Once again im pulling my hair out with this stilo... its a 2002 1.9JTD 115 3dr and i dont know whats going on with it...

Just got home from having to jump start the car in north london and it wasnt very nice. Now i randomly keep recieving ENGINE FAILURE and its immediatly cuts some of the engine power but then suddenly the failure warning vanishes within seconds..2nd problem a few times when i start it up i get all sorts of warnings ABS etc, all saying failure. i turn it back off then on again and its cured..WHAT IS GOING ON.. 3rd problem, my car has been making these strange on and off vibrations from the front left wheel (i think thats where its coming from???). could these be common faults?

Any clue on any of these problems would be a life saver..

PS: please help :bang:

Give us more information
You had to jump start the car- why?
Why was the battery flat?
Is it going flat quickly on its own?

Getting all sorts of warnings when you start the car is because the battery is nearly flat- low voltage = warnings. On the 2nd start the voltage is higher so no warnings

Poor battery or charging or battery connections and earths

Vibrations from the front wheel
Does it happen when you brake? Always the same speed?
Do you feel the vibrations through the steering wheel or what?
More information means easier diagnosis

Further to what Deckchair has said. Jump starting a Stilo can be a very dangerous thing to do but hopefully you may just have a very tired battery.

If you have then get it changed NOW! (and fit a top quality battery too)

possibly the baterry .

it can become very weak and tired.

have you taken on any water recently as well , when my car conked out in a flood, i got the car started luckily after a few tries from the aa man (after he slid into a ditch).

for about 10 miles it was driving with the engine warning light on and i only felt like i was driving a 'non turbo'd' car with about 40bhp , after a good 20 minutes though it sorted itself out

Had this recently

very slow to crank with all sorts of messages informing me of impending doom---
fitted a new battery and it is like a different car.

p.s. i got mine changed at a fiat dealer for a larger capacity alfa one (although i think they would use the type regardless)for a reasonable £60

Yeh ill take your advice and just buy a new battery to be on the safe side... Now back to these mysterious vibrations, It mostly occurs when accelerating and seems to get worse at higher speeds. Also when cornering at any speed you can feel it vibrate, plus the vibrations can be slightly felt through the steering wheel but mainly by the front passenger side of the car. A friend has told me that it could possibly be the suspension coming to the end of its life. I was also reading through the service history on the last MOT done and came accross this little piece of info "Nearside front constant velocity joint gaiter insecurely mounted to its housing" and then has no recolection of having it fixed even though it eventually passed the MOT soon after..Could that be whats at fault, because i really have no idea what was ment by it..??

"It mostly occurs when accelerating and seems to get worse at higher speeds".
Well check the things that go around like wheels- balance and tyre bulges. Put the front wheel on the back for a no cost quick elimination check

Quite a lot in today's posts above CV Joints but a loose gaiter might well be fine once it's reattached. The problem is letting water and road grime into the joint as it's close tolerance clearance in there and it wears down the componets quickly if there's a lack of lub

"A friend has told me that it could possibly be the suspension coming to the end of its life".
That's a classic. Better call the undertakers now

Well it seems like im gonna be spending the weekend at the garage gettin the wheels checked and balanced, could be worse i guess. Thanks for the info and ill post a check report and let you know if it got sorted or not.

Thanks for the help. JD

Forgot to mention also,

i recivieve a very convincing AIRBAG FAILURE alert and stays on for as long as im driving. Now i was told by the previous owner it had been checked out, the chair and the rest was repaired yet the failure warning never went away.

Never a dull moment with the stilo......

have you taken on any water recently as well ,

Not a single drop. Im guessing it was just the dodgy battery that let me down.

mine played up with the floods , to cut a long story short .

its running fine now.

i had all my 4 tires balanced and alligned and now i find that the car runs a lot smoother

cost me £36 though

JDstilo said:

Well it seems like im gonna be spending the weekend at the garage gettin the wheels checked and balanced

Click to expand...

If you're taking your car to a tyre centre (rather than checking stuff yourself) then remember to make your concerns known to them.

Most places will give your suspension a good check whilst it's on the hoist.