Hi,

For a while now my Stilo has felt odd on the road. The first time I noticed it pulling left/right I figured it was just following ruts in the road or the camber. However, the car (1.9JTD on 17" factory alloys) consistently drifts to either the left or right.

I say drifts, sometimes it feels more sudden than a drift - feels just like I've gone into a wagon rut and it'll pull on way (usually left).

I took it in for tracking and the garage moved back tyres to front, rebalanced all and adjusted the tracking which was +6 out. I also had them fit new front discs and pads as I was aware they were binding a little.

However, none of the above has changed the way the car handles. I've experimented and find that it seems to happen more when in city mode which begins perhaps to suggest that there's a problem with the power steering feedback.

Anyone who's driven a Honda Jazz will know what that power steering feels like (big deadspot in the centre then rather overenthusiastic response) and mine is beginning to feel a little similar to that.

Any ideas Stilo boffins?

+ 6 on steering is so far out i'd be seriously suspiscious that it was done correctly. Maybe it was that far out but that's a long way. Look at your tyre wear, or feel like you're on a skating rink all the time, that's a big clue that your tracking is out

Slightly too low tyre pressures will make Stilo drift all over the place. Surprising how much that affects it

Doing it more in City because there's less resistance to steering

I'd check tracking, tyre pressures and track rod ends for wear

After that a fuller front suspension test for play

Hi All
As deckchair said +6 is a long way out, why?
Rock the steering wheel from side to side do you get any knocking sounds.
Is the front of the car standing level, have a look at the front springs it’s usually easy to see if one is broken (common fault)
Have you hit a kerb hard or had something on the steering replaced recently.
If not I would defiantly get the tracking checked again somewhere different, ask the mechanic to check the track rod ends and the bottom arm for any play.
Tracking doesn’t just go that far out on its own, unless something has broken.

I've had this 'vague' steering feeling on my JTD ever since I bought it 5 months ago. Sometimes seems to pull slightly to the right, somtimes to the left.

It's not a problem to me and I'd put it down to it being the first electric power steering car I'd ever owned. Tracking and tyre pressures are correct and there's no play in the steering rack, track rod ends or suspension joints/bushes.

I did wonder if the steering ECU needed to be 'told' where straight ahead is, but that can wait until I need to get it connected to Fiat Examiner for something else.

Dave.

My alignment is spot on. I know that because the camber pull is exactly the same in France as in the UK :spin: That said I was rather annoyed with myself when I scuffed my perfectly aligned tyres on the toll both wall trying get the passenger side as close to the ticket machine as posible :doh:

New tyres can take a fair while to bed in properly and can feel strange during this period (obviously this will be extremely tyre dependant).

If you've got an odd-ball mix of worn tyres then you can prove all of this by simply moving them around and you should notice a difference immediately.

I gather the problem is more noticeable on 17's or larger and as Decks has pointed out - raising tyre pressure will help although it's important to get the correct balance with reduced grip.

If anyone has any doubts about alignment then I recommend they post their 4 wheel results here.

Thanks for the replies chaps - very useful reading.
It's really one of those insipid things that I started to notice suddenly, but it's very possible that it has been like that since new. However, I reckon the new tyres have exacerbated things.

The printout back from the garage goes something like this:

OSR 6 6 6 (mm inner, middle, outer)
NSR 6 6 6
OSF 4 5 5
NSF 4 5 5

Pressures 32F 32R

Wheel alignment - current setting 6.0 reset to 0.0

So you can see the inners of both fronts have been wearing a fair bit more. Of course, they're now on the rear so the fronts are now 666.

If it was my car and the front and the rear axels have the same tyres/tread pattern on would swap front to rear and vice versa. The current fronts will always have accelerated wear on the inner now that the tracking has caused that wear pattern, at least swapped to the rear the Stilo's rear outer edge wear habit should even things out over time and get you max. miles from this set of tyres.

moogs said:

Thanks for the replies chaps - very useful reading.
It's really one of those insipid things that I started to notice suddenly, but it's very possible that it has been like that since new. However, I reckon the new tyres have exacerbated things.

The printout back from the garage goes something like this:

OSR 6 6 6 (mm inner, middle, outer)
NSR 6 6 6
OSF 4 5 5
NSF 4 5 5

Pressures 32F 32R

Wheel alignment - current setting 6.0 reset to 0.0

So you can see the inners of both fronts have been wearing a fair bit more. Of course, they're now on the rear so the fronts are now 666.

Click to expand...

You need to increase your tyre pressures, for my JTD with 17" wheels I run 37 psi for the fronts and 34 for the rear. The heavy diesel engine means you need more pressure in the fronts.
It is a very personal thing but give it a go, make sure you increase the pressure into cold tyres though.

I have been told by a very reputable source that the stilo has overly light steering for a car of its size, this could be because it's electric as previous people have said.
My source says it's more likely to be because it's made by italians as his customers experience similar tyre issues on Alfas.
Food for thought.

moogs said:

The printout back from the garage goes something like this:

OSR 6 6 6 (mm inner, middle, outer)
NSR 6 6 6
OSF 4 5 5
NSF 4 5 5

Pressures 32F 32R

Wheel alignment - current setting 6.0 reset to 0.0

Click to expand...

That printout is pretty much a waste of time. What you really want is a full breakdown of toe & camber for all 4 wheels.

Setting toe to 0 is a good move though as that's what I use

minimad99 said:

I have been told by a very reputable source that the stilo has overly light steering for a car of its size....

Click to expand...

One key reason for this is using high tyre pressures. Quite simply, you have less rubber in contact with the road which is why the steering is so much easier.

As you say it's a personal choice but still important to weigh the pros/cons :chin:

Hi,I have a Stilo multiwagon which has been a fantastic car.However about 18 months ago the steering had what sounds like the exact same problem as yours.I would be driving along and all of a sudden the car would go for a wander and you'd end up correcting to bring it back on line but then that would sometimes result in an over correction.I tried all the things you have but to no avail.Finally, Fiat, hooked it up to the car computer and low and behold the steering ECU was incorrect.They reset it in seconds and I was on my way with no further problems.Don't let Fiat replace the steering rack as was suggested by them, as this costs in excess of £500 as the ECU cannot be bought separately

The steering has its own ECU

tenwierdufos said:

The steering has its own ECU

Click to expand...

Let them try resetting it.It worked wonders with mine and it does sound identical problem

Steering + 6 degrees or minutes out?. If car is toeing out 5 - 10 minutes much better iniitial turn in but will scrub tyres a bit.
toe in dampens responses.

tenwierdufos said:

The steering has its own ECU

Click to expand...

You're quite right but if you go to a Fiat dealership in 1st 12 months warranty period with faulty ECU they will replace said item.Go after 12 months and they insist you have to buy the whole steering rack!

Does anyone know if disconnecting the battery for a length of time will reset the steering ECU in a similar way to the engine ECU?

Just an update and a possible reason for the steering pull problem.

Since I replaced the front springs last week, my car has been steering straight as a die. The steering feels lighter, there's no pull to left or right and the car now returns to straight ahead without driver assistance that it sometimes needed before.

I only replaced the springs because a garage had fitted the wrong springs to the car a month before I bought it. Re. this previous post;

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/169795-stilo-multiwagon-ride-height.html

I believe the steering problems were caused because the garage had assembled and fitted the top mountings incorrectly.

The mounting consists of 2 metalastic rubber parts with a thin bearing plate between them. The 2 rubber parts must be lined up with each other whilst the spring is being fitted to the shock absorber and be in the correct position on the shock absorber in relation to a small hole in the top suspension tower.

The top part of the rubber mounting has a lug with a small hole (5mm). The bottom part of the rubber mounting has a cut-out that must be lined up with the small hole. Once the assembly is fitted to the car, the 5mm hole and the cut-out needs to be lined up with another hole (8mm) in the top suspension tower.

It's easy to check if everything is lined up. The top part of the rubber mounting remains stationary in the suspension tower so it should always be possible to see the 5mm hole in the rubber lug through the 8mm hole in the top of the suspension tower. The bottom part of the rubber mounting rotates as the steering is being turned so the steering needs to be set to the straight ahead position. Once this is set, it should be possible to pass a 5mm rod (drill bit?) through the 8mm hole and the 5mm hole and the cut-out in the lower part of the top rubber mounting with only minimal resistance.

The diagram below, shows the 2 parts of the top mounting (The bearing plate is fitted between the 2 parts so is not visable).

2a shows the lug with the 5mm hole lined up exactly in the center of the cut-out in the bottom rubber.

2b shows the maximum allowable tolerance for fitting the 2 parts.

2c shows the 2 parts fitted together beyond the maximum tolerance.

cris1117 said:

Hi All
As deckchair said +6 is a long way out, why?
Rock the steering wheel from side to side do you get any knocking sounds.
Is the front of the car standing level, have a look at the front springs it’s usually easy to see if one is broken (common fault)
Have you hit a kerb hard or had something on the steering replaced recently.
If not I would defiantly get the tracking checked again somewhere different, ask the mechanic to check the track rod ends and the bottom arm for any play.
Tracking doesn’t just go that far out on its own, unless something has broken.

Click to expand...

i have an issue with my steering, when turning left, it feels like it has a wobbly wheel. i have new wishbones on. but i see you mention about the car standing level when steering, well when i have the engine running and i am sat stationary and steer, i see the front of the car raising up and down. is this a suspension spring fault.

sounds like your wheel nuts have worked loose cosso have a look to make sure mate
Karl.

Hi there.I had a broken spring about 2 months ago.I replace al 4 springs with shocks and the bearings from the top.Since then i've tried all kind of different things to try and sort out the problem.No luck thought.My car goes either to left,either to right.I keep the steering wheel straight but the car wont stay straight.In the curves the i feel like the back of the car is sliding,and the front tyres feel like are going underneat the car.Sometime in roundabouts the left front wheel is not griping and the ASR start flashing in dash,and make the car block the wheel and make a really bad sound.Sometimes the steering is light,sometime gets harder.I went to 4 different garages and the tracking has been done,and re-checked and everything seems to be fine.No play at all.I am new here,and sorry if i had a bad english.
Does anyone knows what can i do further?This thing is starting to be really annoying.Thanks