Synopsis
I adopted my Punto Mk2 3 months ago and one of the first thing that drove me nuts was that I have to manually turn on and off the head unit every time. There are guides out there for that, but this one is a bit different.
In this guide i will cover a "hidden" functionality of the punto, that i discovered accidentally but it turned out to be very useful, baseline is you can turn the HU on by switching the key to ACC position but if you remove the key or turn it to OFF the HU remains on for a few minutes or shuts off when you open the door.
Sound like a great feature, right?
There are two reasons for this, one is because of the imobiliser (a window is implemented in case it loses communication with the chip inside the key) and the other one is to let the driver close the windows after removing the key.
The dirty job
The procedure to implement the live turn on for the HU is pretty straight forward ... all you have to do basically is to tap into the power windows controls.
It is recommended the battery is disconnected when meddling with the wires, just to be on the safe side.
Here is, in order, what you have to do:
- Remove the center console - there is a guide on that
- Remove the button panel
... and this is for running the wire down to the center console - Remove the head unit
- Remove the instrument cluster bezel
- Undo the screws on the instrument cluster
I ran the cable by removing the instrument cluster and pushing the wire down to the center console just underneath the vents. For doing this firs you have to remove everything mentioned in the list before.
Assuming you got the button panel out remove the two sockets from the panel, we will tap into the white socket with the thicker wires, here look there are among others 4 pairs of black and orange/black (power windows wires) and the orange/black is the positive, basically any one of these would do but i recommend following this guide entirely.
This socket has a cable retainer which has to be pried out to allow safe tapping, I don't encourage splicing here as it may affect the current carrying capacity of the wire. After the cable retainer is loose you can pull out the wire (with a plier) and wrap the HU remote wire directly to the metal stud you pulled out form the socket.
Now push the wire(s) firmly in their place and reposition the cable retainer in it's original position, don't start assembling just yet, make sure the grey socket with the red lever is inserted in the button panel and that the HU remote is wired properly to the HU (usually the red wire). Test it, turn the key once, if everything is ok (and the battery is connected) the HU should start, if so remove the key and the HU should stay on (if the doors are closed) for a few minutes. Enjoy the music... when the HU shuts off ... it's time put it all back together.
If you have any questions just ask. hope you find this useful
