Some technical help needed here folks, car is an '03 3 door Stilo JTD 115 Dynamic...... driving into work the other day I went through a wee puddle on a corner (no really, it wasn't that deep....) and five seconds later the engine fault buzzer/light sounded/lit up then went off Did the same thing on the way home (35 mile drive) after being sat in a nice dry garage for 12 hours, but it did it only once and only when pulling up a hill in fourth.
Then we had frosts - and all was well for a few days. Now we have a thaw and there's water everywhere and - guess what - the fault's back But worse, yesterday I had a sudden and complete loss of turbo "boost" at moderate revs, again going up a hill in 4th gear Although this fault disappeared quickly and wasn't apparent this morning, although the warning buzzer etc did come on twice on the way to work, when giving the car a bit of "stick"
Now I suspect that this is little more than water in the electrics (on a 2 year old car I'm less than impressed ) but does anyone know better or have a suggestion:idea: Be much appreciated:worship:
I'm going to have to put the car into my local Fiat dealer - a bunch of mindless jerks who will be first against the wall when the revolution comes (thanks Douglas....) who I've had dealings with before (didn't buy the car there) and have always left less than impressed
Anyway - HELP

Well if you dont like fiat dealers fix it yourself,buy a dodgy CD manual from ebay & waste loads of cash (and time) guessing what part it could be,alternatively take it to your 'mindless jerks' fiat dealer & let them extract a code for overboost valve and change it for you free of charge....your choice?

Hi ABZStilo, welcome to FF. They tell me my JTD 04 is a phase 2 where all the little intracacies of the original cars have been removed. Mine does the same as yours when soaked through from downpours. It clears after a while but never have I lost power when it occured. It's something I have learnt to live with and strangely enough, I can almost predict the fault as soon as it's about to happen.

I live with these issues as taking it to the dealers is a pointless excercise. I have yet to come across a Fiat spanner who has the 1st idea about mechanics/electricals so I find most info within these forums. Cant offer you any more info about how to deal with this fault unfortunately.

T14086 said:

Well if you dont like fiat dealers fix it yourself,buy a dodgy CD manual from ebay & waste loads of cash (and time) guessing what part it could be,

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Honestly, I'm not that stupid

T14086 said:

.... alternatively take it to your 'mindless jerks' fiat dealer & let them extract a code for overboost valve and change it for you free of charge....your choice?

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Fair point, it is my choice and it will have to be the dealer initially. I'm not against Fiat dealers per se just the one in Aberdeen, or to be more specific pretty much everyone other than the sales staff who are (honestly) a great bunch of guys.
There is another small dealer near Peterhead which is a bit of a hike from me but I know they do send some cars to the Aberdeen dealer for diagnostics - so a Catch 22 for me... Aberdeen it is as in all probability it needs to be checked on a computer diagnostic (for peace of mind)

The car does have some manufacturers warranty left on it, so presumably you're suggesting that there's a code "fix" that may alleviate the turbo problem? Can you explain that bit again?

bozzy said:

Hi ABZStilo, welcome to FF. They tell me my JTD 04 is a phase 2 where all the little intracacies of the original cars have been removed. Mine does the same as yours when soaked through from downpours. It clears after a while but never have I lost power when it occured. It's something I have learnt to live with and strangely enough, I can almost predict the fault as soon as it's about to happen.

I live with these issues as taking it to the dealers is a pointless excercise. I have yet to come across a Fiat spanner who has the 1st idea about mechanics/electricals so I find most info within these forums. Cant offer you any more info about how to deal with this fault unfortunately.

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Thanks for the welcome
Oddly enough, I've pretty much got it down to a fine art predicting when the buzzer will sound - nice to know I'm not alone
I've had too many bad experiences with dealers - but am obliged I guess to use them until the warranty expires. I reckon it would be fair to say that most of the garage staff at dealers (regardless of brand) these days are "fitters" and not mechanics, if the computer says change it then change it, not fix it:bang: Ho hum, that's life

Take the car wherever you want aslong as they are VAT registered & use genuine Fiat parts.

From what you described it sounds like the overboost valve situated low down under the n/s headlight but only way to tell is to extract any codes.If the computer says a part is faulty you DO NOT change it until you have tested it & proven it is faulty.
Training is pointed towards proving a part is faulty not just changing it therefore I disagree with the 'fitter' remark,ask to speak to the technician before & after they work on the car therefore you wont get the 'chinese whisper' version after its passed on from tech to supervisor to front desk staff etc

Get it booked in & let them know you require a courtesy car so there is no inconvience to yourself.

Well, all things being equal it will go in tomorrow. I'll be ringing up 1st thing and seeing if they can fit my wee beatsie in - fingers crossed it's an easy fix:worship:

I'll certainly try to speak to the technician before & after "the event" and see whats what

In the meantime, here's hoping it gets me home 1st

SUCCESS

Managed to get the Stilo into Arnold Clark Fiat in Aberdeen this morning. Got a 'phone call 3 hours later saying car was ready for collection.... and how much the bill was

Sat down with the service manager who was extremely helpful and went through all the problems they found. Turns out there were 2.......

1. Overboost valve had got wet, very wet :yuck: So a "technical service repair" and modified valve location was the remedy Turns out that the location of the overboost valve - as mentioned by T14086 - is less than ideal unless you live somewhere nice and dry So essentially a re-location of 180 degrees sees it somewhere nice and dry unless I cross the North Sea the hard way
This is apparently a common problem which they were well aware of, so presumably this is something done as a "routine" part of servicing for Fiat customers with less than 2 year old Stilos suffering the same malady?
2. Seems the brake light switch wasn't sitting right causing the ECU (brain/whatever) to get especially confused when associated with fault #1.... an adjustment sorted this.

So, I'm a happy bunny
Although I couldn't get a loan car and forked out £63 (just under) to get the work done the car flew on the way home and seems restored to "rude" health

Drawbacks? Just the one that I can see so far - I have to drive in the ice and snow come the winter months (I'm out before the council boys clear the roads in the mornings) and part of my winter driving "tactic" for the last (yikes) 17 years has been left foot braking, especially in the snow:devil: Trouble is, seems the ECU can't handle/doesn't like the inputs of accelerator and brake at the same time so I'll have to modify my winter driving "style"
Never mind, these sacrifices have to be made

Success for a Fiat Dealer, always nice to hear when someone gets good service. Good one T14086 for instilling some faith in a disillusioned customer

thepottleflump said:

Success for a Fiat Dealer, always nice to hear when someone gets good service. Good one T14086 for instilling some faith in a disillusioned customer

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And for diagnosing the correct fault. Outstanding that man.

Hi,

This makes good reading. I have a similar problem with 02 plate 1.9 JTD. Driving around in the wet I started getting intermittent engine fault lights. Took it my local dealer in Cefn Forest (south wales) who diagnosed a non-fault. The computer said it was a turbo pressure fault, so they cleared it. Driving home same thing again (yes, I can also predict when it will happen). Found this forum, and spoke to the garage who said and I quote "Whats an overboost valve". So I took it to the Donald Mackenzies in Inverness, who changed the overboost valve for me. Driving down the road I did notice an improvement in performance, but still got an intermittent engine fault light. I also noticed a big hit in MPG. Contacted thegarage and we are monitoring the situation.

Can anybody throw any more light on this? Is my turbo up the creek?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum. I haven't a clue but somebody will have some info. Be sure to come back and let us know the outcome.

bozzy said:

And for diagnosing the correct fault. Outstanding that man.

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There are many good caring techs here ( and at dealers) who do care & take pride in their work,unfortunally the almost constant 'slagging' here on the forum gets a bit tedious from certain people which is why I & others visit less frequently.However thank you for your kind remark,makes it all worthwhile