Fiat Stilo Abarth Problems

[KarinaSmith]

Hello,

I am new to the forum so I am not really sure how this all works but will give it a go!

Recently (about a month ago) bought a Fiat Stilo Abarth 2002 selespeed, with 59000 miles on the clock, absolutley in love with it.. however i have had issues with other cars in the past and am just a bit precautious!

Firstly I have a warning light on the dashboard constantly telling me that there is an airbag failure and to return to the dealer, does anybody have any idea on how to stop this or an idea on how much it would cost to fix.

The other thing I am more worried about is sometimes (mostly when car is very cold) a warning light comes up saying "Auto gearbox failure, return slowly to dealer" and then for a short while it will not allow me to change gears and just go back to normal again. Also about 3 times since I have had it, it has popped into neutral whilst driving.

Does anybody know if this is a common problem and if it is expensive to fix? Bit tight on money at the mo so will have to wait a while before paying for it to be fixed but i dont want to leave it to long and make the situation worse, my boyfriend is quite mechanically sound so wondering if its an easy job i would be able to get him to do or best to take it to fiat.

Sorry its a long one, any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Mercy]

About the gearbox issue - I have a very similar issue with my 2004 Panda. I had the gearbox completely swapped some months ago when it did the same thing at random times, not only when the car was cold.
I've been in and out of the shop with it still (shifts to N when the engine is cold) and it's generally not an easy thing to fix - it's difficult to pinpoint what exactly is wrong, what's causing it. However, I seriously urge you to get it to the shop and have it looked over, having started from similar issues the last owners of my car had run the gearbox into the ground in a way that the only possible fix later was to toss the whole thing.
I also doubt your boyfriend could fix it on his own, the Fiats are very bitchy little things.

I feel your pain though. :/

 

[johnson550]

I would put your query in the Stilo section you will get more help there.

 

[Jillybeanz]

Hi Karina, I also have a 2002 Arbarth Stilo, and have had a similar issue with the gearbox failure, but I also got the ASR/ESP failures as well, driving back home from Nottingham to Kent, finally decided to be scared on the M25, as was getting more insistent and the cruise control wouldnt work either.

We (royal We here, hubby did the work ) found that the problem was the break light switch on the brake pedal. Suggestion of the Stilo area is excellent idea, you will get all the details on how to fix and find challenges (!!!!) It isnt hard to replace, just very, very fiddly, not too expensive.

Sorry cant help with the airbag problem, as luckily havent run into that one. YET!

I have had a number of fiats over the years, but really love my little stilo, if I drive carefully thats what is looks like a boring nanna's car, but wow, if you want to go fast, it does!!

Jillybeanz

 

[KarinaSmith]

Thanks for suggestions, just tried posting it in the stilo section but because I am a new member I have to have at least 5 postings before I can post there, which is annoying!

The gearbox light hasnt been coming on all the time, but a lot more recently since it has been very cold weather. I suppose I should be safe rather than sorry and get it looked over. I will get the BF to look at the brake light switch which you suggested and see if that has anything to do with it, looked at some other posts last night and saw that a few people have suggested to others to check the oil level, so had a look at that this morning and it did look a little low so have topped up.. just need to see if that has any improvements!

 

[adamcot]

This should sort your airbag problems:

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo-guides/72482-airbag-failure-warnings.html