2002 fiat stilo abarth
anyone had any problems with the electronic steering on their stilo abarths?

mine started going this week,it would come off then id get it working again by just turning off and then restarting the car.
not now tho its totally gone off,driving it brakes your arms to turn a corner at slow speed.

im getting it over to fiat monday,but thought you guys could give me some ideas to do a quick fix??????????

disconnecting battery doesnt work!
ive recently got the usual dreaded airbags fault aswell:bang::bang:

the electric steering is automatically switched off when the battery voltage drops to a critical level to maintain the basic functions of the car - that might be due to a weak battery , charging problems or bad earth connections.
Check your battery voltage with key on / lights and rear window heater on and with engine running.

HI THANKS
got a feeling it might be the battery, ive got my console dash lights going really low when sticking the lights on etc.
shame batteries are so damn expensive.

hmm battery charger???

jaylox said:

hmm battery charger???

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Alternator.

is there any other part which could cause loss of electronic steering?

most likely is the supply voltage - start with the easy part and check (and replace?) your battery.....

Dont just in replacing the bat get it checked for health. The alternator would supply enough power when the engine is running so id say its got a low output especially if stuff is going dim with the lights on. The alt should easy keep up

Get sum1 to test your battery any less than 40amp I'd change it. You can do basic tests with a multimeter if engine off you should have bout 13v. With engine running you should have above 14v.

clock34 said:

Dont just in replacing the bat get it checked for health. The alternator would supply enough power when the engine is running so id say its got a low output especially if stuff is going dim with the lights on. The alt should easy keep up

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I totally agree. Even if your battery is dead, if the alternator works fine, the voltage should be above 13V (usally 13,5-14V). The steering wheel will not work for poor voltage. In case the battery is not good, and for some reason the alternator delays to provide the desired voltage, do the following:

Start up your car, check if the wheel is working. If not, without switching off the engine, remove the fuse for the steering wheel and put it back after a couple of seconds. The steering wheel mechanism will power up again (restart), and if it will read the correct voltage, will give power to your wheel. That would mean that your power supply is poor. Then check/replace battery, check your alternator.

PS: BEFORE doing the above, please be advised from a profesional mechanic! I am NOT responsible for ANY damage that procedure may cause. I have done it to my Stilo many times to check the steering wheel mechanism, but it is not a "standard" one. Do that ONLY if you are comfortable with the above and you are aware of any risks that you are taking...

hi guys,
the battery is fine, i cant remember the part name which i was told by fiat is fooked,but basically im changing the full steering column,from what i was told its common on puntos but rare for the stilo.

what you reckon a load of crap or what??out of curiosity i will try the fuse removal and replace.

cheers j

Im having the same problem, which is why i have joined the forum. Your post seems to be the only one with reference to this. Did you manage to get it sorted, and if so, HOW? I am at my wits end driving without power steering, on the plus side im starting to look like popeye!!! ha ha ha. Cheers, Rick

jaylox said:

hi guys,
the battery is fine, i cant remember the part name which i was told by fiat is fooked,but basically im changing the full steering column,from what i was told its common on puntos but rare for the stilo.

what you reckon a load of crap or what??out of curiosity i will try the fuse removal and replace.

cheers j

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Was it an actuator that was faulty in the pump???? I have had mine to my friend who put it on the computer and it brought up a fault code and that made reference to an actuator. Im just trying to get answers as to the quickest and cheapest way to get this problem solved. Can i get the pump re-conditioned with it been electronic?

BBA Reman... google it

what fault code were you getting?

and in relation to earlier posts... you can have a good alternator and still have steering issues (especially with the puntos) i recently changed a suspect battery after having the steering electrics apart, it would happen intermittently with no real method that you could pinpoint to make it happen again... a new battery fixed it even after extensive and inconclusive testing of battery health

It's common on the mk2 puntos for the ECU and motor to go,

The Stilo (and new Bravo) use a different make of power steering motor to the Punto, Grande Punto & Panda.

Failure of the motor on the Stilo & Bravo is virtually unheard of but obviously Stilo's are getting on abit now so age-related failures like this are a possibility. However, it's not the same as the more common problems affecting smaller Fiat's steering systems.

nikkiy9 said:

It's common on the mk2 puntos for the ECU and motor to go,

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... from my research and experience its either dirty position sensors, low battery voltage or a relay situated under the motor that gooses.

the later mk2s (bigger headlights, is it the mk2b?) dont have this relay, they have a PCB and it doesnt seem to be as much of an issue with them... im not saying that the ECUs dont die im just saying ive never experienced an ECU problem.

JTD_Liam said:

The Stilo (and new Bravo) use a different make of power steering motor to the Punto, Grande Punto & Panda.

Failure of the motor on the Stilo & Bravo is virtually unheard of but obviously Stilo's are getting on abit now so age-related failures like this are a possibility. However, it's not the same as the more common problems affecting smaller Fiat's steering systems.

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Croma, Bravo, Idea and Stilo are TRW Units.
500, Punto, Grande Punto, and Panda use Delphi.
Ducato uses Sagem units.

Delphi seem to be the ones with the issues so im expecting 500s to be on watchdog soon.

its pretty well accepted that TRW EPAS units simply dont fail but this isnt to say they wont. id be checking everything else before removing a TRW system.