20141026_130511.jpg

Grande Punto My 130 M-JET

Introduction

Hello fellow fiat friends (ooo friend)

I picked her up a fortnight ago, still not over the new car feel. Got a few plans here and there which will inevitably snowball out of control but hey here goes. :p

When I bought the car a couple of weeks ago;

attachment.php


I reckon Jesus would drive a GPS if he had a license :devil:

attachment.php


On friday before it got dirty driving 300 miles in the rain

attachment.php


Plans include sorting the wheels, they are flaking a little and a tiny spec of corrosion on each of them. Thing is I like the shiny effect but I also think it might look pretty mean going stealth black with some abarth headlights
So my parts for the intercooler will be arriving tomorrow or tuesday, saw a good price for a bluetooth OBD dongle so bought that and should be arriving tomorrow (thanks to amazon prime trial period ;) ) so will give that a go with the torque pro app - will give a better idea of whats going on with the car and can show boost levels and fault codes etc
 
So got my little bluetooth OBD adapter plugged in today. Really cool with the torque pro app, its small enough that it sits in the OBD and the plastic panel can be put back on so can't even tell its there. Snapped one of the plastic clips when i pulled the trim off to get to the OBD port, so stubborn couldn't believe the amount of force needed to get it off. Doesnt matter though!

Anyway, had a go round the block with torque pro - very clever little application for my phone. Car peaks boost at 19.5psi (or at least thats the most i saw) not sure if thats normal or what? Hopefully less as that will indicate my suspected slight boost leak! Cars been driving well though, no fault codes - the new MAF made a big difference but i think the harder silicone boost pipes i will be getting tomorrow will make the car hold boost much better
 
So got my little bluetooth OBD adapter plugged in today. Really cool with the torque pro app, its small enough that it sits in the OBD and the plastic panel can be put back on so can't even tell its there. Snapped one of the plastic clips when i pulled the trim off to get to the OBD port, so stubborn couldn't believe the amount of force needed to get it off. Doesnt matter though!

Anyway, had a go round the block with torque pro - very clever little application for my phone. Car peaks boost at 19.5psi (or at least thats the most i saw) not sure if thats normal or what? Hopefully less as that will indicate my suspected slight boost leak! Cars been driving well though, no fault codes - the new MAF made a big difference but i think the harder silicone boost pipes i will be getting tomorrow will make the car hold boost much better

Hi mate, I have coincidentally been reading about m-jet boost pressure on the forum today (not sure why as I have a t-jet haha). It looks like peak boost for a m-jet is around 22-24 psi so I guess that could indicate a slight boost leak? Hope that helps.

I too have been thinking about getting an OBD reader to show boost etc. I'm not fussed about having a boost gauge, as it'll be nice to know I'm running the correct boost every now and then (I don't need to see it all the time); this seems to be the best way!
 
Hi mate, I have coincidentally been reading about m-jet boost pressure on the forum today (not sure why as I have a t-jet haha). It looks like peak boost for a m-jet is around 22-24 psi so I guess that could indicate a slight boost leak? Hope that helps.

I too have been thinking about getting an OBD reader to show boost etc. I'm not fussed about having a boost gauge, as it'll be nice to know I'm running the correct boost every now and then (I don't need to see it all the time); this seems to be the best way!
Yeah I have been suspecting a boost leak which gets worse when the cars up to temp so its good to see that it could be that and that my boost pressure corresponds to my suspicions. The reader I bought was this; [ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/CAN-BUS-Diagnostic-Scanner-Bluetooth-Peugeot/dp/B005Q68E0G/ref=pd_cp_ce_3[/ame]

The disc it comes with is useless and probably contains some weird virus from china but it isn't necessary so dont worry about it!

And use the torque pro app for android. The reader doesn't seem to read every sensor but for things like boost pressure, rpm, coolant temp etc etc, also does 0-60, 1/4 mile and so on so its a good little bit of kit! Also reads fault codes and you can clear them I'm pretty sure. The paid app is £3.99 which id personally recommend but there is also a free version.
 
Came back home this sunday to find my hoses, clips and new air filter had arrived. The 45 degree bend hose was 45mm instead of 48mm diameter as i had ordered so going through the returns process to sort that which is quite annoying. Old air filter was black and fluffy, new one in - not going to say i noticed a difference but car did feel a bit better but probably placebo. Also sidelight blew the other day so new bulbs both sides, went for blue philips bulbs to compliment my osram night breakers. Will get a photo in the coming days! Aside from that nothing interesting, rear driver size brake pad in need of replacement, sometimes hear it slightly touching disc when you drive so will clean the sliders etc when i do the change. How hard is a rear brake pad change on the grande?
 
So little update,

I knew when i got it the rear pads would need changing in the coming months so I did that today, discovered the driver side rear wheel bearing had given up too so replaced that. What a pain in the backside it all was.

Previous owner/mechanic hadn't replaced both sides with new pads, only one side despite them coming in a set of 4 so the wear was uneven. Also not sure the caliper had ever been wound back so managed to bend the wind back tool with some help. Got them back in and everything okay.

Word of warning, euro car parts...... Im going to rip them a new a***hole tommorow morning because the car was in bits and the kit I bought (which you enter your reg to ENSURE that the part is correct) had the wrong locking stub axle nut, it didnt fit and they were completely unhelpful about it... had no idea what i was trying to say to them and that "if its a kit it should fit, we can replace the kit at 4 o'clock" (4 hours from when i rang.. err no) and my personal favourite "well theres not much else I can do for you" anyway a trip to the local motor factors up the road and its all sorted. But a lesson definitely learnt, wont go near them in future.
 

Attachments

  • 20150210_134808.jpg
    20150210_134808.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 49
  • 20150210_134817.jpg
    20150210_134817.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 48
  • 20150210_134830.jpg
    20150210_134830.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 40
Yeah.. not good. And yeah we did, once they got moving they were okay but lots of resistance.

Really annoying that I have to pay for the last owners negligence but it goes with the territory buying a used car. New pads much better, still bedding in will look at replacing discs and pads at front in coming months when it warms up a bit just for peace of mind and an upgrade.
 
Nothing much other than EGR being mapped out at Tune4performance next week, was going to get a remap done but I want to hold off until the car has been serviced and is running 100%

Heres a picture i took last night after polishing and correcting the paint on the front end.
 

Attachments

  • finished1.jpg
    finished1.jpg
    8.8 MB · Views: 66
Only small update, feel like im fixing everything instead of being able to make some improvements.

Last week I had two new front tires as just off the legal limit and a small chunk of sidewall had decided to start a life on its own courtesy of a low curb. Then later that week my rear driver side caliper stuck on causing a small fire which resulted in new discs, pads and a recon caliper. Should have known when I replaced the pads that the thing was on its way out, it was so hard to push the piston back in.

Other than that, EGR was mapped out a couple of weeks ago, power delivery is more linear now less spike in the boost which is nice and the car doesn't stutter when its hot anymore. Just need to save to go back and get the remap done but small steps.
 
Its been a while since my last post, last week decided to tackle the other wheel bearing as I had a bit of wheel wobble and noise. Replaced and turned out to be a bent alloy wheel. As my alloys looked horrible with all the corrosion and lacquer peel i decided to replace them and ended up with these, just need some coilovers/springs now to really set them off but i'm very happy for what I paid and how they look..
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0852.JPG
    IMG_0852.JPG
    2.4 MB · Views: 44
  • IMG_0850.JPG
    IMG_0850.JPG
    1.9 MB · Views: 51
  • IMG_0847.JPG
    IMG_0847.JPG
    2.3 MB · Views: 44
  • IMG_0841.JPG
    IMG_0841.JPG
    1.7 MB · Views: 44
  • IMG_0846.JPG
    IMG_0846.JPG
    3.1 MB · Views: 56
tjscotton they look lovely, really suit the shape. Look very similar to speedline turini's too. Only do 17" though by the looks of it.
 
Back
Top