Hi all,

I have a 2003 (52) 1.9JTD Stilo Dynamic (5 Door)

Over the New Year the Stilo wouldn’t start,(think it was the battery) after a tow we managed to get her going…she has started first time ever since, however she now has no power steering. I took the car to my local (none fiat) mechanic who after investigation told me the ECU was knackered, quoting a lot to replace, I placed a classified for her (in the FF) and was contacted by another member who indicated that if the ECU was reset via the FiatECUScan then this may solve the problem and we would be up and running again, problem is I have no technical knowledge at all!! And was wondering if there is anyone in my area (South Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire,) who could run a diagnostic for me, or any suggestions where I could take the car for it to be done…I know there is/was an Alfa specialist in Tamworth so was going to give them a try...

Any help/suggestions is appreciated,

Many thanks

Brendon

I live in Wolverhampton, I'd be more than happy to connect my laptop to your car and run FiatECUScan for you if your over this way.

You can rest the ECU by disconneting the battery for an hour or two. Good idea to do it over night and charge it at the same time.

Shadeyman said:

I live in Wolverhampton, I'd be more than happy to connect my laptop to your car and run FiatECUScan for you if your over this way.

You can rest the ECU by disconneting the battery for an hour or two. Good idea to do it over night and charge it at the same time.

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Thank you kindly for that offer to Brendon ... I was hoping someone would be able to help in his area as I'm a tad too far away where I am, but I would hate for him to either be forced to sell his car for what may be a minor "easy to fix" glitch OR get shafted for an expensive & probably unnecessary "repair job" by an unknowledgeable garage.

I suspect that merely disconnecting the Battery wouldn't help, as it seems that the Steering ECU needs to have the "Phantom Fault" codes physically cleared/reset via FiatECUscan/Examiner before the system will kick itself back into life.

I've done two local Stilos with the identical "Flat Battery ECU Glitch" to Brendon's over the recent exceptional big-freeze, and both showed the same symptoms & Error Codes (== U1002 - CAN Gen.Comm Failure +++ C1004 - Invalid Signal +++ C1009 - ECU Defective) ... and one of them also had C1003 - CAN:Vehicle Speed Invalid Signal
... Both have been perfect since being cleared/reset via FiatECUscan, and Both were essentially caused by a dead or near-dead battery.

Thanks both,

Shadeyman - The Stilo is in Tamworth at the moment (so even nearer) and starts and drives ok so I should be able to make it over to Wolverhampton no problem, due to work (Im a Monday to Friday drone) weekend/s are better however I can do evenings to fit round you, I'll message you to swap details etc, Il also see if we can get the battery taken off and charged in the mean time,

many thanks
Brendon

The easyest way is not to remove the battery from the car. Just remove the negative lead from the battery then charge it. Its quick and easy to reconnect the next morning.

I think the ECU deletes fault codes/warnings after 3 normal starts so deffinately try disconnecting the battery over night or atleast for a few hours.

I'm by no means an expert with FiatECUScan but your more than welcome to use the lead and software(purchased) I have. Check your PM's and I'll see you soon if the battery off and recharge doesn't help.

Shadeyman said:

I think the ECU deletes fault codes/warnings after 3 normal starts so deffinately try disconnecting the battery over night or at least for a few hours.

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I believe it's supposed to (and that "battery disconnect" was tried unsuccessfully on at least one of those I did) ...BUT... both of the Stilos I've recently done point-blank refused to reset the Power Steering system until the fault codes were physically & manually cleared by FES (at which point they both instantly kicked into life perfectly).

Perhaps Brendon will have better luck with a "battery disconnect & rest", but I suspect not (although I'd love to be wrong ... and trying it certainly couldn't hurt).

Suicide_Jockey you were 100% correct mate.

Brendon had no luck with disconnecting the battery so he asked a friend(Matt) of his to get the car to my place. We reset the Power Steering system using FiatECUScan, after we cleared a few faults and everything is now as it should be.

Nice car Brendon, drive carefully mate.

Again thank you so much!! As you know shadeyman I have gone ahead an bought a new car, and for the first time for many years we are now going to be Fiatless!!....however I still need to sell her first so im sure I can manage a few more blasts round the block!!

Thanks Again

Brendon

Shadeyman said:

Suicide_Jockey you were 100% correct mate.

Brendon had no luck with disconnecting the battery so he asked a friend(Matt) of his to get the car to my place. We reset the Power Steering system using FiatECUScan, after we cleared a few faults and everything is now as it should be.

Nice car Brendon, drive carefully mate.

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Well done Shadey... great thing to do IMO

Brendon1977 said:

... I have gone ahead and bought a new car .....

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Hi Brendon,
I'm very glad your Stilo is back to normal & fully functional again ... I reckon it's a shame you'd already decided to sell and/or bought a.n.other as your original ad sounded like the car was well maintained & liked, but at least now you'll get a better price for selling it "all working" rather than as a wrongly-perceived "expensive-repair-needed fixer-upper".
... Don't forget to go & edit/replace your original ad accordingly (if you haven't already)

@Shadeyman ... Kudos for your kind offer to do the reset for Brendon ... It's heart (& wallet ) warming to see the Forum members assisting each other in this way.

BTW ... If either of you are interested in perhaps understanding why the ECUs are so temperamental / glitch-prone ...

....



....



... I suspect it's because FIAT probably employed this Zombie-designer as a "moonlighter" for their CanBus Telemetry designs


Slainte'
Bob

Shadeyman said:

Suicide_Jockey you were 100% correct mate.

Brendon had no luck with disconnecting the battery so he asked a friend(Matt) of his to get the car to my place. We reset the Power Steering system using FiatECUScan, after we cleared a few faults and everything is now as it should be.

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Did you perchance make a note of the Phantom Error Codes before you cleared them ? ... as I'm curious (for future reference) if they were identical or similar to the codes I posted earlier for the others I'd already done.

This info might also benefit other readers/members with Power Steering problems in the future, as I suspect that many other people might well have been (or get) "conned" into "repairing" or "replacing" their Power Steering units unnecessarily due to garage/mechanic "mis-diagnosis" as in Brendon's case.

Suicide_Jockey said:

Did you perchance make a note of the Phantom Error Codes before you cleared them ?

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With hindsight I suppose I should have done but I didn't, sorry.

The only error I do remember was "ECU Defective". As I was connected to the powered steering I'm guessing it ment "Steering ECU Defective"?

I cleared everything, reset the steering, then restarted the car. Took less than 2 minutes once I'd connected my laptop.

Hi Suicide Jockey,

The decision to sell has been a pained one I can tell you, I have even considered selling my beloved MX5 instead!!!, I will miss ‘Rosa’s Character, (I know its very wrong to give a car a name, but I thought middle aged Italian women for some reason!), but unfortunately she has to go.....I even muted a 3 car household, however this went down like a lead balloon…..(Especially as there are only 2 of us!)

It is heart warming to know there are people out there who are happy to help,…just because we have an interest in one of Turin’s Finest!!

I have changed the advert, and fingers crossed she will go to a good home……

Thanks again
Brendon

Cant chuffing believe it...went to collect the car today, friend has driven it no problems even moved it this morning, turned the key then...nothing just clicking again, all lights flashing on the dashboard car not turning over, then one by one dash readout telling us all the systems have failed we disconnected the battery left for a while then reconnected, we tried to bump start..nothing....funny thing though all the, windows, lights etc all working fine..so inclined not to think the battery...any thoughts?

definately not a good day.....

Does sound liek the battery to me it could have been the cause of your power steering woes aswell as the power steering uses alot of juice.

Most likely to be a poor battery but I'd check for a bad earth too.

Hello , I hope you don`t mind me butting into your conversation but I am a very new member and I can not see how to post a Question of my own , Maybe you could tell me . We have a seicento sporting with a power steering problem in that it works OK on the LH lock but no assist on the RH . I would like to know how to post this as my own question . I would help you with your stilo if I could , If I find anything out I will let you know
Many thank , sorry to have troubled you .
jdjeffers DE56

jdjeffers said:

Hello , I hope you don`t mind me butting into your conversation but I am a very new member and I can not see how to post a Question of my own , Maybe you could tell me . We have a seicento sporting with a power steering problem in that it works OK on the LH lock but no assist on the RH . I would like to know how to post this as my own question . I would help you with your stilo if I could , If I find anything out I will let you know
Many thank , sorry to have troubled you .
jdjeffers DE56

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Post your question in the Seicento section, someone there should be able to help you. Use the link below.
https://www.fiatforum.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=36

Hi, Battery it seemed to be, so we have had it replaced, apart from a small blip with the skyroof (which we have now reset) all back to normal
Fingers crossed thats it for now!!
..many thanks

My steering has become very heavy, and then when CITY is on its feels like it should be when its normal if that makes sense. I've got a lead and FES but doesnt make connection with the car. Does anyone have some drivers or something for it?