hi ladys a gents.

the common fault has happened to my o1 punto today.

have done 17k miles in this little car in the last 8months,totaly trouble free.

she has 123k on the clock

was in a town situation and a did a quick 3 point turn,and there was a click,steering went heavy and the steering light came on dash. i turned car off and restarted a few times,just to see if it may have reset itself.

here is the question/questionns.

is that the end of my motor?? has a fuse gone somewhere? is there a relay or earth problem?

the steering has been perfect up to this point,no problems or intermittant issues.

if it is the motor,will any colum/motor do,or does it have to be same model/year. differant plugs??


any help would be great.

thanks

Check all the fuses first before worrying about changing the motor especially as you’ve not had any other problems or intermittent faults and it’s not resolving when you turn the car off and on again

The electrical system is a bit undersized for the power steering.
If the battery is tired it will not have enough reserve to supply the steering at low revs. First time I had those symptoms a new battery fixed it.
Cars of that age have relays on the motor that fail. Tenner for a pair and a bit of soldering and you're back in business. Second time I had steering trouble.....
Those are the easy get out of jail fixes.
There are lots of other things that can go wrong. Fiat MES and an ELM327 cable is a good investment.

hi brendon,thanks for reply.

my battery would be very good,i put it in new when i got the car 8mth ago.

intresting about the relays,would both of them go at once?

the steering was 100% perfect for me,no shudders or working/not working situations..

il plug and unplug the motor and a few other things and see if it resets.

is there a big fuse that may have gone?

is it new motor time? and if so are they a easy fit?

as you can see i do alot of miles in the punto,so need her back on the road asap.


thanks jason

irishcento said:

hi brendon,thanks for reply.

my battery would be very good,i put it in new when i got the car 8mth ago.

intresting about the relays,would both of them go at once?

the steering was 100% perfect for me,no shudders or working/not working situations..

il plug and unplug the motor and a few other things and see if it resets.

is there a big fuse that may have gone?

is it new motor time? and if so are they a easy fit?

as you can see i do alot of miles in the punto,so need her back on the road asap.


thanks jason

Click to expand...

Yes there is a Fuse, F5 60 Amp
Not heard of both relays failing at the same time, it's more usually just one, more likely for the ECU to fail.
If the motor has failed it's an easy job to change, remove fuse box cover, remove lower steering column shroud will gain you access.
You will probably need to remove the ECU as well.
As someone pointed out it's worht getting the Fiat Multiscan and cables to read any codes, as it is possible for the ECU to fail.
If it is the motor you would have to change it for one from a Mk2 and NOT from a Mk2/B.
Mk2/B uses a relayless motor

hi scudmonkey.

thanks for the info.

ive been offered a motor from a 00 punto sporting,should be the same.

as mentioned,steering just went with no warning signs,its not as if it was acting up over a couple of weeks.

the relays as you say would hardly both go at once,but you never know.

yes il have to get that soft ware cable and read codes.

il check the fuse now later this afternoon.

many thanks again.


jason

I use these cables...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PUNT...273994&hash=item3aed96a8df:g:PpcAAOSwLVZVxx6C
Multiscan is free to download from
http://www.multiecuscan.net/

before buying another pas motor read codes and see what error it gives, buts its probably relays that failed

pas starts to work when you restart car?

flisko said:

before buying another pas motor read codes and see what error it gives, buts its probably relays that failed

pas starts to work when you restart car?

Click to expand...

Before i bought my current Mk2/B i had a 5 door Mk2...pas packed up on that. Back then i didn't have MES or cables or Haynes manual. I got hold of a replacement motor that came with a replacement ECU.
Swapping the motor didn't fix the issue, but swapping the steering ECU did sort it.
Of course when i got the 2B i also got Haynes manual plus leads and multiscan.
It does take some of the guesswork out of problems

hi flisko.

as mentioned,steering was perfect,no faults up to the point when it just went,and warning light came on.

no restarting car etc doesnt make steering work again etc.

tried a few of the reset tricks i saw on youtube,non worked.

il get cables and see what happens,do they come with soft ware??

thanks jason

hi scudmonkey.

ok,so its best to change ecu and motor at once?

i may get the leads and do a scan of codes etc.

ive tried a few youtube tricks but non work.

thanks jason

You can get things like torque app with an ELM327 cable, wifi or bluetooth interface and work from laptop or smartphone.
FIAT mes is the business. The access to the motor ecu is free. SRS and steering cost 50 yoyos. It will pay back easy. Many of the ebay cheapo ELM327 will not work on the SRS and steering. See the fix on the MES site.
http://www.multiecuscan.net/
http://forum.multiecuscan.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1493

[QUOTE

ive been offered a motor from a 00 punto sporting,should be the same.


:[/QUOTE]

if its free bang it in and try it
if not then you may need an ecu
the fiat manual advises that sometimes power steering cuts off if overloaded in 3 point terms but it normally resets after a minute with engine off
i think your relays have expired as already suggested
do not buy a motor off a later big headlamp punto as it is not compatable with your car

if its free bang it in and try it
if not then you may need an ecu
the fiat manual advises that sometimes power steering cuts off if overloaded in 3 point terms but it normally resets after a minute with engine off
i think your relays have expired as already suggested
do not buy a motor off a later big headlamp punto as it is not compatable with your car

Click to expand...

This due to the fact that the Mk2/B (with the bigger headlights)..has a relayless motor and CANBUS, Which makes a lot of components (like the PAS motor and Instrument cluster) incompatible with the earlier mk2

hi lads,ok i know ive to get a mk2 motor

so should i get the motor and ecu out of same car?

ive read that when ive re fitted the replacement items ive got to get them re-sinked by fiat or someone who has software??


as brendan will know,living in ireland,my little 00 punto has vertualy no value,so dont want to go mad on on diadnostic leads/software etc.

and poring parts into it,its a third car in the family,general hack wagon,rear seats always folded down for carring dutys.

ive a motor bought all going well,so il get ecu with it also.

thanks jason

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-ii/451435-power-steering-ecu-sorry.html?451435=#post4274351
Motor is three screws.
MES allows you to recalibrate the pair of torque sensors, in effect balancing the effort.
I'd say there are more than a few running around with less than perfect calibration.

irishcento said:

hi lads,ok i know ive to get a mk2 motor

so should i get the motor and ecu out of same car?

ive read that when ive re fitted the replacement items ive got to get them re-sinked by fiat or someone who has software??


as brendan will know,living in ireland,my little 00 punto has vertualy no value,so dont want to go mad on on diadnostic leads/software etc.

and poring parts into it,its a third car in the family,general hack wagon,rear seats always folded down for carring dutys.

ive a motor bought all going well,so il get ecu with it also.

thanks jason

Click to expand...

If you already have a laptop....the leads cost about £20 on ebay...Fiat Multiscan is free, although for some functions the registered version is needed. But for basic Diagnostics it is free

hi brendon,thanks for the link,il just pop motor in and see what happens.

im not to worried if balance is slightly out,easy 1 way and a bit heavier the other way..

im collecting motor on sat,so il keep you posted.



scudmonkey,ok the leads arnt that dear,and the software is free for most jobs.

il get motor and ecu on sat.

il let you know how i get on.

thanks jason

In the meantime, if the old motor is dead, you could remove it a reduce the load on the steering.
When you have it disconnected, clean the power connector, plug it back in a see if it will spin in your hand as you turn the wheel. Mine did and gave me a year or so before I had to do the relays.

hi brendon,ok i didnt know you could remove it and it would operate in your hand.

il clean up connections and see what it does.

the relays,are they inside the motor or outside??


thanks jason