Hi New Member here, and novice to mechanics !!
Really hope someone can help me. Bought a Fiat Stilo 1.6 Dynamic 5 days ago since then the warnings and lights have been swapping on and off galore, ive had all sorts, airbag failure, engine failure,loose connection alternator failed,ASR and ESP failure. Although i have all of these the car seems to be driving fine, except once when the car said alternator failed the car didnt start first time but did the second and no warnings or anything and the car cut out but started straight away when engine failure came on. Sometimes i can get in and i get no warnings other times i get in and can have a array of different ones. Please can someone tell me if it is just an electrical fault that an be easy enough and relitevley cheap enough to fix or is the car ready for the scrap yard. Thanks .

Have you ever changed the battery?

Thought you said 5 years lol if the car has been stood still For a period of time the battery may be drained. You try charging it or going for a long drive. You can test the battery with a multi meter if you have 1 you want about 13v with engine off and above 14v engine on.

Classic symptoms of a battery on the way out. Stilo electrics need a good, healthy, powerful battery to work at thier best...

I would check the main battery earth connection (See Stilo guides for what to do) especially as you have a "loose connection" failure and lots of systems going down

Deckchair5 said:

I would check the main battery earth connection (See Stilo guides for what to do) especially as you have a "loose connection" failure and lots of systems going down

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Thanks to you all for your speedy replys i will try the battery etc and let you know how i get on !!!!!

Deckchair5 said:

I would check the main battery earth connection (See Stilo guides for what to do) especially as you have a "loose connection" failure and lots of systems going down

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Hi my boyfriend has had the battery out today the earth connection was a bit worn but he has greased it and filed it. The D4 connectors have been checked and cleaned also. The battery was supposed to have been a new one when we bought the car??. Anyhow when we put the car back together today all the same failures came on and now car security failure and the car will not start. I am going to get a new battery tomorrow can you please advised the best battery to buy, stating the AH and voltage required, and also if you think if i replace the alternator this would help as i have read this on the site aswell.
Thanks

Hi,
As regard to a battery ideally go for a branded battery such as bosch or varta etc.
Get the biggest one possible that will fit !! As for the Cranking amps of the battery this will be dependant on the size you squeeze in ! Something else you may want to do is leave the battery disconnected for around 30 minutes and this will clear any faults that may be stored.
Good luck and keep us posted !

cheers for now,

Did you fully charge the battery before refitting it? If it's a low battery charge then you could be wasting your money on an alternator.

When you get it started do some simple tests with a multimeter

With engine running check voltage between batt +ve and a shiny metal bit on the engine. I'd want to see more than 14v after a couple of minutes of battery charging

If you have 14v or more then your alternator is charging the battery. If you only see battery voltage of 12v or less then the battery will be discharging

Then try it with some electrical loads on like hrs and headlights. Is the voltage still holding up near 14v? If it is then alternator is good

Whilst the engine is running check the voltage between the battery -ve and a shiny part on the engine. I'd want to see less than 0.5v. Any more than that and you have a bad earth connection

Deckchair5 said:

Did you fully charge the battery before refitting it? If it's a low battery charge then you could be wasting your money on an alternator.

When you get it started do some simple tests with a multimeter

With engine running check voltage between batt +ve and a shiny metal bit on the engine. I'd want to see more than 14v after a couple of minutes of battery charging

If you have 14v or more then your alternator is charging the battery. If you only see battery voltage of 12v or less then the battery will be discharging

Then try it with some electrical loads on like hrs and headlights. Is the voltage still holding up near 14v? If it is then alternator is good

Whilst the engine is running check the voltage between the battery -ve and a shiny part on the engine. I'd want to see less than 0.5v. Any more than that and you have a bad earth connection

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Hi Thanks again for your replys we have decidedto get a new battery as the old one looked small and is only 60AH, readf somewhere needs to be around 74AH??? and got a Diesel one so fingers crossed this works will let you know later today how we get on. Thanks again This Forum is a life saver !!

Deckchair5 said:

Did you fully charge the battery before refitting it? If it's a low battery charge then you could be wasting your money on an alternator.

When you get it started do some simple tests with a multimeter

With engine running check voltage between batt +ve and a shiny metal bit on the engine. I'd want to see more than 14v after a couple of minutes of battery charging

If you have 14v or more then your alternator is charging the battery. If you only see battery voltage of 12v or less then the battery will be discharging

Then try it with some electrical loads on like hrs and headlights. Is the voltage still holding up near 14v? If it is then alternator is good

Whilst the engine is running check the voltage between the battery -ve and a shiny part on the engine. I'd want to see less than 0.5v. Any more than that and you have a bad earth connection

Click to expand...

:bang: Todays update new battery now fitted and car has been running lovely for the past couple of hours been driving all over the show however when i have just gone out to start the car up again it came up with the same old loose connection asr failure car security and wouldnt start for a good five minutes,after strating finally been on a good drive again and only cut out once. Do i have a tempremental car or is it ready for the scraps. Also the engine shaped light is still on and engine fault warning comes on when i start the car each time i have read through the threads and see a coil may fix the job. Just dont want to keep spending money on it if i cant get rid of this ASR failure once and for all. Any advice would be greatly greatly appreciated !!

Hi,
Right one step at a time !!
So car went brum brum for 2 hours with no problems at all?
After that it all went pear-shaped?
Where are you based ? As you may have a someone close to you who has the fiatecuscan software.
I,m guessing you do indeed have a loose connection somewhere, could be anything which is why we really need to see some fault codes stored.

Cheers for now

keviwal said:

Hi,
Right one step at a time !!
So car went brum brum for 2 hours with no problems at all?
After that it all went pear-shaped?
Where are you based ? As you may have a someone close to you who has the fiatecuscan software.
I,m guessing you do indeed have a loose connection somewhere, could be anything which is why we really need to see some fault codes stored.

Cheers for now

Click to expand...

Hi yeah thats right it was running fine and then same happened thing happened once i got it running agin ran beautifully but then cuts out with all the failures and takes 5 minutes to get going again.
I am based in Oldham, near manchester, im glad someone knows what they are talking about because me and the boyfriend dont have a clue. What do i do with the fiatecuscan software and how much does it usually cost. Thankyou again so much for your help im on the verge of a breakdown haha.

You need to do the voltage checks as described in my previous post above

Putting a new battery in is like refilling an empty bucket, things can seem fine at first but if there's a hole in the bucket then it's just a matter of time before it's empty again.

You need to check the alternator output is 14v or more- (that's the tap filling the bucket)
Is it still near 14v with some electrical load on it ? (ie is the water going in faster than it's coming out the bottom)

Did you inspect/ treat the engine end of the negative battery lead where it attaches to the engine?
And is the voltage from the batt -ve to a shiny part of the engine less than 0.3v with engine running? That's often the source of "loose connection" with power supply problems

hi sorry to hear about the faults. i live in New moston but i dont have the scan thing but i've had most of the faults like yours. it stalled for about 2 years at least 10 times a day but now runs very smooth thanks to this forum. the stalling could be sauced by the throttle body which you can find out how to clean it from the guides above. then i changed the coils . 4 of them about 30 quid a piece. still got the engine management fault and air bag fault but it's running smooth.

krs16832 said:

Hi yeah thats right it was running fine and then same happened thing happened once i got it running agin ran beautifully but then cuts out with all the failures and takes 5 minutes to get going again.
I am based in Oldham, near manchester, im glad someone knows what they are talking about because me and the boyfriend dont have a clue. What do i do with the fiatecuscan software and how much does it usually cost. Thankyou again so much for your help im on the verge of a breakdown haha.

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Hi again,

Right you need a multimeter as Deckchair has explained , i,m with deckchair on this one i reckon the battery is not being charged up enough (bucket !!!!)
If its any help i could meet you half way and lob my laptop on it to see if i can find anything. For me Oldham is around a 60 mile round trip and time is tight for me at the mo. Remeber it is going to be something simple so dont sweat to much.

Cheers for now

keviwal said:

Hi again,

Right you need a multimeter as Deckchair has explained , i,m with deckchair on this one i reckon the battery is not being charged up enough (bucket !!!!)
If its any help i could meet you half way and lob my laptop on it to see if i can find anything. For me Oldham is around a 60 mile round trip and time is tight for me at the mo. Remeber it is going to be something simple so dont sweat to much.

Cheers for now

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Hi guys thankyou again for your replys, i am going to invest in a multimeter this week and get the readings and will let you know how i get on so thanks for the advice Deckchair
Keviwal thanks for offering to meet half way after i have done the readings etc i will let you know and in the meantime see if there is someone a bit closer with the ecu scan software its a bit of a distnace for you!!
Be assured i will keep you updated as soon as i know anything, maybe a few days before i get the readings etc, but i am very reassured by all of your comments Thanks

krs16832 said:

Hi guys thankyou again for your replys, i am going to invest in a multimeter this week and get the readings and will let you know how i get on so thanks for the advice Deckchair
Keviwal thanks for offering to meet half way after i have done the readings etc i will let you know and in the meantime see if there is someone a bit closer with the ecu scan software its a bit of a distnace for you!!
Be assured i will keep you updated as soon as i know anything, maybe a few days before i get the readings etc, but i am very reassured by all of your comments Thanks

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Hello again !!!! Im having a NIGHTMARE, took the car to the garage today so that they could read the error codes when i went back to get they said that there software wouldnt read it ????? Does anyone know how much it costs to send it to the fiat garage to get it read. Multimeter is on its way also. Thanks Kirsty

keviwal said:

Hi again,

Right you need a multimeter as Deckchair has explained , i,m with deckchair on this one i reckon the battery is not being charged up enough (bucket !!!!)
If its any help i could meet you half way and lob my laptop on it to see if i can find anything. For me Oldham is around a 60 mile round trip and time is tight for me at the mo. Remeber it is going to be something simple so dont sweat to much.

Cheers for now

Click to expand...

UPDATE Not good got the car in the garage for a full ecu scan reading here are the error codes
P0002 Control unit power supply-value too low
P000F Passenger side airbag squib - value too high
B100E Speedometer
B100C Water Temp - Gauge
B1029 Serial line W;S.C To Ground
These have nothing to do with the errors that are coming up when the car is driving and then cutting out ten times a day e.g alternator failure ,loose connection, ASr failure.
The garage i took it to is a friend of my dads so he didnt charge and advised that he thinks the software has gone on the computer and the ECU needs remapping. ????
Any advice on the error codes above and the ECU remapping suggestion are very welcome. Im on the verge of just selling the car as sapres and repairs if the car is going to cost a fortune to fix.
Oh and got a multimeter off ebay tried doing the readings and was not working just my luck eh :bang::bang: Is it worth buying another one even though i now have the error codes. !!
Looking forward to your responses Thanks

I'd still be looking at bad earths and corroded
connectors earthing the engine / gearbox to the
body.

Bad connections to the ecu can cause faiure of
diagnostics as the canbus signal can get corrupted.
B1029 possible earths to electronic instrument cluster

John