Technical New Stilo! Couple of problems though.. hopefully you guys can help!

[kiopo]

Hey,

I got an 05 1.4 3 door Stilo (manual) 2 weeks ago. Good deal and such a lovely car, i've done 1000 miles or so already and couldn't be happier.

Couple of problems have developed though. The car was serviced by the garage when it was bought, but they missed tightening the bolts on the door hinges.. one of them was very loose last week and the door wasn't opening properly. I took it to a local garage and they were shocked that anyone servicing a Stilo could miss that. Is it something to be worried about? IE that they may have missed more things?

Now the problems..

1) Driving along a normal road, go over a slight imperfection in the surface and hear a huge POP somewhere from the left side. Now, whenever I go over any kind of bump, I hear a weird rattle which I think is coming from the left front wheel area.. but I could be wrong. Any idea what this might be?? Back to a garage? I'm not really too good with the practical side of cars.. I wouldn't have a clue what to look for.

2) Clutch.. not really a problem, but I think maybe the flywheel needs replacing. The car judders a lot when starting off in first gear unless you raise the clutch up very quickly or put a lot of revs on.

Any ideas? Thanks

 

[danhans115]

The pop might be the bush in the lower arm thats gone. My car used to do that and had it replaced, along with the ARB links which improved the handling and the noises from the front no-end.

 

[kiopo]

The pop might be the bush in the lower arm thats gone. My car used to do that and had it replaced, along with the ARB links which improved the handling and the noises from the front no-end.

Thanks! Was this expensive to get repaired?

 

[danhans115]

I had it done with some other work as a cash job so I cant remember off the top of my head. They just replaced the whole lower arm and I did the ARB links myself.

The ARB links are around the £20 + P&P mark on ebay iirc,

 

[dan86]

I had ARB links changed on my car last year as I was experiencing same probs with left wheel I paid £100 for labour and parts.

 

[dan86]

If the car has done 60k or a bit less you will have to change the clutch as I changed mine last week with 59000 miles on the clock and before it went I had same probs with it.The clutch kit is £90 plus labour vat total came to £230

 

[adamcot]

If the car has done 60k or a bit less you will have to change the clutch as I changed mine last week with 59000 miles on the clock and before it went I had same probs with it.The clutch kit is £90 plus labour vat total came to £230

Not necessarily true, my Stilo's clutch was still good at 80,000 miles. Its how its been driven before that causes them to fail this early.

 

[danhans115]

I had ARB links changed on my car last year as I was experiencing same probs with left wheel I paid £100 for labour and parts.

Took me an hour to fit with the car parked on a main road even. Its really not that hard to do yourself and the money saved would go towards other work.

Dan

 

[kiopo]

The pop might be the bush in the lower arm thats gone. My car used to do that and had it replaced, along with the ARB links which improved the handling and the noises from the front no-end.

Also, where would I look to see if it is that which has gone?

 

[kiopo]

Found the suspect (left front problem).. what is it?

Going over a normal stretch of road yesterday, and at a very slight imperfection in the road there was a huge POP from the front left side. Then, there was a rattle every time I went over a bump.

Anyway, dug around a bit and found the culprit:

Is this part of the coil? Will I need to get it replaced? The car drives fine and I can't notice anything different... but since I only bought it ('05 model) 2 weeks ago I have a 3 months major parts warranty still.

Would this count as a major parts failure?

Thanks

 

[Muppet1]

Re: Found the suspect (left front problem).. what is it?

it does look like a bit of coil, so i would get it checked out for sure.

Is it round in profile as looks squareish a bit.

 

[kiopo]

Re: Found the suspect (left front problem).. what is it?

it does look like a bit of coil, so i would get it checked out for sure.

Is it round in profile as looks squareish a bit.

Yeah it is round.. doesn't come out well on the pic but it is also slightly spiralled which is why I guess it must be the bottom (or top) of the coil... and I guess the reason it hasn't collapsed on that side is that the rest of the coil expanded to make it unnoticeable.

Okay, guess I need to take it in then. Seems to be fine to drive for now at least.. hopefully the warranty will cover it