Technical Punto sporting 2000 model mk2 - help with power steering, baffled

[Raz holden]

Hi all

Ive got the dreaded problem with the power steering failing on my mk2 punto sporting (steering light comes on as soon as engine is turned over)

took it to fiat to have the power steering ecu read and they turned round and said that my motor, ecu and tourque sensors were all dead. Although this was strange as id just fitted a brand new motor to try and solve the problem. After questioning the mechanic there he said the tourque sensors would cause all 3 components to fail and that the only way to fix was £600 to replace the whole steering column.

so i went away and baught a steering column from ebay (came from a 2006 model) which the seller assures me is in full working order.

spent all night fitting it and hey presto ive still got the exact same problem, the steering light comes on as soon as the engine starts. Ive tried my original ECU in place of the new one just in case it wasnt compatable but still no luck

the mechanic at fiat assured me that the VSS wiring mod wasnt applicable

Has anyone got any ideas? very frustrated with this and already spent like £160 only to still be at square 1

Cheers

Raz

 

[Raz holden]

can no-one help on this?

 

[Raz holden]

Evidently not then

 

[Mdeko]

Give it chance, people will only reply if they have something to add. Someone will be along with help who knows what they are talking about.

. . . For now i will add my two peneth. . . .

When a new colum is fitted it needs to be calibrated by fiat else it dosent know where the center is. If you fitted it correctly and it was definately a working full coloumn then that will probabily be your problem, it needs calibration.

However i dont know if they mk2b steering columns are compatable with the mk2, the ones ive seen have an extra wire on the mk2b one, have no clue what its for.

 

[Raz holden]

Give it chance, people will only reply if they have something to add. Someone will be along with help who knows what they are talking about.

. . . For now i will add my two peneth. . . .

When a new colum is fitted it needs to be calibrated by fiat else it dosent know where the center is. If you fitted it correctly and it was definately a working full coloumn then that will probabily be your problem, it needs calibration.

However i dont know if they mk2b steering columns are compatable with the mk2, the ones ive seen have an extra wire on the mk2b one, have no clue what its for.

Hi,

thanks for the reply.

could you be more specific with the extra wire bit? i didnt notice any difference on comparing the two

also, if the steering is not calibrated would this still cause the steering light to come on?

my thoughts are that it may be the battery or alternator not giving high enough voltage

 

[Mdeko]

A dud alternator will give the steering warning light as it is run off the alternator output, Check the battery and alternator by connecting up a multimeter to the battery probes, the voltage with the engine off should be very close to 12v, and with the engine running it should be around 14v. Or failing that go to kwikfit or similar and get a free battery test done and ask them to show you the values they get.

The extra wire on the mk2b motor was pink, See below taken from another forum:

1999 to 2002 motor and ecu has 5 wires connecting. 2003 has 6. 2004 onwards is also different. The actual design is the same, so it will fit but you can't connect a 99-02 motor to a 2003 ecu and vice versa.

Yeh the light will come on if its not calibrated as it dosent know where the center is, so in extremes it thinks its been turned past where the maximum point is (i.e. full lock) when in fact the wheel is cenetered.

 

[Raz holden]

A dud alternator will give the steering warning light as it is run off the alternator output, Check the battery and alternator by connecting up a multimeter to the battery probes, the voltage with the engine off should be very close to 12v, and with the engine running it should be around 14v. Or failing that go to kwikfit or similar and get a free battery test done and ask them to show you the values they get.

The extra wire on the mk2b motor was pink, See below taken from another forum:


Yeh the light will come on if its not calibrated as it dosent know where the center is, so in extremes it thinks its been turned past where the maximum point is (i.e. full lock) when in fact the wheel is cenetered.

Hi mdeko,

Thanks again for the reply.

had the alternator and battery tested today, both checked out fine with the battery producing 12v and the alternator producing more (14v or something along those lines)

both passed the test at quick fit anyway, so hopefully we can eliminate these


My thoughts were, if there being a difference in ECU and motor on the later models, could i just put my old ECU and motor back in but leaving the new steering column in? (hence leaving the new tourque sensors in)

the symptons i had before it finally went were the steering randomly not working when i first started the car, happening more and more frequently. Used to be a case of turn the engine off and back on to fix it but about 6 months ago it died for about 3 weeks but then came back to life and was fine up untill about a month ago

i was under the impression that when motors died they just died and that was it, and apparently the ECU's arent a common thing to fail?

 

[Mdeko]

The normal thing that fails is the torque sensors. . . then the motors but they are less common and only usually go if they have had a hard life (i.e. alot of parking at low speeds, and alot of driving with city on).

Im unsure whether swapping over the ecu''s and motors will work, but i suppose its worth a try?. . . bear in mind it may be a calibration issue though as already said. You dont really know until you get fiat to check it.

 

[Raz holden]

The normal thing that fails is the torque sensors. . . then the motors but they are less common and only usually go if they have had a hard life (i.e. alot of parking at low speeds, and alot of driving with city on).

Im unsure whether swapping over the ecu''s and motors will work, but i suppose its worth a try?. . . bear in mind it may be a calibration issue though as already said. You dont really know until you get fiat to check it.

Hi mdeko,

Thanks once again for the reply

bit of a pain in the ass having to keep going back to fiat, but unfortunatly sounds neccessary as they appear to hold the monopoly on this electric steering malarke

read in a few other topics that power steering failing is quite a serious issue, and that sometimes it can randomly lock up

makes me wonder why fiat didnt do a recall on this seen as its such a largescale and apparently dangerous problem?

 

[Mdeko]

Its very rare it will lock up, It is dangerious though when you turn the wheel expecting it to be normal weight and itsnot, its really hard to turn, nearly caused many people to have accidents.

It needs to go on examiner to be calibrated, only a fiat dealer can do that.

Fiat wont accept responsibility for the faulty/weak part in the steering coloumns. They do replace them under warranty if they go faulty, and there was someone in the new panda section who got fiat to replace the coloumn when thier car was out of warranty but thats the only case ive read about where they did that.

 

[dundee2k7]

Its very rare it will lock up, It is dangerious though when you turn the wheel expecting it to be normal weight and itsnot, its really hard to turn, nearly caused many people to have accidents.

Hi there,

I have a punto sporting and have a huge issue with the steering locking up, everytime i go over rough roads or pot holes and yes it is very dangerous, i have nearly crashed a few times due to that. Whenever the steering locks i need to pull over and restart the car again, which as you can imagine can be very frustrating!!

Do you have any ideas of what the issue can be or how to get it fixed with as little money as possible?

 

[Raz holden]

Its very rare it will lock up, It is dangerious though when you turn the wheel expecting it to be normal weight and itsnot, its really hard to turn, nearly caused many people to have accidents.

Hi there,

I have a punto sporting and have a huge issue with the steering locking up, everytime i go over rough roads or pot holes and yes it is very dangerous, i have nearly crashed a few times due to that. Whenever the steering locks i need to pull over and restart the car again, which as you can imagine can be very frustrating!!

Do you have any ideas of what the issue can be or how to get it fixed with as little money as possible?

get rid of the car sounds the cheapest option pal, its what im planning on doing anyway, fed up of cheap parts falling to bits like the wiper mechanism, gearbox, steering column etc

 

[Mdeko]

Is it actually locking up or just going stiff?

When the motor fails it has no assistance, it should still turn but with more effort on your part. As i say its very very rare it locks up completely.

 

[Raz holden]

Is it actually locking up or just going stiff?

When the motor fails it has no assistance, it should still turn but with more effort on your part. As i say its very very rare it locks up completely.

Not sure who that post is to but in my case the wheel is just stiff i.e no assistance from the motor, i may try and test a few points to ensure its deffo getting power

 

[Mdeko]

Sorry my previous post was directed at dundee2k7,

 

[dundee2k7]

Is it actually locking up or just going stiff?

When the motor fails it has no assistance, it should still turn but with more effort on your part. As i say its very very rare it locks up completely

.

It goes stiff, you can still move it but is very hard to do so. Do you think this is just a charcaristic of the car or an issue that needs attention?

 

[Mdeko]

Its an issue that needs attention but it is driveable until you get it fixed. There is a stickied thread in the forum all about the powersteering issues on puntos, its a very common problem with the first lot of mk2's, less common on the newer ones but that may just be because they are newer

 

[dundee2k7]

Do you have a link for it can't seem to find it anywhere?

 

[Mdeko]

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-guides/70703-punto-steering-column.html