Hi
Newbie here and need advice please. We recently purchased a 04 stilo from a fiat dealer and are having a problem with it already.
When my husband took the car for a test drive he noticed that the steering wheel was off centre.As we could not find any other problems with the car we went ahead with the purchase on the understanding that it would be recitified when we collected the car.
Since we have had the car (not more than 48 hours!!) we keep hearing a clunking sound when steering the car.DH took the car back to the dealer and one of their mechanics had a quick look.
He said it could be "dry joints" and put some more grease on and in formed us it was perfectly safe to drive but if the noise was still there to return it and he would have a proper look.
As you can probably tell I'm not a mechanic:yum: but I'm very dubious about what he thinks the problem is.My personal opinion is that the car has hit a kerb (or something) and something else is at fault.
Has anybody had an issue like this?

The garage sound dodgy to me "dry joints"

Probably a suspension arm shot. I'm used to driving vw which have aluminium arms and need changing all the time ( passat/ audi a4)
or maybe track rod end. Again no big deal

But for a garage to fob you off about it when you just brought the car to me is a biggy

I wouldn't

stilo ---> clunking ---> HUGE chance its a broken spring. could also be a droplink, but im going with the spring.

oh and WELCOME to you :wave:

we dont have many stilo ladies round here

you'll be loving the stilo. at the moment its just playing with you. theyre funny like that

Dry joint is what you call a bad electrical soldered connecton. There's no lubrication points on the front suspension and nothing soldered either

Yes, most likely a track rod end worn as that will also put the steering off centre. Cheap as chips £10 to replace but tracking will need to be checked afterwards

Many thanks guys for the replies
I'm speaking to the service manager today and fell more confident about asking him to look at specifc points on the car.
We generally not happy with the after sales service at this garage (very long story that I won't bore you with right now!!) as we have found out other people have have had to return their cars back several times to fix the same fault.So doesn't exactly fill me with confidence

Oh and hello everyone:wave::wave:

Grrrrrr
Ok quick update.rung service manager with not much luck.He said that he informed DH last night that it was probably grit in between the suspension joints (?) and this would take time to work out of the system.
He asked if I was prepared to keep it for another day or so and if the problem is still there then they will take a look at the car.He was talking about dropping the suspension etc to find the fault but not being at all mechanically minded not sure why they would do that.
Agreed to keep another day but going to get DH to call AA out tonight and get them to have a look and make sure the car is safe to drive due to the fact we drive our young child around in this car.I am not at all convinced about the grit being the problem-it must the size of a boulder to make the noise its making.

Sorry for the long reply guys just needed to vent:bang:

Andig, sounds like the garage is just trying to palm you off, I have never heard of grit in the suspension joints making a clunking noise! I have to agree with some of the solutions given to you in previous posts. For your own peace of mind you are doing the correct thing in getting the car checked by the AA, or other independent party, especially when you are carting your kid around in the car.

andig said:

Grrrrrr
Ok quick update.rung service manager with not much luck.He said that he informed DH last night that it was probably grit in between the suspension joints (?) and this would take time to work out of the system.
He asked if I was prepared to keep it for another day or so and if the problem is still there then they will take a look at the car.He was talking about dropping the suspension etc to find the fault but not being at all mechanically minded not sure why they would do that.
Agreed to keep another day but going to get DH to call AA out tonight and get them to have a look and make sure the car is safe to drive due to the fact we drive our young child around in this car.I am not at all convinced about the grit being the problem-it must the size of a boulder to make the noise its making.

Sorry for the long reply guys just needed to vent:bang:

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Does it sound similar to the sound a bottle would make rolling around under the seats? If so we have that now on Wifeys 1.2 at 36,000 miles. Springs are OK I checked those, could be a balljoint or suspension joint popping with movement but it just passed its MoT at a very good place.

Got the car checked by the AA and the guy reckons the front top mounts are worn.He said it is possible that there is grit in there as well but more likely the mounts are worn.But did say the car was safe to drive.
When I rung the garage they more or less repeated what they said previously and then had a sudden change of heart and decided to order two new joints.Obviously realised I'd be a complete pain in the bum until the problem is solved-LOL.
Now have another fault with the engine making a low crackling sound:bang:.Dh quickly checked car and thinks there is oil leaking somewhere.
Why can't things ever be simple??

Ffoxy-yes it does sound like a bottle rolling around!!

andig said:

Ffoxy-yes it does sound like a bottle rolling around!!

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Wow... cool let us know if the Stealer manages to fix it and what he does please so I can look at doing Mrs Ffoxy's car

Hi
By far the most common cause for a front end rattle is the drop links £25 to buy and about 20 mins to fit, but you can’t easily tell by looking, usually it sounds like a rattle/clonking noise on rough roads
Then comes a spring, take it to a tyre fitters and ask them to check the front springs first as this is very easy to see.
Drop links usually go at about 40k onwards, the springs anytime, but they both depend on how the car has been driven and the sort of roads they have been driven on.
good luck.

If its the top mounts then its going to be expensive on parts and labour..unless you know some where cheaper than the stealer's that can do it.. I did my own which involves a removal of the springs from the struts ..and if you haven't done one before then leave alone as there are some pitfalls regarding the job..[make sure you put the spring back the right side up and the spring can take your hand off if removed incorrectly] before you get it done sray up around the top mounts with a silicon based lubricant or waxoil[argo used that one] it might just do the job and save you mega bucks.. simple you say ..owning a stilo is far from simple ..only panda owners get an easy life..lol

The car is still under warranty so no charge to us.Took the car to the garage yesterday regarding crackling noise and they put the car up on the ramps.found it it was anti-freeze spilling over from where they had topped it up during the service.They also tightned up an air box that was rattling as well.


just have to wait for the parts to come in now.

PNL-LOL.my very first car was a fiat panda and it used to have a dodgy horn.kept going off when I was driving down dual carriageways

Late phase two model then ..thats a releif .. bad though that they have failed so soon in life..whats the year of the car..her in doors has an 07 1.4....

Its a 04 stilo but when we purchased we got 6 mths warranty anyways.