Technical Ultimate Stilo Problem can you solve it?!

[Why So Serious 84]

I am a proud new owner of an 02 Stilo 1.2 active, I have had dozens of cars in my time and this is my first Fiat and tbh I love it

I really want to keep this car and will be giving her some arbarth alloys and plenty of tlc but as you can imagine im having a nightmare with electrical problerms! After spending alot of time on this forum I have great respect for you guys and I have allready learnt how to solve my brake light switch problem and I also have a good idea of where to start with my airbag warning light problem, but thats just the start.......

At the moment my car is beep beep beep! every 10 seconds when im driving, and quite possibly every time I brake aswell!! ARGHH!!

I have STOP ENGINE airbag warning lights, and warning lights for rear lights, stop lights, front lights, and number plate lights but they all work!! Also my dash lights dont work... except when I turn on my passenger interior light!!

but when I do that I get ANOTHER warning message telling me my passenger door is open!! WTF lol I have also noticed that having done this, my dipped beam will stay when I turn them off, untill I turn my interior light off!

I know what to do about the Airbag warning, but I really want to use my dash lights without ducktaping the interior light over

and is there ANY way to turn the beeping off because I set the volume to 1 and its still loud! driving me crazy why cant you turn it off and why the hell does the volume go to 10!

O.K then, Firstly there are some clues as to why may car is this way, somebody has wired the sidelights, main beam and rear fog light on to seperate labelled rocker switches on the dashbaord...

Im guessing this was done instead of replacing the control stalk but all I know is the control stalk works for dipped beam, the others are on the dash. I also had the displeasure of discovering my brake signal switch was unplugged from its proper connector and had instead been rewired to the fuse box via a relay block. There is definately alot of wires near the fuse box that shouldnt be there and when I brake I hear the relay click!

I know somebody has screwed this car up for me and if it was any other car would of sold it on allready but for some reason I like having something a bit different and uncommon and the design is really starting to grow on me, Id apreciate any positive feedback this is my first ever post thanks for your time guys.

 

[MarkThompson4]

Sounds like you've bought a Stilo with bodged electrical goodness inside :/ i would assume the previous owner (one of them anyway) got fed up with getting warnings from the car and didn't get it fixed the correct way and instead paid some odd-job friend to try and fix it. As these are "warnings" you're getting the car will make them beep louder, the volume setting only relates to pressing the buttons to scroll through the menu on the dash cluster.

If I were you I'd get it re wired CORRECTLY. Get rid of all that bodged wiring ****e and make sure somewhere reputable can get the job done correctly. You can pick up a second hand stalk from a breakers yard and shouldn't be too expensive, from a dealer you'll be looking at a lot of money for one. Also try replacing the brake switch with a new one, correctly installed avoiding this extra wiring that's been put in place >:/

Good Luck!

 

[clock34]

check ALL the car earths... tbh it sounds like the voltage is seeping through all the systems rather than to the chasais.... also tripping sensors along the way..

 

[Muppet1]

Well i think basically you need to strip out all the added wiring switches etc. put it back to standard spec and start from there.
As you know stilos are very dependant on there electrical systems talking to each other and this would be my first port of call.
If need be get a new 2nd hand loom and start again that way.

Best of luck though, You will need it!!!

 

[StiloBoy]

A decent Auto-sparkie should be able to put the car back the way its meant to me, might not fix your problems but get you back to a standard car where we can begin to help problem solve with you.

 

[andreist31]

Why So Serious 84
If you fancy coming down to mid-wales (Aberystwyth) I could try and help you out with some of the wiring looms, especially if you manage to get a 2nd hand one, we could fit it quite easily.

As clock34 says, check all the earths on the car. I usually have a problem when it is really damp outside that every time I brake it gives me rear right fog light warning and/or rear right stop light warning, this is all because of the earth on the bulbs. Solved it once but it started doing it again cause of the humidity.

Andy

 

[oowop]

If you are serious keeping that car get a ELM/KKL cable it's worth every penny with FIatECUscan. You could check body computer for errors. To me it sounds like stalk unit, earth or whole Visteon is kaput.

Check earths first those around battery and left tyre.

If you find malfunctioning component don't just get a new one. Open it, check it and try to fix it. Many times it's easy and repairable.

 

[tim woollands]

take all the extra switches and wiring out, put in a new stalk. get a multimeter and keepon ploughing through til it all works, you never know the new stalk might cure the lot?

 

[limited edition]

Just a thought, when the stop engine flashes up push the "mode" button or menu button i forgot what its labled , but that will stop the beeping as well not a fix but it will stop you getting annoyed with the beeping

 

[Why So Serious 84]

Thanks for the comments guys, im taking your advice and I will be getting a second hand stalk and will be getting someone to help me return the wiring to its original state asap. If not I may need to take you up on your offer Andy!

Im trying to not sound like a complete idiot but I have more questions

How do I check the location of all the earth points in the absense of a haynes manual? So il start with battery and left tyre but how do I know the connections are ok asuming they look ok visually? I will be having a thorough look around the car over the next few days while im off work but I imagine I might miss quite a few earthing points or be unable to determine whether they are ok?

Ive heard alot of people talking about disconnecting the battery or pulling out the big fuses, should I do this? Will my ECU not have to relearn values etc? and lose code for my Visteon? talking of which if my Visteon is kauput I take it that can that cause faults?

I had a look at the FiatECUscan website as tbh i had no idea what it was lol and having never encountered anthing like it in my life I am amazed at the technical competence you guys have! So it looks like I need the KL cable to read the airbags and ELM cable for everything else? Will I need to buy the licensed version?

Lastly thank you Limited edition, pressing the mode button reduces the beeping somewhat but It still beeps every time I brake! lol

Once again thanks for your time guys :worship: you have shown me the path and given me hope! haha Il let you know how I get on!

 

[MarkThompson4]

Only the full version of FES will allow you to connect to all the ecu's on the car to check for faults, it's well worth the investment 100%

You have the same 1.2 as me and luckily enough I've taken pictures of where the earth points are

The black box is the earth point here:



Cable with the bolt holding it to the gearbox is the...gearbox mount



There is an engine earth as well but I seem to have lost that image Just check for a black cable bolted to the engine...

Do one thing at a time. Check the earths, then if they're fine get cracking on with replacing the stalk and putting the wiring back to standard then see what the car brings up after that. That will give you better indication as to what to do next because at the moment the way the wring is etc you're kind of in no-mans-land, don't want to be pulling fuses and **** the way it is at the moment

 

[Dcthebear]

Earth checking is easy. Disconnect the battery negative. Put one end of a multimeter to it and the other end on anything metal, engine block, chassis etc. The meter should read 0 (infinity) on the ohms setting. Any high readings denotes a poor earth connection.

 

[Dcthebear]

Also worth checking the alternator output. Put the meter on 20 volts dc setting, start the engine, connect positive of meter to battery positive, negative of meter to battery negative. You should read about 13 to 14 volts whatever the revs. Higher voltage denotes a regulator fault. Anything lower than 13 and the alternator is on its way or dead.

 

[tim woollands]

if your going to a scrap yard to buy the stalks when and as you remove them take pictures of all you can on the car and match it too yours, i know it sounds anal but i have photo's of just about every job i have done on my car as a backup to check all is correct. i have a stripped out stilo in my garden i can take pictures of wiring for you if you get stuck.