Hi
I've just bought a Fiat Stilo and thought I had better introduce myself before I ask a few questions.
I'm a long time VW owner and this is my first Fiat so its all a bit new to me.
I will post a pic once I am allowed to do so.

Anway, the car is a 2005, 1.6 16v Stilo in Tiziano Red, 3 door. with 70k on the clocks.

I got it for pretty much nothing but it needs a few little jobs doing to it.

First off. Its had a new wing at some point and the colour is a slight mismatch. Its quite a bit brighter (and redder) than the rest of the car. Ive looked at the Fiat charts and see that they only do one shade of red so it must be right.
Also the inner bodywork of the car is still quite a bright shade of red.
The outer paint has faded to a sort of reddish brown colour.
Does anybody know if they can be polished back to the original colour easily enough?
I had a red Vauxhall Corsa that was almost white but the paint was really easy to bring back.

The second issue is that there is a message on the dash saying that a brake light bulb is not working.
Have checked and all three are working fine. Do I just need to clear the code?

The are are other problems, but they are just easy fix service faults (new breaks, oil change etc) but the one thing that is bugging me is as follows -

When you start the car up, there is a sort of "swishing noise" coming form behind the dashboard. Its sounds like it is just behind the clocks and may even be the clocks. If you leave the car idling and rev it occasionally the noise repeats itself.
It almost sounds like the swishing of a wiper motor but the wipers arent on.

Any ideas? I wouldn't have thought there was anything moving behind the clocks.

Thanks for any help

dubwarrior2 said:

The second issue is that there is a message on the dash saying that a brake light bulb is not working.
Have checked and all three are working fine. Do I just need to clear the code?

Click to expand...

I have experienced this when there has been oxide build up on the contacts in the rear light cluster. Worth taking them out and giving a good clean. (watch you don't short circuit - easy to do). I have never had to clear the code , the light just went out.

Cheers. Will try changing bulbs tomorrow and cleaning contacts.
Just paint to worry about now.
Am I right in thinking Fiat paint is notoriously thin?
Tcut not really working so may try some 2000 wet and dry

Fiat paint is pretty good and the reds hold their colour, normally . It could be yours has been resprayed.? I always have red Fiats and have never had a problem with fading.

Pictures to follow hopefully

6th Post so hopefully can post a pic -

In fairness the paint does actually look better than it is in that photo.
In normal, overcast weather it looks sort of browny red.
I don't think is been repainted and the inner reveals around the doors and boot are still quite bright.


Im gonna borrow a mates polisher and give it a whirl on the bootlid.


If that fails, I'm considering going over the car with some super fine wet and dry. Maybe 2500 to 3000 grit.

definite paint fade. Its common with this colour on the seicento's too.


Get something like turtle wax red paint restore and give it a good polish and it should restore the colour.

Welcome dubwarrior2 so how comes after a long time vw owner you went for a fiat may I ask and glad to have you here all the same buddy looks like a clean example you have any future mods you goin do to it

Well yeah VWs have alawys been my bag. Nice, economical motors and easy to work on. I think I have owned about 30 in total, air-cooled and watercooled.

Just lately I've been doing a bit of "wheeler dealing" and buying cheap low mileage motors and making a few quid off them. Well, trying to.

The Fiat was being sold by a guy at work who had just bought a mk6 golf.
He was told that the Fiats brakes were all knackered and quoted over £450 to fix them so he cut his losses and got shot of it.
I got if for a decent price and am hoping to fix it fairly cheaply and sell it on.
I consider myself to be pretty handy with a set of spanners and am quite good at finding parts.




Ive made a "snagging" list of things that need doing and they are -

1) Replace all brake discs and pads - Bought today and ready to fit.
2) Rebuild and paint calipers.
3) Replace drivers door window regulator - Replaced today - £15
4) Sort Brake light fault code - Am totally lost. All bulbs replaced and contacts cleaned and working but still showing a message.
5)Oil and filter change.
6)Coolant flush and change..
7) Possibly locate and refit original stereo. - Got a face off head unit but not sure about it.
8)Refurb paint.
9) Replace tailgate - Minor dent at base
10 ) Valet interior
11) Locate two missing wheel centres
12) MOT

Seems like a big list but its all very minor things really.

So Im lost with the brake lights. I took both taillights off and changed the bulbs. I cleaned the contacts with emery paper and refitted. The lights all work but Im still getting the message on the dash. It doesn't identify a particular side. Does the code need removing?

I ordered a new inner door panel off ebay for £15 delivered and repaired the window mechanism today.







I found the giude on here very useful, except for the part about juggling the panel to fit everything.Much easier to just remove the lot from the door. The wiring is simple to re-route.

So I can tick that off the list as done.

The paint is really bugging me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The sticker under the bonnet says its Tiziano red and the paint reveals around the doors, bonnet and tailgate are bright red but the bodywork is a sort of browny-red colour. I can not see any signs of a respray so believe it to be the original faded paintwork.

I tried to cut a small corner of the bumper using T-cut and meguirs paint restorer, but neither of them left a mark on the paint. Its smooth and scratch free but I can not get the colour to change.
I know it sounds harsh and a bit extreme but I am contemplating giving the bodywork a going over with something like 2000 wet and dry paper, just to take a thin layer off.

Right then, todays progress.

Had a few hours to spare so decided to have a go at the rear brakes.
I bought the new discs and pads last week from Euros and was keen to fit them.

So car on axle stands and wheels off.
Before taking the calipers off I checked that the handbrake mechanisms were free and working correctly. Happy days, they are!!!

First caliper removed on the drivers side and.........bugger!!!! There is brake fluid all around the seal.





It looks as though somebody has nicked the seal at some point. EVerything else looks clean and functional so I have ordered a new seal kit and will rebuild it. Pads had loads of meat left on them but I binned them anyway along with the old discs.

On to passenger side.
Again, the handbrake mechanism is free and moving.
Caliper however seems to be seized solid with piston in the fully out position.
The pads were wafer thin on this side and right down to the metal.

So thats the progress so far. Two calipers to completely strip, paint red and rebuild.

Fronts will get done later on.

Out of interest, does anybody know if you can remove a seized piston on a rear caliper, by attaching an air line and blowing it out (like you can on a front caliper)?

I can see your "G" cramp on the ground, but can't see any rewind tool.

Assume you know that Stilo rear caliper pistons have to be turned and pushed at the same time to retract them. Just pushing them is likely to cause damage to the internal handbrake mechanism.

There's a guide here: https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo-guides/186694-stilo-rear-calipers.html

And see post 10 of this thread: https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/251667-problem-getting-fiat-part.html
.

Yes thanks mate. I did know that. The clamp was used just to squash the handbrake lever so I could unhook the cable.

I found the light issue was the plug from the cluster to the loom. I don't recommend abrasives on the contacts. Just metal polish, followed by contact cleaner or even better a proper cleaner/protector stuff.

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/325648-cleaning-contacts.html

Right then time for a bit of an update.
Have been dying to get stuck into this and rebuild all of the brakes but work has really got in the way so only been able to do a few hours a day.

Rear calipers and mounts totally stripped down and realised that caliper seals were torn. Ordered a new set off ebay for £20 from Big Redd and was amazed how quickly they arrived. Excellent quality too.

Back brakes went from this -



to This -



They do look fantastic in the Halfords red paint.

Fronts were then stripped and couldn't believe how bad they were. The fron discs were made of cream crackers. They just crumbled in my hands.
After the hassle of wire brushing all of the rear calipers, I remembered my uncle works in a foundry and got the fronts shot blasted.
Happily the pistons moved quite freely and the seals were all in mint condition so were reused.
They went from this -


to this -



to this -



Invested in one of those brake bleeders from Halfords (£20 reduced to £10 with my trade card:slayer
and the job is now all done.