Hi guys first post so go easy on me.

Right start at the beginning, Sunday morning came down to find petrol leaking from the tank of the wife's Stilo. Took it to a local garage who repaired the tank put it back together, thanks very much. Yesterday the wife went to work and got a message pop up on the driver display saying engine fault, she pulled over turned it off left it a minuet then started it back up and every thing was ok, today she said it flashed on and off about 4 times she carried on driving about a mile later it flashed on and off twice more then said check ok and was fine after that. I called Fiat they said they would do a test for £55+vat but they really need the light on whilst they do the test. I was thinking of buying a fault code reader off ebay to see if i can find out whats wrong with it.

Is it likely just a loose connection maybe caused by having the petrol tank off etc? Is it worth buying the fault code reader and if so where does it plug into?

thanks in advance

peace and love!

Intermittent engine fault lights can be due to a coil pack on the way out...

In my opinion I would take the car to somewhere with the examiner, like the dealer over buying a code reader.

The fault code reader will just give you a code and very little more. The examiner will tell the technician a hell of a lot more about whats happening with the car, and if a code is stored, the conditions when it was triggered.

Buy a code reader they are about £35 or if your rich and can afford it get it on examiner as dan has said,the code reader gives you a good idea what has gone wrong and the good and kind people on here will point you in the right direction.
And welcome to the forum

i think thats what the guy at fiat was hinting at as one of the only things he said was "does it sound like its running on 3"

how much am i looking at for a coil pack? had one go on my vectra was about £120 or something

just replaced one on mine, £20 from scrapyard or about £55 new. easy to fit.

about £35 new (+vat though..)

thanks for the info guys. Bit more on the fault I took her car for a spin and if i did 50 in 4th (cant remember how many rpm's it was) and held it then it set the problem off, only seemed to do it at that amount of rpms, letting the speed drop or gaining speed stopped it. Anyone any more ideas?

What engine size is it?
Always have a fault code reader or, even better, laptop interface as it's your first port of call with an engine warning and targets the problem area

Engine warning repeatable happening at a certain higher rpm which stops when you ease off again sounds like ecu spotting a mismatch with engine rpm and camshaft rpm sensors. Fault code P1320 or similar pops up if that's the case

Has a cambelt change been carried out recently? As that's often the cause of mismatch timing

A coil could be on its way out but they don't tend to get better again just by easing off the rpm

Hi there its a 1.6 only had it since April and no idea when the cam belt was changed its got 93k on the clock how often do they need doing?

If i get a fault code reader does it just tell you the code its self or does it interpret the fault code and tell you what is actually wrong?

belt is 36k or 3 years !!

the code reader reads the codes then you look in the acompanying book to see whats gone buggered

phildenholm said:

Bit more on the fault I took her car for a spin and if i did 50 in 4th (cant remember how many rpm's it was) and held it then it set the problem off, only seemed to do it at that amount of rpms, letting the speed drop or gaining speed stopped it.

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So, did this ONLY happen after the the problem with the fuel tank?

phildenholm said:

Hi there its a 1.6 only had it since April and no idea when the cam belt was changed its got 93k on the clock how often do they need doing?

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It's imperative you discover if the belt has been changed

If you really don't know (and can't ask anyone) then I strongly recommend you let a dealer check it for you - plus get the code for the other problem - as suggested in post #3

£55 is absolute peanuts compared to the costs you otherwise might face

I disconnected the battery to clear the memory as i read in one of 2 threads on this forum, see if that clears it, ill have a look through the paperwork tonight see if I can find out about the timing belt, its got a full history so likely will have been done. I hate belts, only ever buy cars with timing chains myself

what sort of money am i looking at for a timing belt etc on a 02 1.6 dynamic?

Yes it only happened after the problem with the petrol tank. Been out in it a few times this weekend and it only ever happens when doing aprox 50 in 4th gear 2750 rpm but only within about 10 mins from setting off. very strange! I did notice a slight loss in power as it happened

phildenholm said:

Yes it only happened after the problem with the petrol tank. Been out in it a few times this weekend and it only ever happens when doing aprox 50 in 4th gear 2750 rpm but only within about 10 mins from setting off. very strange! I did notice a slight loss in power as it happened

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In that case it can't be connected with the cam belt.

I could be just coincidence though :chin:

I'd buy a coil-pack and check each one using the substitution method (you should have a spare anyway - so no money is wasted)

Booked it in for diagnostics at a place called F.A.S.T. in stockton on tees on Friday, see if they can find anything wrong!