Whilst changing a wishbone today I was under the car and noticed that the undertray was missing from the front of the car. The two side sections are still there (scratched to buggery) but the front one that fixes between them was gone. Then I noticed that one of the metal pipes for the aircon had been snapped off :bang:

This would explain why the aircon hasn't worked in the 18 months that I've had the car. I thought it must have been knackered seals that were to blame. I imagine they will be knackered by now anyway, so I've got that to pay for AND the broken pipe.

Oh yeah - and a new undertray too.

Got to book car in for spring recall (finally came through. Mine's a 51 plate so I thought they might've got around to it sooner), so I'll get them to take a look and give me an idea of cost.

BUGGER!

Replacing the pipe isn't difficult, especially with the undertray already off
Then just get a vacuum down, pressure hold check and regas done professionally for £50 as it takes a lot of gas

I am also missing the central undertray on my Stilo and was told by my local Fiat garage not to bother replacing it because of the price (approximately £150). They told me that as long as I have a tray on the driver's side it will be fine.

My air conditioning is also not working due to a broken pipe-I have been quoted £132 for it to to be fixed. (I have also been told I need a new exhaust box because the current one is not correctly fitted and is apparently rubbing against my fuel tank). I have only had my Stilo 2 weeks so I will be ringing up to complain about it to the dealer I bought it off tomorrow.

kslatt said:

I am also missing the central undertray on my Stilo and was told by my local Fiat garage not to bother replacing it because of the price (approximately £150). They told me that as long as I have a tray on the driver's side it will be fine.

My air conditioning is also not working due to a broken pipe-I have been quoted £132 for it to to be fixed. (I have also been told I need a new exhaust box because the current one is not correctly fitted and is apparently rubbing against my fuel tank). I have only had my Stilo 2 weeks so I will be ringing up to complain about it to the dealer I bought it off tomorrow.

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150 quid????? For an undertray????? Fcuk me!!!! Might give it a miss then. Or visit the scrappie.

I presume this was an independant dealer you bought the car from?

I bought the car from a dealership called Arnold Clark- they claim to sell quality cars but so far I fail to believe them!! I am still waiting to hear back from the company about whether or not I can get the work done under the 30 warranty :-( I really hope that it is covered because I did not expect to have all these problems within 2 weeks!

P.s. The Fiat garage told me that some of the older Stilos did not come with a central undertray so that may be the case for your car (unless your car is newer or you know that you did originally have one). The £150 quote was given to me based on what it costs to replace one on an Alfa so you may get a cheaper one but I would save your money!

I suspect you can tell if an undertray was ever fitted by examining the side protectors (that the tray attaches to)

If you can still see evidence of clips which the original tray would screw into or screw holes someone has made in the surrounding plastic then it almost certainly has had an undertray in the past.

Argonought said:

I suspect you can tell if an undertray was ever fitted by examining the side protectors (that the tray attaches to)

If you can still see evidence of clips which the original tray would screw into or screw holes someone has made in the surrounding plastic then it almost certainly has had an undertray in the past.

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Yep, definitely fixings there for an undertray. Previous owner must've been a bit keen over a speed bump or something.

They all have the fixing clips in, but only the 1.9 JTD's (and maybe the 2.4 20v's) actually have the centre part of the undertray.

I'm assuming yours is a 1.6? the air-con pipe from the compressor to the A/C rad was common for breakage due to it's design. Fiat modified them so the flexible section was longer, better allowing for engine movement. You can tell if it's the modified pipe as it will have two pieces of blue tape on the metal section and the lower metal part will only have two bends in it rather than three.

D4nny8oy said:

They all have the fixing clips in.....

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I find that surprising. Fiat could have saved a few pence by leaving them out.

Finding someone has punched a (random) hole through for a self-taper will still be a good clue though as it seems the standard clips easily break or get lost.

If such an undertray (the centre one) is missing, isn't just to get hold of a piece of plastic, cut it to fit and fix it with strips or small self tappers to the side trays?

I think most newish Stilos don't have a central undertray. Mine is a November 06 final spec 1.4 active aircon; it has side trays with fixings that would seem to be needed for a bridging central tray, but no sign of the latter.

yep, some dont have them, mine did, took it off, was a pain in the rear end.