Help me with advices to improve my "ride" - 2002 Fiat Stilo 1.6 - plans before next s
Dear Fiat GURUS!
So I am planning to service my 2002 Fiat Stilo 5dr 1.6 - at around the end of September -, and I need some help / advice!
After my latest fix (changing dead injector(s), oh and a new battery...), the car works fine-ish, but I still need to check (and improve) at least 3 things:
1st and most importantly: rear suspension rattles like crap. I know that there are these special bushings (aftermarket, too?!), but changing those is a total PITA, catastrophically complicated, and although I knew relatively reliable garages around my hometown, I'm still not sure - isn't there another way to fix this? Is there a complete suspension part with that bushing? OK, maybe it would be more expensive than just the bushing (-> which isn't that cheap either, cause it's not just a piece of rubber, there is oily stuff too or sg like that), but cost of labour could be a bit less, and also greater chance for not to make a huge screw up by non-Stilo-rear-suspension-specialists while putting in the new bushings in a wrong way and damaging the new part. Please advise me with the best possible option...
2nd thing is gearbox mountings. There are two separate one, if I'm correct: when the lower one fails, the whole car can rock at idle (which is present in my case. Rocking, shaking like hell, extremely annoying.), and when the other one (near the battery compartment) fails, there is rough hitting / smashing / shaking, because with time that mount's rubber gets too stiff, so it transmits every rattle to the whole body... This one is maybe not that bad, I cannot really tell that these symptoms are there, but shaking, rocking rattling are always there, that's for sure. Maybe some of it comes from wheel(s) - at some shallow RPM range, it feels like an unbalanced wheel. Worst is at around 80km/h and 120km/h. Interestingly enough my latest vmax testing went pretty well, car was solid and stable between 160-195km/h. Can I buy the mentioned two gearbox mountings from eBay? I stay in Germany, and here are some excellent (looking) deals from eBay.de. Is there something else I should keep in mind with this fixation?
3rd one; in may service has changed cambelt, tensioner pulleys, waterpump and coolant. From early July I started experiencing decrease in engine coolant level (on a relatively slow pace). Oil at dipstick not Caffè like, but when I touched the bottom of the cooler, it was mildly moist (no rain in that period). I hope a normal group of technicians can find the solution for this. Am I right in saying that?
4th one is funny: 99% of the time the handbrake works fine. But 1 week ago I stopped at a half-brutal steep hill, and rapidly pulled the handbrake, and... It maybe slipped out, or something **** happened, because my brakes weren't ON. After that, it wasn't working for 80 km, then I used once more: it was working again... What has just happened to the e-brake? Should I change the cables, and reset the whole thing?
5th and "least important" - this morning car started fine in 8 degree Celsius. Went to work (25km), parked the car. After 8+ hours of parking (in almost 30 degree Celsius), I turned the key, BEEP-BEEP, ASR FAILURE, ESP FAILURE. Engine turns over, but doesn't start. Key off, then immediately back on, turning it, no failures, car starts fine... Wtf, relocated ECU dying again? Battery cannot be, because it's brand-spanking new, 72Ah Varta (old, died battery was 55Ah noname...) Or do you have any other ideas, what can cause these strange things?
Thanks for the advices in advance.
Fiatforum.com is the best!
Best regards, Zoltan
Dear Fiat GURUS!
So I am planning to service my 2002 Fiat Stilo 5dr 1.6 - at around the end of September -, and I need some help / advice!
After my latest fix (changing dead injector(s), oh and a new battery...), the car works fine-ish, but I still need to check (and improve) at least 3 things:
1st and most importantly: rear suspension rattles like crap. I know that there are these special bushings (aftermarket, too?!), but changing those is a total PITA, catastrophically complicated, and although I knew relatively reliable garages around my hometown, I'm still not sure - isn't there another way to fix this? Is there a complete suspension part with that bushing? OK, maybe it would be more expensive than just the bushing (-> which isn't that cheap either, cause it's not just a piece of rubber, there is oily stuff too or sg like that), but cost of labour could be a bit less, and also greater chance for not to make a huge screw up by non-Stilo-rear-suspension-specialists while putting in the new bushings in a wrong way and damaging the new part. Please advise me with the best possible option...
2nd thing is gearbox mountings. There are two separate one, if I'm correct: when the lower one fails, the whole car can rock at idle (which is present in my case. Rocking, shaking like hell, extremely annoying.), and when the other one (near the battery compartment) fails, there is rough hitting / smashing / shaking, because with time that mount's rubber gets too stiff, so it transmits every rattle to the whole body... This one is maybe not that bad, I cannot really tell that these symptoms are there, but shaking, rocking rattling are always there, that's for sure. Maybe some of it comes from wheel(s) - at some shallow RPM range, it feels like an unbalanced wheel. Worst is at around 80km/h and 120km/h. Interestingly enough my latest vmax testing went pretty well, car was solid and stable between 160-195km/h. Can I buy the mentioned two gearbox mountings from eBay? I stay in Germany, and here are some excellent (looking) deals from eBay.de. Is there something else I should keep in mind with this fixation?
3rd one; in may service has changed cambelt, tensioner pulleys, waterpump and coolant. From early July I started experiencing decrease in engine coolant level (on a relatively slow pace). Oil at dipstick not Caffè like, but when I touched the bottom of the cooler, it was mildly moist (no rain in that period). I hope a normal group of technicians can find the solution for this. Am I right in saying that?
4th one is funny: 99% of the time the handbrake works fine. But 1 week ago I stopped at a half-brutal steep hill, and rapidly pulled the handbrake, and... It maybe slipped out, or something **** happened, because my brakes weren't ON. After that, it wasn't working for 80 km, then I used once more: it was working again... What has just happened to the e-brake? Should I change the cables, and reset the whole thing?
5th and "least important" - this morning car started fine in 8 degree Celsius. Went to work (25km), parked the car. After 8+ hours of parking (in almost 30 degree Celsius), I turned the key, BEEP-BEEP, ASR FAILURE, ESP FAILURE. Engine turns over, but doesn't start. Key off, then immediately back on, turning it, no failures, car starts fine... Wtf, relocated ECU dying again? Battery cannot be, because it's brand-spanking new, 72Ah Varta (old, died battery was 55Ah noname...) Or do you have any other ideas, what can cause these strange things?
Thanks for the advices in advance.
Fiatforum.com is the best!
Best regards, Zoltan
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