Hi!
I was just about to write the same.
I have been in exactly the same situation, but my engine could still be restarted but not started the next day, I removed the battery (public parking lot) and carried it up to my first floor apartment and connected my home charger to it, the next day the engine could be started but when I gave the slightest gas, the battery light lit up and there was no power steering.
I got a really good offer from AutoDoc, approx. 750dkr ~ 85GBp, but their inventory management had obviously made a mistake, what should have been a refurbished alternator turned out to be a brand new original Denso / Marelli 105A Made in Italy in an unoriginal box.
I still use the Varta battery that was in the car when I bought it in October '17 I do not know how old it is, but the car starts the first time even if it has been parked 1.5 weeks and it is -5C outside.
BRs. Kjeld.

Starting and charging paths should be considered as a whole, ANY bad connection/cable WILL end-up with issues. It is not as simple as "install a new battery ans you're good to go" or "replace the alternator and you're good to go" ! You definitely HAVE TO find where the issue is ...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

You're right Bernie, hence my use of a home charger (Hint, hint!), I had already checked all the connections when I changed the clutch last year (it's much easier when the gearbox and battery are out of the way).
BRs. Kjeld.

kjeldio said:

Hi!
I was just about to write the same... I removed the battery (public parking lot) and carried it up to my first floor apartment and connected my home charger to it, the next day the engine could be started but when I gave the slightest gas, the battery light lit up and there was no power steering.

BRs. Kjeld.

Click to expand...

Battery light @ dashboard is the obvious indication of a charging issue. I wish you had inspected the dead alternator; you'd probably found the brushes were seized or worn, not allowing a good contact with the inducting coil's collect rings: no (less) induction = no (less) power output = battery not/dis charging.

What do you thing they do when refurbishing alternators ? New regulator/brush holder, new bearings, rings cleaning (machining), that's all !!

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

No Bernie, I still got it, it is in my dad's garage, I actually tried to change the regulator while I was lying under the car, but I gave up, there was not much room and one of the screws had grown tight and was very soft so even a whole new bit under pressure resulted in a tapered hole and there was no room for any of the drills I had access to, but it didn't matter much because the light metal casing was cracked in several places (standard error!) and I had got the new one in the same delivery, (I could have returned it if the operation had succeeded). So I have a spare regulator, but we have two other Puntos in the familly, you never know.
BRs. Kjeld

Thanks for all the input guys, I've ruled out the battery by hoping for the best and buying a brand new one. Car ran like a dream for an hour, pulled up on my street, power steering went, abs light came on and wouldn't start. :'( so either alternator or cable problem I guess. I found a friend who has a full diagnostic kit so hopefully that will work? I'm in Leicester btw

I have been lucky in a way that my car failed to start both times once I actually got it home

BTW I never had battery light on the dash only abs, power steering in that order. If I can start it in the morning I'll take it Halfords

Diagnostic kit found no fault codes. Can't start the car long enough to get it to Halfords all multimeter readings seem normal. Cleaning grounds next

Have you taken the battery off to charge it?..These cars do respond to generic fault code readers but prefer Fiat stuff.

No but I have replaced the entire battery. Right now the battery is drained and I'm pretty sure that if I charged it the car would start and run fine for couple hours before draining again as that's what happened with the brand new one.

The car will jump start then lose power after 10mins.

First three earth's have been checked. The two behind the battery and one near the clutch before aborting mission after realising the clutch now needs bleeding....those three earth's fine.

Wondering whether to risk throwing cash at new alternator

Personally id charge the battery and then go straight to Halford's for the free battery/alternator test.
Im 99%confident that if your car wont start afterwards that they will have a jump pack or similar.
Have/are you following the guide on here re. checking earths etc?...

Stace777 said:

First three earth's have been checked. The two behind the battery and one near the clutch before aborting mission after realising the clutch now needs bleeding....those three earth's fine.

Click to expand...

You really need to check the ground connection AT the gearbox (almost hidden under the battery, as shown on the pictures ...


BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

Stace777 said:

First three earth's have been checked. The two behind the battery and one near the clutch before aborting mission after realising the clutch now needs bleeding....those three earth's fine.

Click to expand...

You really need to check the ground connection AT the gearbox (almost hidden under the battery, as shown on the pictures ... Curious to get the Halford's test results.


BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

Did you see the earth on the front (passenger side) chassis leg, underneath the battery and washer fluid bottle? If you followed this guide, I guess you did. But that was where my earth problem was. One part of the lead goes from the battery to the chassis leg, and then the second part from the chassis leg to the gearbox (sounds like you checked the gearbox end already). My cable looked OK from the outside but had almost completely snapped inside, once I took off the black plastic shrinkwrap covering the crimped connections up

You can run a jump lead from the negative battery terminal to somewhere metallic on the gearbox/engine to quickly identify a ground problem.

nikrox said:

Personally id charge the battery and then go straight to Halford's for the free battery/alternator test.
Im 99%confident that if your car wont start afterwards that they will have a jump pack or similar.
Have/are you following the guide on here re. checking earths etc?...

Click to expand...

Managed to get hold of a battery charger today in hopes of me starting the car tomorrow to take to Halfords. Strange thing is the battery charger has been showing 'charged' from the start... *sigh*

And yes that was the guide I was following

Bernievarian said:

You really need to check the ground connection AT the gearbox (almost hidden under the battery, as shown on the pictures ... Curious to get the Halford's test results.


BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

Click to expand...

OK thanks

Edit: is this the same one as clutch? If so it's already been checked

oldmanhouse said:

Did you see the earth on the front (passenger side) chassis leg, underneath the battery and washer fluid bottle? If you followed this guide, I guess you did. But that was where my earth problem was. One part of the lead goes from the battery to the chassis leg, and then the second part from the chassis leg to the gearbox (sounds like you checked the gearbox end already). My cable looked OK from the outside but had almost completely snapped inside, once I took off the black plastic shrinkwrap covering the crimped connections up

You can run a jump lead from the negative battery terminal to somewhere metallic on the gearbox/engine to quickly identify a ground problem.

Click to expand...

That's the only one not checked so far. It's heavy rain at the moment but will get done

Did an alternator test by taking the positive off the battery while running. Car stopped running. So I guess its the alternator. All grounds fine, fuses fine.

New warning light on dash today. Dreaded engine light saying there is a fault in Dcoil. Could this be related to the alt/battery problem or is this a whole new additional problem. Buying alternator today.


This is the video I tested alternator with
[ame]https://youtu.be/g2JfpiAeAu8[/ame]

TBH I have always thought that a car would run without an alternator running,not for long mind as its the alternator charging the battery.
So if the battery is fully charged the car should run...Happy to be wrong tho..