I have a year 2000 Fiat Punto Sporting 1.2 - with about 25,000 on the clock

I've had it since new and drive it very carefully but living in London there's speed humps everywhere.

I had the car MOTed and there weren't any issues at all with the car except a hole in the middle of the exhaust.

The garage replaced the middle part of the exhaust reusing the back section and ever since then I've noticed a thud when I go over a speed hump, even very slowly.

I told this to the garage and they took the car for a test drive and I was in the car at the time and you couldn't hear any thud but when I was back alone in the car by myself you could hear it over speed humps even at very low speeds.

I just came back from a long weekend trip where the car was fully loaded with lots of bags and 2 extra passengers and and at certain points you could feel the vibration of the exhaust.

What I can't understand is I never had any noticeable problems until the exhaust change .. any ideas why?

Is worn out springs or struts likely to be the problem? Should both be replaced?

Are they hard to replace yourself? I've done things like rotated my own tyres, oil changes, exhaust changes before.

Else I can pay my local garage to do it but I'd be interested in buying the parts myself so I can choose a good quality product. The ride of the Punto has always been very hard, I've had the car since new, is there anything I could do to make it absorb the bumps in the road?

looks like you havent drove a mk1, thats a hard ride, you feel almost every rock

strut is changed when they leak fluid and they go hard = mot fail

waggle tail pipe and look at exhaust,
ibet its catching on something,


its common after exhaust as been fitted by some garages,


did they put new exhaust hangar rubbers on or have they used old ones?


they turn to chewing gum so it worth replacing if not,
they cost 80p at euro carparts.

You had the exhaust changed and now its making contact
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF PUNTO'S

the backbox is well known for either hitting the rear axle because its to far back
Or the hanger hits a Bumper support frame because its too far forward

It sounds like you need it adjusting to correct this

Its worse when loaded as the car sits alot closer to the rear axle, often mine sits there rattling its arse off when loaded, i've learnt to ignore it
Sounds terrible, but thats how it is

Ziggy

flisko said:

looks like you havent drove a mk1, thats a hard ride, you feel almost every rock

strut is changed when they leak fluid and they go hard = mot fail

Click to expand...

Actually I've only ever owned two cars - first was a MK1 Punto - the most basic model I think at the time, had it for a number of years until an accident and then by then the MK2 had just come out so got the MK2 Punto Sporting 1.2

This ride is stiffer I think, but it's like 15+ years since I drove the MK1

I've uploaded a few photos I just took today before I saw people had replied on here - don't know if I should be concerned or not about all the rust on the struts?

Is this something that I can do myself? I have the car jack and a proper car jack as well and many tools?

http://imgur.com/a/hqN8J#0

Shout out if you spot anything obviously wrong.

If I wanted to get something better then OEM replacements what brands would people suggest?

The struts may be tired of age, though not leaking. Rust ins't an issue.
But it's a common problem that the exhaust will rub one place or the other, after a replacement. Have them adjust it, were they fitted it.

If you decide on replacing rear struts, I'd probably suggest you get Bilstein B6, if you want something more firm, but still comfortable.
Jack the car up both sides, you need a 15mm and 18mm head to loosen the strut - VERY long bolts. It is a help to put light pressure on the rear axle from below, with a jack, so the bolts pull out easier. If you decide to replace the springs as well, I recommend a towbar, to help pull the rear axle down slightly, to allow easier removal (and re-insertion) of the springs.

I don't really notice much of a bounce in the car, most of the time I'm on my own in the car with very little in the back but when the car is fully loaded with passenger and lots of luggage in the back then I get I feel the exhaust vibration, as if the exhaust is touching as the car is now lower .. wondering if it's the springs that need changing more?

Nothing looks wrong with your suspension

Please pay attention to all the comments telling you your new exhaust has been fitted wrong and needs some adjustment to stop it fouling the bodywork or suspension!

I'll certainly look into the exhaust.

The other thing I noticed was with the original exhaust everything was held in place with strong rubber that stopped the exhaust moving in any direction, but the garage seems to have cut off the middle piece of rubber (that holds the middle part of the exhaust) and replaced it with a sort of loop which seems to hold the exhaust OK at rest but there's a gap which I guess in theory could mean it jumps up when you go over a speed hump.

Out of interest is it a good idea to replace springs anyways for safety when they get to this age? The car is 15 years old. Hardly gets driven more then 2,000 miles a year since I live in London but a lot of those miles are over speed humps, although I make an effort to be as gentle as possible when I got over the humps.

I'm just wondering if after 15 years the springs have lost some of the height?

Whilst I was under the car I found it quite easy to lift the back end of the car an inch when the boot is fairly empty maybe 15kg to 20kg of stuff in the back. I kind of expected it to sit higher, so there's more room to settle when fully loaded.

deeinlondon said:

I'll certainly look into the exhaust.

The other thing I noticed was with the original exhaust everything was held in place with strong rubber that stopped the exhaust moving in any direction, but the garage seems to have cut off the middle piece of rubber (that holds the middle part of the exhaust) and replaced it with a sort of loop which seems to hold the exhaust OK at rest but there's a gap which I guess in theory could mean it jumps up when you go over a speed hump.

Out of interest is it a good idea to replace springs anyways for safety when they get to this age? The car is 15 years old. Hardly gets driven more then 2,000 miles a year since I live in London but a lot of those miles are over speed humps, although I make an effort to be as gentle as possible when I got over the humps.

I'm just wondering if after 15 years the springs have lost some of the height?

Whilst I was under the car I found it quite easy to lift the back end of the car an inch when the boot is fairly empty maybe 15kg to 20kg of stuff in the back. I kind of expected it to sit higher, so there's more room to settle when fully loaded.

Click to expand...

suspension will have SOME WEAR,
but it's the exhaust that's making the noise - as it's "suspension system" has been compromised by poor re-fitting, :bang:

i'll bet if you grab the exhaust tail pipe and give it a good wriggle, you'll be able to replicate the clanging..,

fitting cable ties OVER the weak rubber mounts will do wonders

Charlie

Both myself and the garage at the time gave it a big wiggle and nothing seemed to touch anything, they lifted the entire car in the air and we all had a good look and I've been under the car several times since whilst it's been on the ground.

I'm wondering if it's these rubber connectors in the link below that's the cause cos it feels more like something jumped in the air and landed everytime I go on a speed hump - they have a gap in the middle, wondering if they go slack causing the exhaust to jump?

http://imgur.com/a/gPDzg#0

Also I noticed the metal cover over the fuel tank makes a similar kind of noise I hear if you flex it in just the right place, wondering if that's what causing part of the noise over speed humps.

Those mounts look fine

My bet the exhaust is catching on rear axle still or Hanger Frameworks hitting the bumpper A frame support thingy

Ziggy

My Punto is due for it's MOT next week, thought I'd get them to check the exhaust then, from what I've read on other forums the knocking / bang sound could be caused by them not using the right kind of rubber mountings to mount the exhaust. Ones that move about too much or hang too low and allow the exhaust to touch the axles as the car's suspension compresses over the road.

I had a look under the car yesterday and noticed a little bit of liquid on the rear, right shock absorber - couldn't quite tell if it was oil or not, was very thin - so was thinking about buying some Shock Absorbers and getting them to fit it during the MOT. The shock absorbers on the car are the originals - so 15 years old and there's loads of speed humps where I live so had plenty of up and downs. Although I drive carefully over humps.

Should the shock absorbers for a MK 2 Punto Sporting be the oil or gas kind?

I notice one company lists both Gas and Oil shock absorbers for the MK 2 Punto

http://www.gh-parts.info/catalogue.php?FIAT-PUNTO-II-(188)-09.1999->&m1=17&m2=54&m3=54&s=2

Is there going to be much difference between the various brands of Shock Absorbers? I notice you can get 2 new ones for £30 on eBay but no brand name or upto £30 each for the branded ones.

Oil shocks havr been replaced by gas shocks
There is a mist of oil in gas shocks to lubricate the seals inside to reducr wear

Damp or moist shocks could be the seals are failing and emitting light mistings all the time

The rear shocks are reasonably east to change as long as the bottom bolts come out
They do like to seize on in badly....

If you do get them out - ensure you copper slip them back in to prevent it happening again

Ziggy

Been a while since I last posted .. any way Took the car in for it's MOT and they didn't seem to think there was any issues with the rear shocks - but the car does still make a knocking noise when going over speed humps - would changing the rubbers they installed for genuine fiat ones help?

The garage said if I get genuine fiat rubber mounts then they'll swap the exhaust over for free. to the new mounts - I'll try and take a photo of the mounts they installed - but does anyone have a link to what the genuine middle rubber exhaust mounts look like?