Hey all,

Was driving down the M1 the other night when all of a sudden everything on my instr. panel (rev counter, speedo, all the dials, trip computer etc) just died. A few seconds later where was a 'whirring' noise and they came back to life only this time my speedo was registering that I was doing 130~ mph and my rev counter told me I was sitting at around 700 rpm, which on both accounts I blatently wasn't. Fuel and temperature gauges returned to the correct levels and the trip computer had reset, including the clock. Mileage hadn't reset.

Now this happened seemingly randomly about 20 or so times in the space of half an hour, the only differences being that the speedo and rev counter would sometimes show the correct readings and other times they'd pick a random place to sit and stay there. I was a little alarmed so stopped at the next services and had a look at the battery. Everything was nice and tight so I ruled that out. With it being about 2300 at the time it was a little late to start messing around with fuses so I fuelled up and thought I'd carry on driving.

The remainder of my journey went by without my dash cluster deciding to have an impromptu party so I thought it was maybe 'one of those Stilo things' and forgot about it. Fast forward to a couple of days later I was driving again and the same issue reared it's ugly head - seemingly random dying of the dash instruments and then coming back to life. Having got home and parked up I sat with the engine idling thinking of ways to try and emulate the problem but it was just random. It happens when the engine is sat idling and when the engine is off but the ignition is on. I've also noticed that my fan/heater has a mind of it's own too - sometimes it'll be set to say 22 degrees and high power but they'll be cool air gently blowing out and then it'll randomly start blasting out 22 degree air.

Not entirely sure what the issue could be. I'm thinking it could be the battery on it's way out and the computer is turning off "non-essentials" but I'm yet to dig out my voltmeter and check.

Is this a common fault with Stilo's, and if so can anyone recommend a solution?

For what it's worth, driving a 2004 Fiat Stilo 1.9JTD Dynamic

-- Adam

Hi,

been a few threads recently about dash woes !

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/251886-dash-woes.html

Do a search loads of helpful advice kicking around.

Good luck

Cheers

Funny you should have a 2004 mines also a 2004 mw and had dash issues at around 130,000 miles. It would be fine for a couple of days maybe a week and then would go off for maybe a week sometime 2 days it didnt have a pattern.
But you could also hear the dash whirring when you parked the car and turned it off so i saw there was one on ebay from a 2002 model year brand new and managed to get it for under £50.

I do need to have it proxy alined or what ever as its only done 500 odd miles but that can wait till i want to pay a dealer to sort it.

How old is the battery.

Muppet1 said:

Funny you should have a 2004 mines also a 2004 mw and had dash issues at around 130,000 miles. It would be fine for a couple of days maybe a week and then would go off for maybe a week sometime 2 days it didnt have a pattern.
But you could also hear the dash whirring when you parked the car and turned it off so i saw there was one on ebay from a 2002 model year brand new and managed to get it for under £50.

I do need to have it proxy alined or what ever as its only done 500 odd miles but that can wait till i want to pay a dealer to sort it.

Click to expand...

My clock is sitting at just over 108k at the moment so it's not far off and when engine is off my dash will also whirr as well so very similar problem.

I'll have a looksee around eBay et al to try and find a replacement. Have you had any problems since and is the cluster easy to remove and whip the new one?

Thanks,

-- Adam

Yep easy peesy, Take off the shroud round the stalks, and 2 star bits and 2 posidrive screws that hold dash in, pull dash out and unplug and fitment is the reverse.

And no problems what so ever apart from not showing correct mileage, But this was a brand new dash for what spec stilo i dont know but it works and thats all that matters to me.

Am just wondering if i whip the battery off for a couple of hours if it will reset and show the correct mileage now its not flashing.

This has been my favourite topic over the last few months!

Mine did the same thing 2 months back so I have been driving and topping up the fuel as often as possible! Sometimes the dash works but the sticking as though I am doing 200 miles an hour has gone ...

A lot has been discussed about the earth at C15 but I have also got a new dash and am changing it this weekend so will let you know if successful.

If it successful then too many people have the same problem for it to be the earth I think as the car is working fine except for this.

It is quite scary in the dark when there is no dash lights and suddenly it lights up!

Will let you know more on Monday, my dash is also new so think will be driving around with very low mileage until the MOT (as long as it works!)

Yes it is quite off putting when it suddenly springs into life, And like you everything else worked fine.
Dont know if the heater control lights did or didnt though as mine havent worked for sometime.

Hi

Right, I now have a new dashboard and the dials are all working! , the earths etc were checked previously so obviously this was the answer (hopefully!).

The dash cost me £90 so cheaper than getting from dealer!

This is all good but I need to get it proxy aligned ...

There is a "loose connection" with spanner warning on start up, an orange triangle in the middle of the dash and the dash beeps when I go to the maximum speed limit (70 mph). I also had "0" miles on the clock and a capital letter to the side but now I have 200 miles on it and the mileage just flashes now.

I have seen the following thread and this would solve the problems (I think) but noone ever posted the outcome.

www.fiatforum.com/stilo/144559-loose-connection-warning.html

So, my question is - will a proxy alignment solve the issues and how much does this cost?

Thanks

Paul

yes, a proxy alignment will stop the flashing of the mileage - second part would be to do a cluster repacement procedure which writes the correct mileage and service data to the cluster (if you write 0 service coupons you won't get any more service due warnings).
I don't know the costs as i have my own Examiner Smart...

Muppet1 said:

Yep easy peesy, Take off the shroud round the stalks, and 2 star bits and 2 posidrive screws that hold dash in, pull dash out and unplug and fitment is the reverse.

And no problems what so ever apart from not showing correct mileage, But this was a brand new dash for what spec stilo i dont know but it works and thats all that matters to me.

Am just wondering if i whip the battery off for a couple of hours if it will reset and show the correct mileage now its not flashing.

Click to expand...

the cluster can be removed without removing the shroud round the stalks...
Just remove the separate part on top of the cluster, tilt it forward , remove the plug and slide it away to the left (put a towel on the shroud to avoid scratches...)

Hi

Thanks for that yellowstilo ....

Wish I had an Examiner Smart!

Will these 2 procedures also remove the "loose connection" warning as I know on the previous thread the CAN needs to be aligned due to new cluster and can it remove the speed warning?

I am going to ring around a few Fiat garages to check the cost.

Thanks for any answers you have!

Ah your dash is/has done everything mine has, Im guessing yours was a second hand dash then??
Interesting what you say about the loose connection too.

Hi

Yes, can't be coincidence it is the same?

Have you taken yours to Fiat yet?

As I said drove 200 miles yesterday and all seems fine, would be good to know if this will fix the issue before I go down there ....

Cheers

Paul

Where did you guys get the new clusters from? Mine hasn't died, however it is knackerd (mileage reverses at a certain point).

PAULH said:

Hi

Thanks for that yellowstilo ....

Wish I had an Examiner Smart!

Will these 2 procedures also remove the "loose connection" warning as I know on the previous thread the CAN needs to be aligned due to new cluster and can it remove the speed warning?

I am going to ring around a few Fiat garages to check the cost.

Thanks for any answers you have!

Click to expand...

I expect the Proxy Alignment will also cure the 'loose connection' problem - afaik the speed limit can be adjusted in the "my car" menu (small button panel next to the steering wheel) or in the Connect Nav+ menu.
Max. speed limit is 250 km/hour.

Right, just spoke to crazy cat at Fiat.

Apparently, they can only program the mileage and not get it from the ECU with Examiner? So he said get the last MOT and add 5k miles on!

As for the Loose Connection, he says that is something else and they would have to take the cluster out again!

Finally, the 70 miles an hour limiter is something which they cant remove so now every time I go above 70MPH it will kick in!

Think I was better off without a dashboard!

Any advice welcome ....

PAULH said:

Right, just spoke to crazy cat at Fiat.

Apparently, they can only program the mileage and not get it from the ECU with Examiner? So he said get the last MOT and add 5k miles on!

As for the Loose Connection, he says that is something else and they would have to take the cluster out again!

Finally, the 70 miles an hour limiter is something which they cant remove so now every time I go above 70MPH it will kick in!

Think I was better off without a dashboard!

Any advice welcome ....

Click to expand...

Find a dealer with competence - mileage is stored in engine ecu and can be read with examiner - limiter can be changed with My Car or Connect Nav menu...
Some dealers should be named and shamed...

Thanks yellowstilo ...

The garage is right next to me so is annoying, will have to ring round a few more!

I can stand the beeping noises for a while longer! It is if I need to sell it that the issue will be greater!

The 70 MPH "Limiter" is a speed warning and can be set
at various speeds - just check the menu buttons by the drivers
door - scroll through and you should be able to alter it
or turn it off there.

John

I replaced all my coils this saturday and the dashboard is no longer "partying"

great success