Hi my daughter has just bought a Punto Grande Eleganza 2008 1.4 semi-auto. We have a few problems I hope to help her clear up with it;
1, the horn doesn't work - tried the fuse with no luck - what to try next?
2, the report on the dash says the hill holder doesn't work checked handbook no help there, not sure where to go with that?
3, power steering says it needs checking but as its electronic (I have been told on here) I expect that's a garage job?
4, Airbag light on, it does have 2 dents on the sides but I think someone may have been trying to mend the horn and have dislodged the airbag?
5, dash display says eps unavailable, if I'm right its some sort of traction control?
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

EPS: Electric Power Steering ... not traction related
No brake and/or warning triangle lit on the dash ?

Regards, Bernie

Dragonlady1971 said:

Hi my daughter has just bought a Punto Grande Eleganza 2008 1.4 semi-auto. We have a few problems I hope to help her clear up with it;
1, the horn doesn't work - tried the fuse with no luck - what to try next?
2, the report on the dash says the hill holder doesn't work checked handbook no help there, not sure where to go with that?
3, power steering says it needs checking but as its electronic (I have been told on here) I expect that's a garage job?
4, Airbag light on, it does have 2 dents on the sides but I think someone may have been trying to mend the horn and have dislodged the airbag?
5, dash display says eps unavailable, if I'm right its some sort of traction control?
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Click to expand...

Hi, I've just changed a power steering unit on a 06 grande punto. Works fine now I have no horn and airbag failure message! I'm looking for any suggestions too if anyone can help us both ��

Dragonlady1971 said:

Hi my daughter has just bought a Punto Grande Eleganza 2008 1.4 semi-auto. We have a few problems I hope to help her clear up with it;
1, the horn doesn't work - tried the fuse with no luck - what to try next?
2, the report on the dash says the hill holder doesn't work checked handbook no help there, not sure where to go with that?
3, power steering says it needs checking but as its electronic (I have been told on here) I expect that's a garage job?
4, Airbag light on, it does have 2 dents on the sides but I think someone may have been trying to mend the horn and have dislodged the airbag?
5, dash display says eps unavailable, if I'm right its some sort of traction control?
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Click to expand...

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/318839-electrical-gremlin-thread.html;)

Dino 249 said:

Hi, I've just changed a power steering unit on a 06 grande punto. Works fine now I have no horn and airbag failure message! I'm looking for any suggestions too if anyone can help us both ��

Click to expand...

what wiring did you disturb.. ??

varesecrazy said:

what wiring did you disturb.. ??

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Hi, none I can think of. Used a method off here without taking off the airbag or wheel. Only wires touched were the connectors on the steering unit. I've did just see in an old thread about a connector under the seat. I had this on an old mk2 punto. Wiggle the wire and the horn works sometimes! Maybe pushing the seat right back might off done something?
Any ideas. Some people are saying clockspring!
Thanks

With regard to the eps, she has a red steering wheel symbol lit on the dash which i assume is for that; the text that comes up on the screen says 'eps unavailable, check power steering, see handbook'. The only other warning light she has on is a yellow triangle inside an arrow that goes around it in a circle shape.

@ Dragonlady: did you checked the fuses ? In my user's manual, F24 from the motor bay fusebox is the one for the EPS control unit. Looking the box from front of car in the upper right side of the box you'll find 3x 5 Amps fuses, F24 is the lowest one.

Best regards, Bernie.

With regard to the eps, she has a red steering wheel symbol lit on the dash which i assume is for that

Click to expand...

The handbook describes the red steering wheel as indicating an Electric Power Steering Failure. Does the power steering work?

The only other warning light she has on is a yellow triangle inside an arrow that goes around it in a circle shape.

Click to expand...

That one is for the ESP System Fault.

Are the horn, airbag and hill holder faults still there too or did you resolve them?

I did a quick search and found the threads below (amongst others) that suggest an array of faults like this can sometimes be due to a common electrical cause - weak battery, poor earth connection, faulty alternator are all mentioned. As a minimum it might be worth checking the battery voltage and state of the earth cables as this won't cost anything. Not sure how you go about testing the alternator.

Electrical Gremlin Thread

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/291121-another-esp-asr-hill-holder-fault.html

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/426611-problems-after-changing-battery.html

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/433577-all-kinds-warning-lights.html

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/432038-new-alternator.html

PuntoR60SX gave you the threads that probably contains the solution to your problem(s)

To make a long story short, this problem most probably comes from a bad SENSED voltage: 14.5V @ the battery with engine running doesn't mean that the ECU sees the same voltage so it may decide to switch off some "accessories" to prevent further discharge and/or malfunction of engine/car.

The main problem is to find WHY the voltage is not correctly sensed, assuming the actual voltage is ok of course !

A bit of theory ??

Each battery cell is typically @ 2.1V potential, a six pack (of cells, not Belgian beer ;-) in series is therefore typically 12.6V.
In order to activate the chemical reaction that charges the battery, one need to apply a slightly over-voltage to it, so the alternator provide ca 14.5V.
Those voltages can be easily measured at the battery terminals, engine stopped and engine running, assuming the battery earthing is correct (cables to engine...)
The ECU (Electronic Control Unit) checks the voltage directly on the alternator at port D+, which is internally connected to the positive inductor ring; so if for some reason the voltage there isn't as expected (bad/resistive/corroded connection on D+ port) the ECU will go in "safe power" mode...

Hope this clears up a bit your ideas, cheers, Bernie