hi

as above im looking to buy a punto sporting 1.4 around 2004 year for a second car to mess with and would like some help on whats too look out for generally with this model .. not had a fiat since late 90's when i had my second uno 45 e reg and my first uno was c reg ,best cars ive ever had pound for pound . yes ive had faster more expensive stuff etc but the little fiats never let me down and i even towed a ski boat with one of em ..

cheers guys

dave ..

kawasakiinit said:

hi

as above im looking to buy a punto sporting 1.4 around 2004 year for a second car to mess with and would like some help on whats too look out for generally with this model .. not had a fiat since late 90's when i had my second uno 45 e reg and my first uno was c reg ,best cars ive ever had pound for pound . yes ive had faster more expensive stuff etc but the little fiats never let me down and i even towed a ski boat with one of em ..

cheers guys

dave ..

Click to expand...

Rot...
Chassis floor on the rear floor pan
Rot around the wheel arches

Wiper linakges - if they push down and pop apart with little pressure, there shot

Power steering is hot and miss and requires a strong battery, so lock to lock it on idle and if the warning light comes on it could battery which is cheap or expensive as its a new coloumn

Backbox hits the axle often - worn rubber mountings and bad alignment

Disco lights on rear - easy 10p fix, just gotta clean connector

Foggy front lights- plastic on front has started to degrade, but thats £20 polishing kits fix this for a few years

1.4 16v arent as common in the mk2b (1.4 not availible in mk2's), but its an interferance engine, so if cambelts not been done, itll need doing

Airbag light - on is a good chance its the passenger exclusion switch which has failed... needs a wiring modification which has suddenly sky rocketed in price, no lights = no worries

There stuff i can think off top of my head...

Obv usual every button switch and hinge
Tyres wipers lights etc

Ziggy

cheers ziggy

wow that looks a scary list

kawasakiinit said:

cheers ziggy

wow that looks a scary list

Click to expand...

Looks scary but tbh these are the common faults chassis related
If u had an 8v theyd be more hahaha

Rust is the worst one really... if its clean underneath - protect it and itll last much longer again

Ziggy

ok bud cheers

As he says!

everything what ziggy listed is fixed easily apart from rust

Ziggy122 said:

Backbox hits the axle often - worn rubber mountings and bad alignment

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Mine does this fairly often (when they're people sat in the back). Have I mis-aligned my exhaust or something? The rubber mounts look okay.

quaffle said:

Mine does this fairly often (when they're people sat in the back). Have I mis-aligned my exhaust or something? The rubber mounts look okay.

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Yea, remember the back axle swings on an axis, essentially youve got too close

However ensure the prongs arent too long either and rub in the body
I stopped mine hitting the axld to find i started hitting the body mount where bumper mounts

Ziggy

If your exhaust is correctly aligned(and it is easy to misalign it) and you still get it banging when you have rear passengers I would check rear springs and shocks as it shouldn't bang. Exhaust do move after a few miles when the new rubbers have settled in a bit.
One thing we regularly did on punto back boxes was bend the two metal bars which go through the rubbers to give more clearance from the body or axle. Only a small bend is required and this is usually only necessary when the rear exhaust box is of a cheaper make.


On the earlier quote of wiper linkages falling off there balls this is a punto problem well known but no need to buy new arms motors etc just go on ebay and buy the punto wiper clips for about £5.00 they are brilliant clip over the arms and never fail I have fitted about ten sets up to now with no come backs.

I was going to insert an image of the clips but when I click insert image it just inserts a black cross and no image. And I can't insert smiles etc just won't work.

jumpin said:

If your exhaust is correctly aligned(and it is easy to misalign it) and you still get it banging when you have rear passengers I would check rear springs and shocks as it shouldn't bang. Exhaust do move after a few miles when the new rubbers have settled in a bit.
One thing we regularly did on punto back boxes was bend the two metal bars which go through the rubbers to give more clearance from the body or axle. Only a small bend is required and this is usually only necessary when the rear exhaust box is of a cheaper make.


On the earlier quote of wiper linkages falling off there balls this is a punto problem well known but no need to buy new arms motors etc just go on ebay and buy the punto wiper clips for about £5.00 they are brilliant clip over the arms and never fail I have fitted about ten sets up to now with no come backs.

I was going to insert an image of the clips but when I click insert image it just inserts a black cross and no image. And I can't insert smiles etc just won't work.

Click to expand...

like these ? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NICKEL-FI...193732?hash=item43db3fb304:g:YocAAOSwl8NVZFCs

After having the Uno Turbo as a teenager (wish Id have kept it, worth a fortune now) Ive had the 1.2 and the HGT. Faults as above but if you get a good one, fun, reliable and economical

kawasakiinit said:

hi

as above im looking to buy a punto sporting 1.4 around 2004 year for a second car to mess with and would like some help on whats too look out for generally with this model .. not had a fiat since late 90's when i had my second uno 45 e reg and my first uno was c reg ,best cars ive ever had pound for pound . yes ive had faster more expensive stuff etc but the little fiats never let me down and i even towed a ski boat with one of em ..

cheers guys

dave ..

Click to expand...

I think the others have pretty much covered most of the things to look for.
I have 04 plate 1.2 Active Sport picked mainly for it's non interferance engine, but trim level is basically similar to sporting, it is actually pretty nippy for it's engine size.
I came across a guy with identical car to mine a few weeks back who had to double check his reg doc for engine capacity, as he thought the Performance from the car was similar to another make of car he had which had a 1.4 engine.
Only issue i've had really is the Air Bag exclusion switch issue, and since the price on the new part for the loom has now sky rocketed i just use the cheap fix..(MES and just reset the code to clear the light).
It's not really an issue, more annoying than anything really when it comes on. Seems to be a common fault on the Mk2/b (which is what an 04 plate will be)
My Mum had an Uno 45, which i drove on many occasions....think of the Punto as an Uno with a different bodyshelll since that's basically what it is

Cheers peeps am on it. The right one will come along I'm sure:+)

Scudmonkey said:

I think the others have pretty much covered most of the things to look for.
I have 04 plate 1.2 Active Sport picked mainly for it's non interferance engine, but trim level is basically similar to sporting, it is actually pretty nippy for it's engine size.
I came across a guy with identical car to mine a few weeks back who had to double check his reg doc for engine capacity, as he thought the Performance from the car was similar to another make of car he had which had a 1.4 engine.
Only issue i've had really is the Air Bag exclusion switch issue, and since the price on the new part for the loom has now sky rocketed i just use the cheap fix..(MES and just reset the code to clear the light).
It's not really an issue, more annoying than anything really when it comes on. Seems to be a common fault on the Mk2/b (which is what an 04 plate will be)
My Mum had an Uno 45, which i drove on many occasions....think of the Punto as an Uno with a different bodyshelll since that's basically what it is

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I cant see why getting a Wiring plug and pin from a scrapped car - and just cutting the earth side and putting an eyelet onto it - and esentially - you've created your own version of the loom

as you simply leave the old connection/loom in place and just zip tie it out the way

Ziggy

Ziggy122 said:

I cant see why getting a Wiring plug and pin from a scrapped car - and just cutting the earth side and putting an eyelet onto it - and esentially - you've created your own version of the loom

as you simply leave the old connection/loom in place and just zip tie it out the way

Ziggy

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TBH since the modification is basically a short length of wire from the ECU plug to an eyelet that bolts onto the heater matrix......i dont see why you cant just use a piece of wire and do that yourself. I always planned to look at doing it, just never got round to it.