Technical MK2 Punto Power Steering cutting out...

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Technical MK2 Punto Power Steering cutting out...

phem0r

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Jul 25, 2008
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Hello...

I own a Fiat Punto 51 plate which im guessing is a MK2.

Now i have had the car for about 6 months... passed on from me mum heh, when she had it sometimes to power steering would cut out when reversing into say a car parking bay... The steering would out out with a clunk sound.

Since ive had the car its done this a few times when reversing and more recently several times when normally driving, say a country road, come to a hard left or right at like 20mph and the steering will clunk and power steering is gone half way round the corner causing you to go wide on the exit of the corner as your not expecting this to happen :|

When it happens the Red steering wheel light come son the dash... turn the car off and on and everything is fine, light goes out and continue to drive like normal...

Now is this problem related to this thread... HERE?

Thanks
 
Email watchdog!? Ok now im worried... Saying what exactly?
 
Steering failure without any warning, driving straight or around bends.
Imagine if your mum was driving on in icy conditions, steering fails and ....
 
Very good point, although its me driving the car constantly now, but still not good!

Never emailed watchdog before
 
If you don't try you won't know (within reason).
I have emailed them before and got no response but I imagine if the get enough emails they might do something.
 
Ok well i filled out the form on there website and think it went through ok..

I have no idea how much this is gonna cost to repair or if it will be worth it.
 
A replacement remanufactured column will cost approx £200 off ebay, FIAT specialist will charge about £30-40 quid to hook it up the examiner (diagnostic machine) and perhaps another £60 to fit it.
 
Hi - my '03 Punto had similar problem. The red steering light came on intermittently over a period of weeks then one day it came on and stayed on whilst my steering went very very stiff. Thankfully I was coming to a halt in stationary traffic at the time so turned the engine off and on again to find it working again. I took the car back to the FIAT dealership (under warranty thankfully) and they found that the steering shaft needed replacing! It was all done under warranty but I asked for the invoice for work done on it and they had priced the job at £600! It is a serious problem though and I wouldn't drive it in its current condition. It is dangerous and if you're involved in a serious crash you could find yourself in even more trouble...that's if the worse doesn't happen. :eek:
Good luck!
 
If the steering has tripped out if its safe to drive as its just like having no power steering (maybe a little stiffer but manageable) if it keeps tripping and work soemtimes and other not i agree with the above it isnt really safe to drive as if it tripped off when your steerign round a bend doing 50/60mph on a country road it could be disaterious.
 
It has tripped out when ive been on a country road doing about 20 round a hard left or right type thing.. and its caused me to exit the bend wide on the other side of the road :|

The car is 8 years old but only done 44000 miles... Is it really worth paying £300-£600 to get this sorted...
 
You've got to consider the condition of the entire car and what sort of replacement car you'd get for the money you might spend on getting it fixed. Remember, a second hand car WAS someone else's headache...just because you're getting a different car doesn't mean you'll be worry free. If the car is in good nick apart from the steering problem then stick with it. I wouldn't go to the dealership though to get the job done. Stick to a trustworthy local garage to save ££'s.

FT.
 
It also has a clutch bearing problem..just doesnt sound like it used to and im told its because the grease in the clutch bearings has run out type thing..
 
It's a 51-reg with 40k on it...Must still worth at least a grand even in poor condition...check parkers.com for a rough guide on how much it's worth. Has it been serviced recently/regularly?
 
Yup used to be my mum's car heh, so it's been regularly serviced and so on, had it's MOT only 1 or 2 months ago...

Just check parkers...

Original Priced £7,522
Independent Dealer £1,430
Private Good £1,230
Private Poor £835
Part Exchange
£970
 
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