Hi there. This is my Stiletto (as named by my five year old niece).
I bought Stiletto from a fellow forum member with the intention of doing a minor cosmetic restoration and a few shows but I hit a pothole. The car was fine until I restarted the engine.
No Power Steering.
ESP failure.
ASR failure.
Power Steering failure.
My OBD code reader could not find any fault. I fitted new earth straps, nope. New battery, nope. Went somewhere that had a better code reader...
C1117 steering angle sensor.
...now with older cars the steering angle sensor is the little plastic doughnut that sits behind the wheel. With the Stilo it's integrated with the control module that sits under the power steering motor.
I went to every parts supplier I know and got the usual...
"Oh your car's over ten years old. Good luck PEASANT!"
...responses.
Contacted TRW the company that made the module in the first place. Nope. No longer suppled and can not be made to order.
As a last ditch effort I called my local Fiat dealership.
Are you sitting comfortably.
£1,793.93 +VAT and £500 minimum to fit it.
Next I found a 39,000 mile Stilo Abarth for £1,000 with no MOT. Price dropped to £700 so I bought it. Thinking that this one would fail the MOT get me through a charity track day and be a parts donor the daft thing passed with advisories for a sticky rear caliper and tyre. I replaced the rear calipers, fitted EBC yellow stuff pads, drilled and grooved discs and a set of Zestino tyres...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/frankhall/albums/72177720297598466
While I'm looking into alternatives for the GP the Abarth has taken over daily driver duties including a nine hour run to Birmingham and back to collect a gearbox for Randy Pobst.
If Stiletto sells first I'll use the money to help the Abarth handle better, if the Abarth sells I'll use the money to repair the GP
Before the pothole the GP was one of the best all round cars I have ever owned. The Abarth did pretty well on track considering, held up and kept up with some serious machinery as well as gerting me there and back without fault.
I would rather not sell either but I no longer have driveway space to justify owning two cars.