Technical Damn you Stilo

[mattadon]

Morning all, sorry to be a pain but signed up to help get some help with the mentioned car. Mrs has a stilo 1.6, 76000 miles and all has been well until.....
Bulb failure light has been on intermitently for a few months now, no issue just ignored it. Yesterday when driving the car I hit a few puddles, not massive but maybe 6" max. Within 5 minutes alternator failure warning and battery light on dash, this was intermitent for about 7 miles until destination reached. On returning home the same thing happened on start up but didnt happen again until 14 miles later and 100 yards from home( my road is very bumpy). when the alt warning is on no pwr steering, steering works fine when going a few miles an hour. Got up this morning turn it over and all hell breaks loose on the dash, high coolant temp, loose connection, alternator fail and low coolant level warning. this does not happen on every start but its very often and to top it off started just and I am getting a strange whiiring noise from the engine that I have never heard before.
Route of action, check battery power, d4 connector and the earth block, does this sound the right way to go?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[Davren]

Hi, Welcome to the FF.

Most likely cause is water ingress to the grey fuse box behind the battery and the D4 connector below that fuse box. You may need to seperate the two halves of the fuse box to dry it out completely.

I'm guessing the car doesn't have tha large black battery cover fitted?

 

[mattadon]

Hi, Welcome to the FF.

Most likely cause is water ingress to the grey fuse box behind the battery and the D4 connector below that fuse box. You may need to seperate the two halves of the fuse box to dry it out completely.

I'm guessing the car doesn't have tha large black battery cover fitted?

It does have the battery cover, its never been off in its life.

 

[sixpotman]

Well maintained car then!!!

John

 

[mattadon]

Very well maintained, never any issue till now except exhaust

 

[sixpotman]

A Good battery, Battery connections and wires
are critical to a stilo as preventative maintenance.
Ensuring good battery condition, clean battery
connections could well of stopped all your present
problems. A lot could also be being caused by a dying
battery.

John

 

[Steve148]

Yesterday when driving the car I hit a few puddles, not massive but maybe 6" max. Within 5 minutes alternator failure warning and battery light on dash....

You've probably soaked the area behind the battery, where many connectors and relays live. Take the cover off and clear it all up, dry it all out. Should be fine after that.