it, ok. You don't like Fiats and you'll never buy another one. Fine, don't.

Look, I understand that it can make a person bitter when they have a bad (not to mention costly) experience with their car, but slagging off the cars that people on the Forum love is out of order . I hope you find a car you're happy with mate, I really really do.


Hells, welcome to the Forum. Wish it was on more pleasant terms. Let us know how you get on at the dealership tomorrow.

Good luck.

Ehm...not implicitly...lol. I just don't know enough about these things to have made my own mind up about them, wouldn't know where to start.


Well it's £35 as usual for diagnostics and then I asked them the costs up to now yesterday which was just £15. Tomorrow they'll have had my car for a week. Fortunately I've borrowed my dad's car while he's away on hols but that's only for 2 more weeks. No blimmin courtesy car in sight but I am going to ask again tomorrow.


I appreciate the idea but it's a major hassle as it is. It'll involve time off work, money I don't have and what then, if someone else tells me it'll cost £600 to fix where does that leave me? I can't see the AA taking me anywhere and really I don't have anyone who could help me out getting me car to another spot. Pretty stuffed by the looks of it, but I'm defo going to chat to them about the ECU Exchange place or anywhere else similar in the North that might do it. What's the worst that could happen...

Update...
welllll....today Hells Stilo problems have been brought to you by the letter D and the number 4....lol...

Phoned Fiat this morning - they had a look at the battery and it was only at 11.5 volts. Something has eaten a bit of the battery.
Sticks new battery in. Car starts. Woot woot! Here's me getting all excited thinking I can have car back. Please ring back this afternoon. Great!

Ring back at 4pm. Er, no, it's gone again. So, it can't be the ECU I'm now told. Huge sigh of relief to my purse all round.

Latest idea they have is that it's the CAN BUS unit which may or may not have a faulty or missing lead. Evidently these can either break or fall off and there is one backup lead attached to it which might need finding and connecting and it may well do the trick.

I read up on such things and apparently some MOD Radar sites have caused cars to go into meltdown. Okaaay....but I haven't been near any highly radioactive places that I can remember...unless we have secret places now in Manchester...

The saga continues!

I'd have thought a new battery would be one of the first things to try being such a common issue on the Stilo.

I'm not a great believer in complex faults (which is not to say they don’t happen). Most faults are due to something quite simple although if you're unfortunate they can end up as being complex.

I suspect the car started when the battery was changed because the wiring/plugs/sockets/relays were disturbed just behind the battery.

Could well be wrong but I'd say it smacks of an intermittent contact problem.

Has previously said, this sounds like a contact problem, also coupled with that battery being on its last legs

.erm, about time I replied to this isn't it...lol...
Well after all that, I did get my car sorted, seems it needed a new battery and then a proxy realignment, £191 quids worth..ahem..ah well the nice man fixed it and all is well. Just now waiting for the call to go back for the suspension bush recall, they've run out of parts (hmmm)...but at least this time I shouldn't be without my car for more than a day and it isn't going to cost me anything! Cheers for all your help guys!

you mean front spring clamps(yes,parts are on back order)............takes under a hour so wait for it (pre-book time beforehand)