I'm after some help. My Stilo 1.8 Dynamic (2004 - not yet 2 years old) is having quite worrying problems, which the local Fiat dealer cannot seem to rectify.
When my car stops at a junction after driving fairly normally, it stalls. Today it stalled 9 times on the way to work and 7 on the way home - very embarrassing and quite frankly, dangerous.
Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? The car is due back to Fiat next week for further investigation, but any ideas as to what is causing this would be really helpful.

They claim to have cleaned a valve and also topped up the oil, as this engine is apparently reknowned for burning up oil (2.3 litres after 9,000 miles)

Thanks!

Could do with a bit more info
Does the car start fine everytime?
Does it idle normally when warm with a nice steady rpm or does it struggle going from say 1500rpm down to 500rpm?

Does it always tend to stall in the situation where you have just slowed to a stop from a fast speed?
Have they found any fault codes stored?
Does it only stall when you use the footbrake?
Did this fault just suddenly happen ie was it ok before this?

Your oil consumption does seem quite high but "acceptable oil consumption" is quite high in Fiat's specifications

Thanks for the reply.

Starting the car is no problem, even after stalling it re-starts fine.
When warm I stil feel it can run rough. It has been known to stall even when warm, but unfortunately my car is only warm when I get to work, so most junctions on the way to work it either drops revs and tries to stall but picks itself back up, or will stall completely. The needle drops like a stone once out of gear & without using the accelorator.
It does generally stall immediately from when I have been doing reasonable speeds, and have to brake when I hit a traffic jam/junction. Pretty much normal in-town driving.
If I slow the car down by taking out of gear it also stalls, not just the footbrake I guess.
They haven't found any fault codes, but the mechanic has been out in the car & it has stalled on him, so luckily I don't seem like a crazy customer!
During the summer it was fine, but I can't totally blame weather conditions for the problems as this happens in any temperature from between 2-10 degrees at present. The only observation I have made over the past week is when I start the car in about 1 degree conditions, initially the revs are around 1200, so seems like the 'choke' as such is kicking in, but after a couple of corners and junctions it goes back to the low revs, struggling to keep high.
It also feels fairly rough to drive also, as it's obviously quite jerky when pulling away as the revs have been fluctuating on idle.

I did have to have a replacement ECU previously as the last one had issues last year, shall I say, and I noticed on the warranty receipt it was a reconditioned one. If they can't find the problem I may have to ask them to replace it again in case the re-conditioned one is actually still faulty I guess!!

It sounds pretty ghastly to drive

ECU HISTORY
What fault did it have before that warranted the ecu change?
When the ecu was changed previously did that cure the fault?

OIL CONSUMPTION
I'd be unhappy with the amount of oil it's burning/using and they could be related faults. Are you getting appreciable smoke from the exhaust? do you have any significant oil leaks?

Have they done a proper diagnostic check on it? I would have thought someting this grim would show up on diagnostics

The idle valve should be holding the engine at idle but it's not doing it's job or not being fed correct information

I assume they've checked the air filter, checked for air leaks on the air intake. It sounds like they've cleaned the idle valve but it sound like you have problems there

The fact that it starts well and straight after a stall tends to eliminate crank and cam sensors, igntion coils etc
Sounds like it might be idle valve up the creek
When you restart after a dead engine stall does it hold the engine idle ok or is it still all over the place? Try tapping the idle valve with the blunt end of a screwdriver when it's doing it's nasty stuff. Nothing like a knock on the head to make things wake up. See if anything alters or suddenly starts working ok. Might be a bad electrical connection at the idle valve

Hi decks can you tell us where the idle valve is situated and what would be the easiest way to clean it .

I'll see if I can get a piccy but it's the first item the air intake meets in the engine and it's right on top of the engine on the 1.6. You only need to get enough access to peer in so disconnecting and pulling back the air intake tube is often enough to get your fingers in there with a cloth. Use almost any degreaser spray on it, some say brake caliper cleaner is good, and clean off as good as you can by reaching in with your finger in the cloth. Don't lose the cloth in there!

If it all looks clean then don't bother disturbing it but if it's covered in black muck then get it off

Well, the car went into the garage yesterday and hasn't come back a new car I'm afraid!
Although it didn't stall this morning, the revs are still dropping enough to make the lights flicker and shudder the car.
They said they re-set the car to the original settings (as per advice from Fiat UK). I've called them & am booking it back in (perhaps 3rd time lucky!!).

With regards to the oil, it doesn't appear smokey, there's no drops where I park my car either, so a bit of a mystery!!

Well, the car is back in the garage again today - Westover in Poole. They advised the mechanic had called in sick who was looking at my car while I was sat waiting for them to find the paperwork for the courtesy car. Who knows when it will be fixed??? Well, at least I have a courtesy car until they can get their act together....

A sick mechanic looking at a sick car. Doesn't sound good.
Don't they have another mechanic? :shakehead

Sorry shouldn't have asked

I've been down to Westover Fiat and I have to say I was quite impressed by them (gave me some free advice when I had trouble fitting a headlamp bulb).

They've been looking after Fiat's for absolutely ages, apart from a brief spell when Olympian got involved, so they should know their stuff.

You would have thought so - they always seem nice, but niceness isn't getting my car fixed unfortunately. I'm going to get it serviced at Olds in Dorchester in a couple of weeks as unfortunately them not getting the problem fixed means me taking my business elsewhere.
Car's still at the garage - went in yesterday & I'm waiting for the verdict!!

You could try s&h motors (Fiat & Alfa Specialists) on the Nuffield Industrial Estate 01202 680660 These Guys know there stuff, or try Italian Car Spares (also have a garage) on 01202 660678 The guy who runs this used to work at s&h and they only charge £30 p/h labor.

You must of driven past my work to get to Westover (if you are talkin about their repair centre).

Update - car's back from the garage after its 3 day holiday and guess what?! Still trying to stall....
Westover Fiat advised me the mechanic was off ill for 3 days and I told them that was interesting, seeing as that's how long it was in the garage for!!
Phoning the M.D. tomorrow for help...

Spoke to the Manager today. He investigated & advised they are now going to order a 'spring' for the throttle from Fiat and completely drain the oil & re-fill this with a new type of oil (as advised by Fiat) which is the type used on the new Alfa. Interesting. Does this mean all the 1.8 Stilo's should be running on this improved oil? Makes you wonder if Fiat need to announce a change to the service requirements to ensure you are all using the correct oil.
Will update again when this work is done - this is the 4th trip to the garage for this now!!!:bang:

Small update - they now want to charge me for the oil and a filter change - cheeky lot!!!
Of course I said noooo!!!! :bang:

Good grief, will this ever be resolved??!!