Hi all,

I seem to have an issue where the clock and trip counter are now resetting every time I start the engine.

As well as this the engine cranks seem to me quite slow and it seemed to struggle to start the other day in roughly -5 conditions but luckily did start after a couple of attempts.

I know new battery would be a likely solution but the guy who sold it to me claimed the battery was new, and it does look quite shiny.

So far reading other posts I've seen people suggesting to clean the earth connector to the body/gearbox, terminals themselves look pretty clean to me.

The radio wasn't connected when I bought the car but I've connected it myself (leads were sat there ready to plug in no wiring done myself or anything) maybe this is draining the battery when it's sat ?

One problem is I really don't have many tools, including not owning a multi-meter which obviously isn't going to help diagnosis.

Cheers,

Paul

i had a shiny new penny once but the date said 1992
your heading would suggest battery though

if battery is new it could be your alternator, need to check charging voltage, radio that is wired incorrectly will flatten your battery even when turned off

s and b said:

i had a shiny new penny once but the date said 1992
your heading would suggest battery though

Click to expand...

Haha point well made, I'll obviously have to buy a new one if nothing else works.

flisko said:

if battery is new it could be your alternator, need to check charging voltage, radio that is wired incorrectly will flatten your battery even when turned off

Click to expand...

I'll see if I can get hold of a cheap multi-meter. At least the alternator looks easily accessible if I do have to swap it out.

Where can I find out about the correct wiring ? I just read somewhere else someone vaguely said that the red and yellow wires need to be joined.

Paul

just disconnect it or take out fuse

flisko said:

just disconnect it or take out fuse

Click to expand...

But if I wanted to use the radio without it causing start issues I mean ?

I'm not that bothered in reality about having the radio working myself but wouldn't mind being able to sell the car in a few months without saying "oh by the way you can connect the radio, but if you do the car might not start"

Paul

i meant to disconnect radio to find out if thats the cause for battery going flat

Aha yes, sorry, have just done that and will report back after a couple of days.

Paul

Well the car doesn't start now so either the radio or something else was draining it or the alternator wasn't working. I've been driving it around for about a week though so that seems unlikely ? No battery light either when engine running.

Will jumpstart tomorrow and hopefully will work now radio disconnected.

Paul

What type is the radio unit? The oem or an aftermarket?

BILL33 said:

What type is the radio unit? The oem or an aftermarket?

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I'm assuming not the original, it's just some old tape deck as far as I can see but how could I know for sure ?

Paul

Managed to finally jump start with jump start kit, however drove it for half an hour and it won't start again (just clicks doesn't even try). So either the battery or the alternator is ruined.

Paul

Re: Fiat Punto 1.2L 2000 petrol Trip counter and clock resetting on start

I have bought a new battery, When the engine is running I'm getting less than 12.5 volts with electrical load, that's wipers, fans, headlights, rear window heater.

From what I've read that's low, it only seems to produce enough volts to be charging if I have most things turned off. I was able to get about 13.9 then.

Everyone agree it's a faulty alternator or could I maybe improve situation by cleaning up the contacts etc ?

Paul

Re: Fiat Punto 1.2L 2000 petrol Trip counter and clock resetting on start

PaulTobiasx1/9 said:

I have bought a new battery, When the engine is running I'm getting less than 12.5 volts with electrical load, that's wipers, fans, headlights, rear window heater.

From what I've read that's low, it only seems to produce enough volts to be charging if I have most things turned off. I was able to get about 13.9 then.

Everyone agree it's a faulty alternator or could I maybe improve situation by cleaning up the contacts etc ?

Paul

Click to expand...

Bearing in mind - the punto alternator is Only 60amps

If you stick Shed loads of electrical crap on like
Stereo - Fused at 10, pulls about 5
Front lights - 10ea, pulls like 7
Sidelights all around - pull like 3 (inc interior)
Stick Fans on - looking a good 20amps
Stick rear demist on - there is anohter good 15 - 20amps
Wipers - again you loose another good 5amps

(guessing at pull rates like - but you get the jist)
Based on that your pulling like 67amps - you've only got a 60amp alternator
All that electrical load means the alternator more resistive spinning, means the engines running slightly slower = Less juice been generated

So that extra juice is been pulled from the battery
@ 12.5v, you are pretty much running alternator and battery isn't getting recharged
If you applied like 1500 - 2000rpm, cruising speed, i bet the voltage comes right back up

To me that common on the punto's
Take a diesel alternator - they have like 100 / 200amps in some cars, its way more then is needed as a result they cope a wee bit better on the heavy electrical demand!

A cleaning of all the contacts (posi to starter and start to alternator)
And the earth return Will all HELP maintain a bettery voltage

Ziggy

Re: Fiat Punto 1.2L 2000 petrol Trip counter and clock resetting on start

Did a test this morning and I was getting less than 12 Volts even giving it some gas and that was only with for example the lights on. I'm guessing that means I could potentially be draining the battery when driving rather than it keeping charged. I think the battery voltage with engine off has dropped as well which would support my theory.

I'll take the advice and try and clean the contacts at the starter etc. I have no experience of having done this before though and it seems like everything is hidden somewhere around the back.

I thought maybe tightening the belt might help ? Possibly not though.

Re: Fiat Punto 1.2L 2000 petrol Trip counter and clock resetting on start

Here's a hopefully short summary of what I've done so far just in case anyone finds this thread and is having the same issue.

The only thing I've replaced is the battery despite the guy who sold it to me saying that the battery was only about 2 months old. I have to say he seemed very genuine.

He did also say that he hardly ever drove the car, but on the other hand also claimed he had been keeping the battery charged to keep it in good condition.

Anyway...

1/ After jump starting and going for a fairly long drive, the car still wouldn't start on it's own once trying to start the car on it's own. I've since read that it's not really recommend to do this anyway especially with a totally dead battery as it puts a massive strain on the charging system in the car. You should instead remove the battery from the car and charge with a separate battery charger.

2/ Bought a multimeter, found that the battery was only (I think) around 11.5V which I guess was expected. When the engine was running after jump starting I saw around 13.8V and assumed the alternator was therefore working fine but the battery could not hold the charge.

3/ Bought a new battery as a result of multimeter test, car started fine of course but it took me until this point to realise that if I started actually using electrics on the car the voltage started to drop (I think I saw as low as 11.5V)and I started to question whether maybe the alternator was faulty. In fact the haynes manual says that the alternator should come back up to 13V-14V to compensate but I've read different things in different places about this and Ziggy has above also said that he thinks 12.5V would be a normal reading with heavy loads.

4/ Attempted to tighten the alternator belt to see if I could get better results with electrical load. I think this has been successful, but I still see voltages of around 12.5 if I start using everything, lights, fans, radio.


So I don't know for sure yet if I've fixed it. Maybe the alternator still isn't putting out as much power as it should be, or at least not compensating for the extra power needed when I put all electrics on.

It seems like I have a good minimum 13.8V as long as I don't try and use all of the electrics the whole time I'm driving. I just have to hope the battery doesn't lose charge over time.

Please do reply if anything I've said is utter rubbish, I'm not a mechanic or even an enthusiast. I just don't have the cash to take it to a garage! It would also help me to know if I can expect further problems and the likelihood that I'll be attempting to change the alternator in a couple of weeks time.

Cheers,

Paul

Re: Fiat Punto 1.2L 2000 petrol Trip counter and clock resetting on start

12.5V on idle with everything on is normal

Voltage of the battery has been steadily dropping, after 2 weeks with new battery reading about 12.05v.

I don't even understand how it's going down so slowly, I'm guessing I can safely assume alternator is screwed now?

Paul

You may have a parasitic drain. Something is drawing current when the car is shut down and slowly running the battery flat. It's normal to have a small draw but things like incorrectly wired aftermarket radios or lights in the boot than do not switch off will draw too much.
Here is a procedure from the Guides section for chasing parasitic drains. https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2...alternator-parasitic-drain-testing-guide.html
To check your alternator. At idle with no extra loads on you should have approximately 13 Volts at the battery. This should increase to about 14.4 at 2000 rpm and level off.