Afternoon everyone.

So, as it turns out - i will be keeping my stilo for the forseable future due to it costing me so much in repairs latley that I have not been able to save up for another motor.

I recently had a quick repair done on the exhaust, changed the flexi section then a month ago the down pipe from the cat (on the manifold) had a big circular split in it, had this welded at the garage and all is ok for now... but it wont last long.

Instead of me buying a replacment Manicat (manifold + cat) for £120, I would rather de-cat it.

I have read some posts about the Punto 1.2 16v engine been the same and uses the same manifold.

I need some advice, can I get a decat manifold for the punto 1.2 16v and fit to my stilo as a direct swap?

Also, i remember seeing an exhaust specialist's name advertised on here with people saying - go to him, tell him its for the 1.2 stilo and he will know which manifold to make for you ...

I need some reassurances guys - i cant remember or even find the previous post's regarding the exhaust specialists and the stilo 1.2...

If someone could help that would be great...

For legal reasons, and potential insurance implications, you're better off keeping the manicat IMO.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

For legal reasons, and potential insurance implications, you're better off keeping the manicat IMO.

Click to expand...

I understand all that, however - that won't be much of an issue for me...
Anyhow - I have been reading up on John Ashley exhausts - very mixed reviews... might end up just driving the thing till it breaks again and try save up for something much more reliable in the future...

So far - the stilo has cost me around £1000 in bits an bobs and repairs.
Paid £650 for it and now another £500 spend is due for the gearbox and clutch, if only these issues hadn't arose and cost me around £1500 then i would be well on my way to buying a much more reliable motor.

dtimmins1985 said:

Paid £650 for it and now another £500 spend is due for the gearbox and clutch, if only these issues hadn't arose and cost me around £1500 then i would be well on my way to buying a much more reliable motor.

Click to expand...

Its a £650 car, which is at best knocking on 9 years old, probably older, those issues are not unreasonable in my opinion. Clutch and exhaust are reasonable wear and tear.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Its a £650 car, which is at best knocking on 9 years old, probably older, those issues are not unreasonable in my opinion. Clutch and exhaust are reasonable wear and tear.

Click to expand...

I agree to an extent - the exhaust and other little bits where bound to be an issue, its actually 12years old... however - the gearbox should be fine, whoever had it before me had not taken care of it - hence the oil leak on the box which has caused the box to go in the end - should of been repaired as soon as it was spotted (which was over a year before i bought it, according to an MOT sheet from 2013)...

Anyhow, going to stick with it - engine is sound, purrs like a kitten on cat nip, rest of the body underneath and all other pipes etc are immaculate, pitty the wing door and bumpers arent or it would be a minter...

Oh well, time to make a call to the gearbox dudes and see how its going - should be picking her up today

If you're careful / lucky then your manicat downpipe repair may be OK for a while.

Last year I had a similar thing with my 2001 Brava 1.2 - basically the same setup. My downpipe had a couple of cracks in it where the profiles all come together to become a round cross-section, and the air leak was messing up the readings from the second lambda sensor.

My mechanic did a decent job if welding it up but more importantly we remade the broken / missing fixing bracket that attaches the downpipe to the gearbox - mine was broken / rusted.

If the exhaust and engine flex then this will strain the downpipe, particularly with all the speedbumps etc around today. This may be worse with older / soggier cars...

I'm confident in my repair and more importantly the original Fiat manicat is still doing its emissions job fine after many years and 155,000 miles. Your price of £120 for the manicat seems good, I was budgeting on £150 when I thought mine was scrap....

bluejohn125 said:

If you're careful / lucky then your manicat downpipe repair may be OK for a while.

Last year I had a similar thing with my 2001 Brava 1.2 - basically the same setup. My downpipe had a couple of cracks in it where the profiles all come together to become a round cross-section, and the air leak was messing up the readings from the second lambda sensor.

My mechanic did a decent job if welding it up but more importantly we remade the broken / missing fixing bracket that attaches the downpipe to the gearbox - mine was broken / rusted.

If the exhaust and engine flex then this will strain the downpipe, particularly with all the speedbumps etc around today. This may be worse with older / soggier cars...

I'm confident in my repair and more importantly the original Fiat manicat is still doing its emissions job fine after many years and 155,000 miles. Your price of £120 for the manicat seems good, I was budgeting on £150 when I thought mine was scrap....

Click to expand...

Ok that sounds a little more positive

My bracket on the gearbox has also broken, ill get that welded up.
Luckily - it had snapped round the flange that bolts to the flexi's flange....

Oh well, will have to see what the gearbox & clutch costs me, the car is a top gear transmissions now for the 2nd day (been messed about big time!).