Hi Guys my Fiat Stilo broke down about two months ago and was reporting error codes that indicated a problem with the throttle body. I have break down cover with the AA, I called them he read the fault codes and tried cleaning the throttle body but the problem persisted and we ended up being towed home. I did some diagnostics on the car myself and determined the problem was the engine ECU and not the throttle body. I determined the throttle body was OK by checking the potentiometer with multiECUscan and determining the motor was ok by using a 9V battery. Having not got the time to follow the problem through and find an ECU I got my local garage to pick the car up. After being initially told it was a problem with the throttle body the garage managed to borrow a throttle body to check the output and determined the problem was actually the ECU as I had already determined. Prior to my car going to the local garage I checked the ECU for dry joints, found non but resoldered the ECU connectors just in case but found no problems. The garage sent the ECU to BBA reman who initially said they could repair the ECU for £350, they were given the go ahead and we expected the ECU back earlier this week but it never arrived. After 4 phone calls from the garage BBA reman eventually confirmed the ECU was not repairable and returned the ECU. The garage having already paid the £350 are now in the process of trying to get there money refunded. My problem is the car has only done less than 50000 miles from new and I had to pay £1500 for a recon gearbox when ther car was 4 years old due to a defect with the differential that would have been repaired under warranty had the car been used more (it's my second vehicle as I have a works van). I am looking into the option of getting a second hand ECU but due to the problems with coding the new ECU to the car I would require a virginisd ECU that seems difficult to get hold of. Fiat do a new ECU for £1500 or a recon ECU for £600 but I. Reluctant to spend that kind of money. The car is 12 years old and I'm in two minds as to spending any more money on it or scrapping it. Does anyone have any suggestions on a replacment ECU ?

Hi Peat, I was a little wary about getting a second hand ECU as the people I have spoken with have said it's very difficult to virginse a used ECU. There also more of a chance of a second had ECU failing within a short time due to dry joints etc. I actually found a brand new ECU of eBay for just under £400 it came complete with instructions on setting it up including how to set up the transmission type (auto or manual). The garage fit the new ECU yesterday and the cars running perfectly again

Good lad! I admire your persistence and spending quite a lot of cash to sort what is ultimately an old and so not very valuable car..


Ralf S.

I'm glad you got it sorted. Had a similar ecu problem on my 1.6 multiwagon. Cutting out when hot. I'd had original ecu moved from under engine cover and this had remedied the problem for 5 months but eventually began to fail again!
So I also managed to find a new ecu on ebay from ecu direct and following easy to follow installation procedure is now working a treat .