Hi, my first post and far from mechanical minded so bear with please. I have a fiat stilo 16 v 1.4 on a 04 plate and 100k on miles.
3 months ago my head gasket blew and after taking it to a garage the problem was caused because it had a cracked cylinder head. After 3 months of sitting on my drive managed to get a recon cylinder head and new head gasket replaced. When driving it from the garage went to brake and peddle went to the floor and was no pressure on the brakes. Vehicle slowed but after about 20 yards, tried again after picking up speed and braking the same thing but works fine if i pump the brakes ( poss air in brakes). At the same time dash came up with low oil pressure warning. Had the car recovered back to garage and they are saying wouldnt have been the work carried out by them and probably needs a new oil pump or sensor. They did a pressure test and it read 60 psi but when reved to 4000 rpm went up to 90 psi and when released dropped to 30 psi and remained there. Not sure if thats good or not. But before i spend more money on oil pumps and sensors would be anything to do with having to slam on the brakes to begin with.
Also when they did the test it was stationery and did not give the warning. Only happens when driving. Any help would be gladly recieved.

Maybe it is not that relevant but on my Stilo this low pressure warning came several times when starting up the car. I thought that it is some sonsor but it happened only on starting up. Then I noticed that it happened more when the car was stopped on hill. I checked the oil level and saw that it was going on to the low mark of the stick. Poured up oil and have never seen it again.

Hi bushellmatt,

Welcome to FiatForum! I've had both the problems you described, but separately (luckily). I still get the oil pressure warning from time to time, especially in bends, inclines or when starting the car cold. I would say that 90% of the time this is caused by the oil level hitting the low mark. I usually check the level top it up and I'm fine.

With the brakes not working, there's are a few checks you can do:
1. Check the master brake cylinder, and top up with brake fluid if needed
2. Check each wheel is turning freely and you don't have any calipers seized (that was my cause). If on of the wheels is not turning freely it could be either a seized caliper or the maybe the handbrake cable needs adjusting (very rare cases I would assume).

I don't think that the brake and oil problems are related. Not sure about the oil pressure to be honest, but as long as you don't have any leaks then you should be fine.

Cheers,
Andy

Have a check on your Brake Fluid level in the semi clear small container at back of engine bay.
If the level is low then you would need to check the source of the leak , it may only be a slight leak, that has allowed the level to drop over the time the car has been stood.

The leak could be in the brake system or a leaking Clutch Slave, Does the clutch pedal operate as it used too ??

Should the level in the brake fluid be correct then a bleed of any air in the brake lines would be well worth it as even if you do not use the brakes too often they are quite handy when needed