Hi All!

I am looking for any help I can get with a Stilo I bought, It seems to be pretty riddled with problems (The price did reflect this) but im at a loss with it all really, Ok so to start;

1. When the car reaches 40mph it starts to shake side to side, The steering wheel doesnt shake but the whole car, It stops around 50mph then starts again over 60mph, Seems to be more violent going up a hill or when turning, Any ideas?

2. At low speed the abs comes on for no real reason also often the brake pedal will almost go to the floor so needs pumping, The guy I got it from said one caliper needed bleeding but thought I would ask here first, Its throws up the abs failure warning too.

3. I have the airbag failure light, Upon a little research it may seem something to do with the plugs under the seats, I have had a look and it seems they have been worked on before, Is it worth changing the plugs for new ones?

4. My steering wheel is missing the 'flappy paddles', Anyone know where I might get them reasonably priced?

Thanks guys any help would be much appreciated!

I'll try to give some idea`s

1) Can have multiple causes; unbalanced tyre? play in the driveshafts? wrong alignment? coil? differential? Crankshaft pully? etc.
i'll advise to try if it is speed dependant or engine rpm dependent. For example remember at which rpm the vibration is at its worst. The when standing still and in neutral, rev up the engine to this RPM and feel if the vibration is there. if so then it is engine related, otherwise it is in the suspension / driveshaft / tyre region.

2) Check if all calipers are not leaking and bleed the system. If this is all ok then i suspect the ABS unit to be faulty. But it can also relate to problem 1, for example heavy vibration from engine or drivetrain can cause ABS to go nuts.

3) Airbag failures are pretty common, my advice is to remove te plugs altogether en solder the connections.

4) I think the best place is to look at the breakers or scrapyard, the price for a new paddle set is high (+/- 200 euros?)

Let us know what you found

If you have not done so get the cables and Multiecuscan software to diagnosing issues.
I got my Abarth cheap with many issues. Most were fixed with a new battery clamp and Battery. Many false alarms are low voltage related.

Vibration. Check a corner at a time. Jack under ball joint so suspension loaded and load suspension to find movement. Also check CV joints. A friend had a drive-shaft come through the floor when an outer CV let go on his Subaru.

With engine off and press brake pedal, pump if sinks low initially. Does it slowly sink to the floor or hold?

Get MultiEcuScan a.k.a MES.... get used to it.. you will need it.
1.
-possible wheels/tires--- get them balanced
- possible CV joint
-tie rod ends
-steering knuckle ball joint

2. possible sensor fault or more probably (and have personally diagnosed this) the abs bands on one or more wheels is broken/missing. So when you have some speed it reads different speed for the wheel... so it thinks one of the wheels is blocked..so the ABS comes one when braking.
You can do a test with MultiecuScan to see the different wheel speeds, connect to the abs.. select all 4 wheel speed sensors and graph the so you can compare. Drive the car or better yet get somebody else to drive it .. they should be pretty similar. If you see that one of the wheels is different.. check further in that direction.
On the back the bands come as a unit with the wheel bearings. I don't know about the front.
Might be related to the shaking on part 1.

3. Again use MES, connect to the Airbag ( i think you will need a different connector.. a kkl).. print-screen the errors.. then delete them.. and see witch ones com back.. they are the ones you should be focusing on.
Possible connector fault, but it's also possible that the weight sensors ( a.k.a OCS) in the seats are broken, you can get a OCS emulator to fix this error.. about 20-30 euros. for each seat. The emulator will basically tell the Airbag unit that there is a person on the seat, even if no one is there... so in the case of a accident the airbags will pop.

4. I think the floppy paddles come as one piece with the steering wheel....