mygrande said:

hi. i have a 2006 grande punto. it seems like i have the same problem as others and need a recall for the steering. however, i rang fiat and they said my car was recalled in june 2008 and when i told her its the same problem again she mumbled and gave an unclear answer that i have to pay to fix it. but the problem shouldnt be back should it?
anyways, how it started was......
a few months ago i was driving ( cant remember how fast ) the engine rev went very high probably to around 60-70 mph without any other defects , just the gage went up and thats all. then after a few weeks i was reversing out the carpark then the wheel went funny ( grinding ) and then it locked and the lights came on. so i turned it off and on a a few times till it went. but it only happens whenever i turn the wheel, not in straight forward driving or in speed. it only happens when i turn the wheel when stood still or when in very low speed like 1st gear. so i drove home. it went away for over a month then it came back. now i was quoted around £1000 to fix it!
what do you think? could it be the same fault? i read somewhere it could be the speed tourq sensor that could cause the steering lock and go hard.
oh and this morning i realised the digital dash was reset??? the battery is new, its a good quality bosch i bought a few months ago.
the garage said the battery was a little low and they regarged it?


can anyone help please?

thanks.

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power steering guru said:

Hi

Just thought I would give all of you GP owners with questions about the power steering system the benefit of my experience.
I run a power steering remanufacturing company, we have been repairing the EPS system on old style mk2/3 puntos for many years, as they have a long history of power steering failure.
Up to about 12 months ago we had only a few GP's with EPS failure , but in the last 12 months we have been doing more and more, currently 10-15 a week.

The system used on the GP is a Delphi system, it is a modular system that is very similar to the one used on 500's , Panda's ,Vauxhall Meriva, to name but a few.

90% of the failures are due to the torque position sensor ,usually leading to a groan or vibration when steering and also the steering going light on one lock and heavy on the other and even if the unit is re-calibrated it does not cure the fault.It looks as though the sensors have about a 5 year life span although this is dependant on the type of use the vehicle gets.

The sensor is inbuilt into the centre of the EPS unit and can only be changed when the column is stripped down and is one of the components that we have to renew when we rebuild the column, the torque position sensor then has to be calibrated to the steering ECU so that you get equal assistance on both left and right lock and also knows where the centre point of the steering is.

The motor and ecu are all part of the EPS unit on GP's rather than the individual components that were used on mk2/3 punto's and do not fail very often on GP's, although we have seen a few.

We do supply reconditioned columns for the GP and also fit them in the workshop and if you need any advice on EPS problems we are always happy to help.

Gary
www.westernpowersteering.co.uk
0117-9602906

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kramer81 said:

I had my steering column replaced 2 and half years ago under warranty and now the steering is "clunking" pretty badly. Presumably I won't have any redress if it turns out to be the steering column again but it's pretty poor if it is knackered already.

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kramer81 said:

It turned out just to be the top strut mounts needing replaced. This is what I thought it was initially until an ex-mechanic friend was 99.9% certain it was the steering column!

Is £170 reasonable for the top strut mounts replaced at a (non-dealer) garage? Seemed a little steep to me.

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willp27 said:

Do you mean suspension top mounts? If so they're £22 each from fiat and around an hours labour, so for two ~ £100.

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kramer81 said:

Thanks, yeah that's mean. Charged me 26 each plus 2 hours Labour plus VAT. Garage was miles away so didn't want to go all the way back to collect it not fixed and was too busy yesterday to get another quote.

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willp27 said:

Ouch, at least it's done now though. What was wrong with the mounts? I had a creaking noise on full left lock and it turned out the hole in the metal disc of the left mount had become a nice oval shape where the strut had somehow worn it away

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