OK, so I have posted at the bottom of another thread, but I havea couple of niggles with my GP that have been going on for a while (they are just niggles, but can get REALLY annoying sometimes lol) so I'm hoping some of you good guys here can help me out. So the problems 'niggles' I'm having are as follows:

1: AirBag light is always on. seems to be since I changed to an aftermarket head unit and installed amp and sub (6x9's there also but not installed cos the parcel shelf has a metal bar running through, so not so easy to cut :|).When I installed the ICE I used a scotch clip to the 'cigar lighter' under the gear stick gator for power source.

2: Around the same kind of time, i have had problems with the car starting. Its starts Id say about 90% of the time, but every now and then it just doesnt. the dash will illuminate, and the head unit turns on etc, but literally no noise whatsoever coming from the car, sometimes I leave for a while and retry and all is fine, other times I use the wifes car, and jump it, usually does the trick lol

lastly, the 1 already mentioned on another thread, is my fan blower, went out this morning, to warm car up before loading kids for a school run, the car heated up, but the windows misted up like crazy with the car fully loaded, tried turning the fan on to demist, and seemed they werent blowing anything. however the car was warmed up, so must have still been producing heat.

I have since gave a bang on the trim in passenger footwell (literally, banged the plastic) turned the car back on, tried fan heater, and is working now, but only on setting 1/2/3. nothing at all when switched to setting 4.

Im sure these are all going to be a straight forward fix (im no mechanic, but am good at following instruction) and as I said earlier, they are all just niggles as each problem has a way around it lol

1) and 2) sounds like you have an electrical problem somewhere. Check here first

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/318839-electrical-gremlin-thread.html

3) Check the fan resistor/cables, could be the fan too.

Awesome dude, cheers for that. Will definitely need to check the Ground connections before anything else, Sounds like it could be that ...

I will also get my head right in the passenger footwell and see whats going on, im kinda hoping its just the resistor (although will change the loom at same time anyway)...

another annoying situation i have with it is the Aerial, when i got the car (from my mum) the aerial had been completely snapped off, now on the roof of my car i just have an exposed 'circuit board', it will tune SOME stations on a nice sunny day (I live in scotland, so not many of those) but even then is a bit crackly, my question with this 1 is, how easy/expensive would it be to remove the old aerial fittings and just install a new aerial?? possibly a shark fin if I can...

Also (beginnning to feel like the list of problems just goes on forever now :| lol) the rear passenger door wont open from the outside, only the inside. isnt too much of a problem on the whole, as most of the time I am in the car myself, or 1-2 passengers, but when picking people up the automatically will go to jump in the passenger side at the back and I have to lean over to let them in lol, they tend to look at me like Im driving a Ford KA or something (such disgust!! lol)...

Shame im having so many problems really, cos I love the car, and want to do some minor mods, but until I get all these little basics fixed and out the way, I dare not consider spending on ANY kind of mods lol

About the aerial, you have to remove both rear plastic trims and then you have only two ''tree'' style plastic clips holding the roof lining. Remove them and then you can remove the aerial.

About the rear passenger door, I think this is a classic and you have to replace the handle

see here
https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-pu...o-replacement-external-rear-door-handles.html

as in the plastic trims behind passenger side windows?? I assume once i get the lining off the roof will be straight forward from there??

as for the passenger door, I will just need to cope with dodgy looks I think, as my handles are colour coded with the car, so finding an exact match will be too much of a task lol...

thanks a lot for the help mate, really appreciated!!

Im just wondering, regards my 'electrical fault' I seem to be having. Something I have overlooked, I changed my interior light to a LED bulb, just a cheap job from Ebay (both in front and in the boot), but is brighter than the horrible dull bulb that was already in...

Im now wondering could this cause the problem?? I know using LED headlight bulbs etc can cause problems cos of the CANbus used in GP's, would this be the same for the interior light perhaps??

cant get out to the car tonight, but will go out tommorow and swap both bulbs back out with the horrible original 1's that were in, and see if it has any effect lol. I forgot to mention this earlier as it slipped my mind completely until just now, but the bulb was done around the same time I installed my ICE, so around the same time I started getting the error...

Yup that one. ( C pillar )

There are two screws on each trim. Be careful with the clips. Start from the rear(boot) to front(window side)


hmm I don't think this led can cause that kind of a problem.

Just thought I'd post a wee update...

Basically, having checked the ground points and cleaned them up im still having the same 'starting' issues, only now it seems to be worse, in that its pretty much not starting most days at all, my mechanic has said he thinks it could be the immobiliser (what it actually is is a massive sore head for me right now lol...)

I have since spoken with a couple auto electricians who have said they dont think its the immobiliser as the 'immo light' on the dash is going off after a second or 2 when I do try starting the car. I will need to take it into an auto electrician for diagnostics as I seem to be struggling to find a mobile 1 near me, trouble is, my car wont start, and now it wont start off a jump either :S

not sure why its stopped taking a jump start, cos it did a few weeks ago, but went away to my mechanic to check the earth points etc, came back, and not taking a jump :| :|

After the car not starting at all for the past 3 days now I booked a guy to come out today, solved the problem in minutes...

The is a small square plastic washer type thing on the 1st earth point (just below battery to the left) seemed to be stopping a good earth, guy has removed that and put the earth back on, problem seems to be fixed, time will tell though lol...

Just to update my old thread... the plastic washer was not the source of this problem lol...


It was much simpler, a faulty starter motor!! After 6 months with this problem took it back to the place that done my starter, and they replaced it free of charge (after I explained I have been through everything else I thought it could be and had 2 mechanics separately try to diagnose it lol)

Since they replaced it, starts 1st time every time with no problems, obviously a faulty starter fitter 1st time around lol

*****wrong thread, apologies*****



OK so have just had a quick scout on 'the bay' for a replacement steering column, the price differences can be substantial, so if it is this part I need, can people please give opinion...

I can get a 'used' steering column for around 100 notes (give or take) but that would obviously have no warranty, and I would perhaps worry that it would be just as liable to fall victim of the same fault??

OR

I can get a reconditioned unit (and return my broken 1 to the seller) for a little over 200 (about 230 seems average) but these also apparently come with a lifetime guarantee. ..

I am a believer in the old saying, buy cheap, buy twice. But at the same time I am Scottish so I have deep pockets with short arms!!
Personally, I am inclined to spend the extra for the recon version with a lifetime warranty, but would like opinions...

Oh and apparently the recon units are all calibrated and ready to install etc...