As the subject states, I have had my Stilo for just over a month. It is a 52 plate but only had 33 miles on it when I bought it from the dealer. Generally, I am pretty happy with it, although there are some issues that I have noticed, and was wondering whether it is worth making the trip to the dealer in Northampton to have the car looked at.

1. When turning the ignition on there is some weird noise coming from the dash that almost sounds like "white noise" (hissing/static) from a loudspeaker, although the noise itself is not from the speaker. It also comes back when coming to a stop on the road at a junction.

2. I have noticed that when turning the steering wheel there is a whining noise that comes from the engine compartment. This is especially noticeable when parking.

3. When sitting in a traffic jam and using the clutch a lot, the clutch pedal starts to creak. I have read in other posts that this has been a problem.

4. With both the windscreen wipers on (the front ones on intermittent) the relay in the dash seems to be quite noisy.

5. The idle seems to be a little rough. I have also stalled a couple of times, especially when reversing, and I believe I did have enough power and had the clutch control right

This is my first Fiat, so these things could be "normal", but was just wondering if anyone had any ideas. Other than that, it has been a great little car, except on my first motorway trip a stone was thrown up and took a nice chunk out of the bonnet before pitting the windscreen. The first ding always hurts the most. Are there places that specialise in this type of damage that won't cost an arm or a leg, rather than getting the whole bonnet resprayed?

Thanks, in advance, for any help.

52 1.6 Active AirCon 4 door.
Metallic Navy Blue

my clutch creaks and my steering squeaks when parking and manouvering!

"M.Y. 04" 3 Door 1.9 JTD Dynamic in Metallic Black with MP3 player, leather gearstick & steerinig wheel!

Welcome to the joys of Stilo ownership...IMO they're a great car but as with any motor, they're not perfect.

I've not noticed the 'white noise' on mine but will have a listen and see if I have anything similar.

The whine from tyhe engine bay is the DualDrive power steering - It is an electric motor rather than a hydraulic unit and that's what you can hear.

I've had the squeaky clutch but it seems to be an intermittent problem on mine (i.e. it disappears when it goes back to the dealer!) but from speaking to one of the techs at my local dealer the creak comes from a plastic component rubbing and normally requires replacement parts ordering up to cure it.

Not noticed the relay click on mine but will listen out as the weather is promising to be a little on the wet side this weekend.

I've stalled it a few times too but have put it down to being clumsy with my size 10's - the idle doesn't seem to be rough but it does require a few more revs than other cars i've driven when pulling away on a slight incline.

As for damage repair, companies such as Chips Away (http://www.chipsawaymiltonkeynes.co.uk/) are your best bet.

Cheers

John

________________________________________________
I have a drink problem...only one mouth but two hands!

1.6 Active 5 door in Crystal Green.

http://www.clubstilo.com

Thanks for all the info. Maybe my stalling is due to my size 12's, but let's not get into "sizes"

I'll check out Chips Away. I am sure I would screw it up if I did it myself. A half inch chip could turn into an inch before I knew it. There I go getting into sizes again!

As for the noises this may just be down to the fact that I am not used to them. I lived in the States for 18 years and had the usual bigger engined cars that may have had more padding to hide strange noises. I am wondering if maybe the "white noise" I am hearing could be something to do with the computer. Even my Dad's Merc E has some weird noises coming from the dash. However, it is comforting to know that they (Merc) say constant brake noise while going down the road is "normal"!

Once again thanks for the help.

52 Stilo 1.6 Active AirCon 4 door.
Metallic Navy Blue

My Stilo has a creaky clutch too, but I think its the pedal rubber. There are some wierd "static" noises from the left hand side of the dashboard too, especially when coming to stop. I do love the turbine whine of the aircon compressor when it spins down at switch off though. The relay switches are noisy but this is a Fiat thing I think, I find the indicators too quiet.


52 Plate, Stilo 1.2 Active 5 door Aircon 5 Disc CD Changer

The white noise is normal - I dont know what it is, but it's been on loads of Stilo's that I've driven.

Its noticable on mine when you are stationary and rev the car; it should appear when the revs are falling.

Stilo 1.6 Dynamic, 5dr, 2002, Crystal Green

I agree about the indicators. They are quiet. I have found myself driving down the road oblivious to them being on. However, sometimes I find they cancel too early as well, like making a right at a roundabout. As for them being quiet maybe a replacement flasher unit would be louder. I had a car in the States whose flasher went out, and the replacment was noticeably louder.

52 Stilo 1.6 Active AirCon 4 door.
Metallic Navy Blue

I nearly had a accident because of the quiet relay on the indicaters.I have also been told that the steering noise is the electric motor.The noise in the dash is also normal??

Stilo Abarth 5dr

In answer to the original post...
My O2 plate 1.6 Dynamic had that white noise sometimes -almost as if there were leaves in the air con. never noticed it did the car any harm though.
yes the clutch pedal creaked (very annoying)in fact all the pedals creaked but the clutch was the worst.
I agree that it was also very easy car to stall...I've noticed my new Abarth doesn't seem to be although I think all the extra torque helps!
As for the rough idle I encountered this problem after picking up the car after its 24,000/2year service. it fluctuated wildly and the engine cut out altogether twice (it must have been somrthing they did during the service - another reason never to use a fiat dealership) However, I never got it sorted as I was about to trade the car in for my new stilo, so I thought they can sort it out!!
Anyway, hope you are otherwise enjoying a great car...

Jasper:

That's a good way of describing the noise in the dash (leaves). As long as it's not a bad thing for the car, I can deal with it.

One thing did happen today that I have not seen before and hopefully won't see again. The car had been sitting all night and I turned on the ignition and it went through it's usual checks. The digi-display showed "high coolant temperature - stop engine". I turned the ignition off and tried again - same problem. Since the engine was off all night, I went ahead and did my 150 mile round trip without any further issues. All fluid levels looked okay, so it must be one of those things. I was curious, anyone else have this happen or other weird things in the first month or so of ownership? I know issues have been mentioned in other posts, but sometimes new things come up with new members.

And, yes I am otherwise enjoying my car

52 Stilo 1.6 Active AirCon 4 door.
Metallic Navy Blue

Puck:

Haven't encountered the High Coolant temp warning yet. What I do notice in general about the stilo (and probably most Italian Cars)
is that the electrics are a real weak spot. 9 out of 10 of all the
warning lights I encountered on my 1.6 seemed to be false alarms and
usually went away ofter a re-start of the car. failing that I took it to the dealer to have them re-set the system. Twice, for example, I started the car and the ABS Traction Control warning lights illuminated and the speedo and rev counter were dead! However both times simply switching the car off and on again cured the problem. keep us posted on any other thoughts/ Problems....

9 put of 10 warnings are false alarms? I hope that if something really is wrong the warning light comes on when it's supposed to!

I am lying in wait for the next thing to happen, but am praying that nothing does happen. The high coolant temp light has not returned.

52 Stilo 1.6 Active AirCon 4 door.
Metallic Navy Blue

The white noise you can here is most likely the motors that make the needles move.

The power steering noise really is nothing to worry about, ive driven louder- and i have driven more cars without power steering than with so its a nice addition. Mercs make noises to (a class)

Creaking clutch- go to your dealer- i mentioned it on the service and they stripped it down and re greased everything and its better than before (btw 12k service was £90)

the relay clicks. big deal. every car i ahve had rented or owned has done this whatever the make, including VW, Mercedes Subaru

rough idle. Probably fouled up with supermarket petrol and also ready for a service- i once filled up at tesco and the thing didnt run right until a couple of fill ups later at esso and wasnt 100% till serviced. Mr last car had single point fuel injector system which fouled up every 3 months coz of supermarket petrol/cheap and nasty petrol

if i sound nasty im sorry

I have a noisy clutch too. The car has been twice at the garage and they never managed to solve the problem. Now I have a vibrating clutch as well, but they can't find what's wrong...[!]

Grigoris

3-Door Black Stilo 1.8 Dynamic, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Spoiler

Well, I appreciate all the comments even if they are "nasty" So, basically I have just discovered the world of owning a Fiat, and now at least I know. Just not used to all these weird (at least for me) noises.

BTW, I had no idea that supermarket petrol was bad. Having said that, after living in the States for 18 years, I have noticed that petrol here has a lot higher octane content than the States. The regular unleaded (as recommended by most manufacturers, except for high performance cars) has an octane content of 89. Here it is 95. And, then super unleaded over there is only 91 or 92, at best. Any higher, you would have to go to a specialist station, which are hard to come by.

Hopefully, not ready for a service yet. Have only just turned over 1500 miles.

Sorry about the off-topic petrol stuff!

52 Stilo 1.6 Active AirCon 4 door.
Metallic Navy Blue

I ran my 1.6 on normal Shell and then switched to Optimax it really did make a difference - but it is v.expensive. The car was even more responsive and a little more economical MPG went up by about 3 according to the trip computer. But as long as you use a branded petrol Shell, Esso, BP etc everything should be tickovertiboo (get it?!)

Yep i've got a creaky clutch pedal too, i guess it just needs a bit of lubrication. I've noted what you call white noise, turn the ignition to II not start the engine, and you hear a faint hissing noise, sounds like its behind the dash. I think though that it might well be the power steering pump, seeing as its an electric one.

53 plate, Stilo 3-door, Sassy grey, Alloys to follow, 1.2 Active, 5-Disc CD-Changer -- 45mpg!

Get the clutch slave cylinder either renewed or lubricate the inside of the rubber bellows with grease this will stop the clutch creaking, as for the idle problem there is a software update that should have been done b4 you collected the car, it may have been done and the throttle body is defective, if you turn on the ignition for 90secs then off 90secs then on 90secs then off 90secs then start engine and drive it for about6-8 miles but keep rpm below 4000 then switch off engine.after all this the ecu should have relearnt the position of the throttle body?

Thanks Ned, I'll give that a try. I have no idea what was done before I collected the car. It was a 52 plate with only 33 miles on it. When I take it in I'll make sure all the recall stuff has been done too, if they apply to this car.

52 Stilo 1.6 Active AirCon 4 door.
Metallic Navy Blue