Hi

Just recently have noticed that the lights are very faded by the heating controls and across dash, as soon as i tap the dash by the heating controls they come on, is this easy to fix???

new bulbs behind the centre console cost about 1.68 each and there two of them....unfortunately my fiat dealer charged me 120 pounds labour to replace two lightbulbs in what i know to be a 20 minute job

do a search for a thread started by me something along the lines of A/C unit bulbs blown and there is the halfords spec for the bulbs and the best way to do it TAKE EXTRA CARE AROUND THE OEM CAGE IT IS VERY SHARP

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/210714-help-c-unit-lights.html

Not to sure if blown, think they may be loose as when I hit the dash it lights up.

Also is there a way to take off panels easy and gain access, don't really want to try taking the radio out, would rather change myself than being charged stupid money by fiat.

panels dont come offf...
what yo u need is the fancy key which goes into either side of the radio which pulls out...then you need to unscrew the cradle the radio sits in, take that out...then undo some other screws underneath and then the air unit should pop inwards....twist it and remove it being careful not to damamge the wires in the back of the unit...

when i removed it it seemed like a sealed unit so no idea how you go aboutgetting inside one....but the daylight robbers at the fiat garage know how

Sounds like the robbers at fiat could be getting my business

yeh looks like it :-/

You don't need to take the ac unit out if u get the cage out you can get round the back u will notice a lot of wires there will be 2 wires together goin into the back there is 2 sets of these if I remember right one of the wires is purple pull on the wires carefully and the bulb holder should pop out. It's up to u if u want to just change the bulbs but if u have a multimetre you can test the bulb then decide. If u don't no what to do with the multimetre just ask on my phone ATM so can't go into too much detail

Can I not unscrew panels either side of the console, then remove the front of the panel by the hot/cold air dials.

It is an 08 reg dynamic sport.

The only way I found to get to the bulb was from the back the radio is really easy to remove it helps if u have keys for it u can get these from halfords u can do it with a metal hanger bent into position the cage is torx screws there's 4 of them I think remember the ones in the top

Its not that hard, iv done this to spray my surrounds, IIRC you take radio out, then cage, then the heater control unit, the front is held on by clips, which you pop out with a flathead screwdriver, then the front comes off, then you can access the bulbs from there, they are a push fitment, easy swap, job done