Technical Oil Pressure Warning Fiat Stilo 1.8 16v

[toddy2105]

I've got a Fiat Stilo 1.8 16v Dynamic, I only brought it on Thursday and it drives fine until I took it for a service Saturday. I had the oil and filters done and since then several times while driving the car beeps and the low oil pressure warning message appears, sometimes the engine cuts out and sometimes it doesnt. When you turn the engine on all the checks are fine and I've checked the oil which is full.

Can anyone please help with this as I have no idea..

 

[Deckchair5]

Low oil pressure warning is not to be ingored so first thing is,
are you really sure oil is at the correct level? Dont go mad and over fill it but many problems (more so with the Abarth) have been through difficulty in seeing the oil level on the dipstick
Ok is it only happening when turning sharp right? This causes oil surge away from the pump pick up

Next step is to get accurate oil pressure measurement which a garage should be able to do on the spot or maybe change the oil pressure switch as they're not that expensive and quite easy to change

If your engine IS giving low oil pressure then it can get expensive but check first the oil filter as a few of these have reports of a bad check valve. They're not expensive so maybe try a different type

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

What type of oil filter was fitted? Was it OEM or a pattern part?

 

[toddy2105]

Hi

The oil seems fine it is hard to tell the level on the dipstick but looks ok. its definatly not low does a small amount make that much difference then? The oil and filter were changed on Saturday not sure what type of filter it was sorry.

Its fairly strange it does it at random times but mainly when i'm stopping it happened 3 times this morning on my way to work once twice at islands and once at a gate. then was fine the rest of the way.

Could the switch have been damaged when kwik fit changed the filter? it was fine before it went in!

 

[toddy2105]

Its really strange i put a tiny bit of oil in it when the enginge was warm just to make sure its properly topped up it was hardly any oil at all.

I havent had the warning light come on now since. Could this mean its a intermitant fault with the oil switch or do i need to make sure the oil is always topped up to the very maximum.

 

[Deckchair5]

As it's obviously in need of more oil than you've been putting in, don't want to sound patronising but are you using the correct mark as maximum or any chance it could be the wrong dipstick?

 

[Andymacselespeed]

Since I topped mine up last week, so it now sits just above the max mark, it hasn't popped up again.

However, that said I did get at various times since saturday the following warnings

1. Collant temperature warning,
2. Coolant temperature sensor fault,
3. Rain Sensor failure,
4. Automatic light sensor failure, and
5 Rear right brake light failure.


Of all of these, the only one that is true is the rear brake light being out. The rest went away on a restart.

[/Rose tinted glasses put on/] I so much prefered my old 1985 Ford Orion Ghia i. You knew something had gone wrong when metal fell off the car, other than that it just worked without complaint. Arggh! [/ Rose tinted glasses removed./]

 

[Deckchair5]

Those aren't false warnings, it can't make them up, the feedback voltage is wrong and it tells you so, what it can't tell you is exactly what is wrong, only where it's spotted a problem. Where so many warnings fire up and then disappear on 2nd start then the problem is obviously voltage on initial start which puts the biggest load on the electrics

Today's cars have probably 1000x times more electronics than 80's cars (you'd be lucky to get central locking and electric windows in the 80's) so as the connections deteriorate with age as they do for ALL cars regardless of manufacturer then you need to be prepared for investigation and treatment

So you really need some test gear that will test the integrity of connections for you, that would be useful- oh that's what you have inbuilt in your car already, how good is that? That's why the warnings go off, but the test gear needs the correct voltage ie a fully charged battery and good power and earth connections all the time and there's the problem

 

[toddy2105]

Hi Deckchair5

I would assume that the full mark was nearest the top as in closet to the top of the engine rather than the bottom mark which is a few mil from the base of the dipstick. I have no idea if its the correct dipstick though. But as i mentioned i did have a oil service on Saturay so you'd like to hope a garage would know one end of the dipstick from the other.

I hardly added any oil were talking like an espresso cup full and its been fine since can that amount really make this much difference?

Your comments are much appriciated I've only had the car a week but i do love it and would hate to have to sell it because of problems.

 

[Deckchair5]

I hardly added any oil were talking like an espresso cup full and its been fine since can that amount really make this much difference?
Not usually, no. Mine has given low oil presure warning once or twice when i did a quick stop but the oil had also gotten low too. Yes the dipstick high mark is the one but i wonder if there's something up with the dipstick if it is proving to be right on the edge with your levels

Certainly don't overfill

So maybe ask someone with same engine to measure their dipstick to compare?

 

[Argonought]

.
Today's cars have probably 1000x times more electronics than 80's cars (you'd be lucky to get central locking and electric windows in the 80's) so as the connections deteriorate with age as they do for ALL cars regardless of manufacturer then you need to be prepared for investigation and treatment

:yeahthat:

I get pretty much no errors at all on my 7.5 year old JTD and I have to say fitting a really high end battery has made a massive improvement.

...but leaving aside all the complex electronics it beat 80's cars easily for reliability anyway - I mean I'm still on the original clutch, discs and exhaust for heaven sake

 

[toddy2105]

Fiat Stilo 1.8 16v Dynamic Oil Sensor Location

Hi

I'm having problems like everyone else with oil pressure low warnings. I'm going to change the Oil Sensor can anyone please help with the location of the sensor to help save a bit of time thanks

Its the 2004 version.

Thanks

 

[Davren]

Re: Fiat Stilo 1.8 16v Dynamic Oil Sensor Location

Would appear to be at the back of the engine on the 1.8. Item 4 in this diagram.

 

[toddy2105]

Here we go again! I know there are loads of posts on here about this but i felt the need to start another.

I have a Fiat Stilo 1.8 16v Dynamic. I keep getting the oil pressure low warning on the dash and the engine cuts out.

It had an oil and filter change on 2 weeks ago and i've checked the oil and the level is fine. also made sure the dipstick is correct and right size.

My problem is intermitant which is why its really frustrating it can go a couple of days and be fine and then do it 6 times in a morning, It never does it when i start the engine and the checks are all fine. The only time i get the warning is when i'm coming to a stop at a junction say its just before the car stops while slowing it cuts out. Hard cornering or speeds are not an issue which i know a lot of people say are a problem.

So my question is do i need to replace the oil sensor? I don't really want to go to a Fiat garage and be charged £400 or £500 just to hook it up to a computer and replace a part that i could buy for £30.00.

Help please.

 

[Deckchair5]

Very odd. I'd be looking for something else though. A low oil pressure warning won't turn off the engine but when the engine stalls out then you WILL get a low pressure warning so I'd be looking for something that can stop the engine when you slow down

Only shuts down when using the brakes
Difficult to see how the brake switch could do that, it does some weird stuff on selespeeds but that's only because it gets confused if it senses brake and gas being applied at the same time, even then it won't shut down the engine

To eliminate the brake switch you could pull the fuse F37, that will give you no brake lights so that's just for testing in a deserted area or you could use the handbrake to slow down when there's no on around. Going to get a few beeps but hopefully no stalling out


A bit of a long shot, but if your inertia switch earth was lost at C20 on g force of braking then the fuel pump would stop, engine stops and hey ho low oil pressure warning light. So i would rig up a constant voltage drop test from inertia switch pin 1 to a good earth. It should of course be 0v all the time but if i suddenly saw 12v there with the engine dying then that would show a loss of earth to be the cause

Does it start pretty much straight back up after dying?

 

[toddy2105]

I thought the oil pressure switch was desinged to cut off the engine when the warning came on to prevent further damage.

The oil pressure warning comes up then the engine cuts out or on ocassion it doesn't actuall cut out at all.

The car starts back up straight away every time and peforms all the checks and they all come back fine. then it will drive fine until the next junction.

Like i say its really ramdem it did it 5 times on a journey on Sunday morning i left the car parked for a couple of hours and it hasn't done it again since.

I've booked the car in to have the oil sensor replaced but it sounds like i may be wasting my time then they are going to put a guage on the engine to check the pressure but as its so intermitant not sure that will help.

 

[Deckchair5]

I thought the oil pressure switch was designed to cut off the engine when the warning came on to prevent further damage.
No, that might be very dangerous, you get a warning to stop engine but that's all. I've had low oil pressure warning a couple of times and it never stops the engine, it might be dangerous to just suddenly stop with no control as I'm sure you're experiencing but at least your brake lights are on by the sound of it

Which comes first though I wonder, the oil pressure warning or the engine already dying, close call I know. Oil pressure sensor shouldn't be expensive at all and is a simple job to replace if you can get at it but I can't see that stopping the engine on its own unless you have a short circuit there

But for it to start right up again afterwards is odd and for it only to be happening when braking means either something is earthing or open circuiting with g force or the brake light switch is affecting things

Could try off road and disconnecting brake switch circuit by pulling fuse F37 and see if that is electrically intefering when braking

A loss of earth on the ECU would kill the engine too but you'd get a "lost connection" warning.

I assume you haven't got cruise control?

 

[A3jeroen]

Just a wild guess:
If braking is the key here, couldn't it mean that the brakebooster is sucking too much vacuum?

gr J

 

[toddy2105]

Update

Took my car in to a garage today to get the oil pressure switch changed.

When they checked the car the oil level was aparently to high so they drained off 1 litre and took the car for a drive, when they checked the oil when they got back it was just above the minimum mark so they put the litre back in and it was still low. It then took another litre and a half to get the level back up to the full mark.

The checked the oil switch and that was fine as was the oil filter.

So the garage put it down to the fact that the oil was low.

I've checked the oil every day since the problem started and it always reads slightly above the full mark as it did when the garage checked it first.

I find this a bit strange i still havent had the warning since Sunday how could the oil be reading full on the dipstick when it was low?

Any ideas im at a loss

Im especially concerned about how i will know if the oil level is correct if the dipstick can not be trusted.

 

[Deckchair5]

You have some bizarre stuff happening there. The level shifting by 2 1/2 litres is massive so something is holding the oil up and preventing oil flow and there's not much in the way apart from that new oil filter. I'd change that straightaway. They're cheap and easy to change and some are cheap and nasty.

But for the oil level to drop so much to cause oil starvation then I would think there would need to be a resistance in the oil return system to hold up the oil returning to the sump.


1.8 engines have a variator in the oil circulation system, maybe somehow your variator solenoid is sticking and preventing oil flow

The checked the oil switch and that was fine as was the oil filter.
How did they do that? Unless they plumbed and T'eed in an external oil pressure gauge into your engine then there's no way of knowing that they are fine by just looking at them