I took the battery out of my Stilo Abarth yesterday, just to de-rust and smarten up the battery tray.

It all went to plan, but on replacing the battery I got "ABS/ASR fault" on the dash display. I wasn't too worried, because I'd read on this forum that it's usually just a dodgy battery or connection. So I cleaned up the battery terminals, checked the voltage (13.2V, which should be fine), tightened everything up - but got the same faults.

Turned the car around, drove off, and the failure light went out! Switched off, ignition back on, and everything's just fine.

Researching this a bit more, it seems that Stilos with the Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) have a steering position sensor which you calibrate by turning the wheel from one lock to the other. Disconnecting the battery means this calibration can get lost.

Maybe this is already discussed somewhere on the forum, but I thought I should mention it, just in case it helps anyone: it would be a shame to replace the battery or the steering column if all it needed was to be turned lock-to-lock a couple of times....!

Has anyone else encountered the same problem/solution?

Had my Stilo eight weeks now, and really loving it.

It does say in the manual that once the battery has been removed, the ESP failure light illuminates. You have to turn the wheel ¼ turn each way to calibrate it.

Thanks Samuel - you're right. I just found that info on page 97 of the user manual.

I hadn't expected the owner's manual to contain anything that useful!

Anyway, I know now...

Makes for quite an interesting read! (if you can get past the poor translations and spelling mistakes)

I had my battery replaced and was expecting to have to recalibrate it but the warning light never came on.