We own a Fiat Punto S 60 that had 2 prvious owners, it's currently about 42000miles on the clock. Recently my wife (she drives) noticed that one of the fault indicator lights comes on on the dashboard, we checked the manual and it pointed us to a problem with the cooling system, Does anyone have an idea how we can go about this ourselves. We fancy this because we need to save money, the car has cost us quite a bit in repairs lately.
Technical Faulty Cooling sytem?
- Thread starter pdania
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Technical Faulty Cooling sytem?
you mean the over heating light? is fan coming on?
Thanks for your reply and apologies for not replying on time, I don't uderstand what you mean by 'fan coming on? which fan? As far as I know, the heating works ok. We also have some water trapped underneath the front wiper blades vent, in fact I've just tried in vain to see if I can drain the water but after removing the screws, I realised that the wiper blade arms were in the way and I couldn't lift the gauze to look uderneath, is there a way of removing the wiper blade arms from this model of fiat punto?
The car manual only describes how to remove the wiper blades unfortunately. Thanks for any help.
The car manual only describes how to remove the wiper blades unfortunately. Thanks for any help.
there is a nut under a plastic cover for the arms,
the fan is in front of your rad, it should cone on when car gets hot
the fan is in front of your rad, it should cone on when car gets hot
Thanks for your reply and apologies for not replying on time, I don't uderstand what you mean by 'fan coming on? which fan? As far as I know, the heating works ok. We also have some water trapped underneath the front wiper blades vent, in fact I've just tried in vain to see if I can drain the water but after removing the screws, I realised that the wiper blade arms were in the way and I couldn't lift the gauze to look uderneath, is there a way of removing the wiper blade arms from this model of fiat punto?
there are two drain spouts to drain water from the wiper motor area.
i found mine in the follwing places.
when looking at the back of your engine,you will notice some felt like material on the bulkhead-there is one plast cdrain spout just righto of the the brake master cylinder and another one on the further right.
they are quite flat looking and were full of leaves and soil collected over the years-these can cleared with a small flat blade screw driver .
i will try to post some pics later
.
Thanks SPS, I really appreciate the pictures they certainly helped me a great deal. Dave was asking if the fan responsible for the cooling sytem aomes on and the answer is no so I'm not sure but I think we may have a malfunctioning cooling sytem. How can we prove that the fan is definitely not working. My wife can't hear it when she's driving and before when we switch of the engine we can usually hear it but not anymore. If it happens that the fan is knackered, what is the best way to go about repairing it.
it could be the fan or the sensor in bottom of rad, hot wire the fan if it spins its the sensor, if it dont its the fan,
there is also a big fuse for it near top of pasenger side wing under bonnet, it has a cover over it with a pic of a fan on it
there is also a big fuse for it near top of pasenger side wing under bonnet, it has a cover over it with a pic of a fan on it
the only sure way of checking if the fan works is by doing the following.
take your car for a 10 minute drive to wam the engine up properly-then stop the car and let the engine run at idle speed for 10-15 minutes-with the bonnet open-you should hear/see the fan on the radiator come on for 20 seconds or so.this is a good way of telling-although in this freezing weather it may take a bit longer to come on
by the way does your temperature gauge needle sit in the section between c -for cold and the middle of the gauge or does it climbs to towards h- for hot?
also do check the fan fuse that dave is talking about above.
and then hot wiring- which means removing the fan switch and bridging the two contacts within the connector with a short piece of wire with the ignition switch on-the fan should come on if it is not faulty ,providing the fan fuse is intact.
hope this helps
I've had a go at this today by replacing the fuse (the one with the picture of a fan on top as described by Dave, still no joy. I didn't hotwire the Fan switch as I wasn't sure which one it was....just being overly careful so as not to damage anything. So I'm not sure whether it's the fan or sensor unless I do this 'hot-wiring' thing first.
Few questions though 1) Does the fan come on as soon as the engine starts?, because after changing the fuse, I turned on the engine and when I didn't see the fan spinning I drew my conclusions.
2)if it turns out to be either the fan or the sensor, what can I do about repairing it?
Thanks for your responses in advance.
Few questions though 1) Does the fan come on as soon as the engine starts?, because after changing the fuse, I turned on the engine and when I didn't see the fan spinning I drew my conclusions.
2)if it turns out to be either the fan or the sensor, what can I do about repairing it?
Thanks for your responses in advance.
changing the fan is easy enough, you'll find pics of the fan switch in the guides section at the top of the page under PUNTO/ rad bleeding guide.
bridge the two contacts of the wire leading into the switch and the fan should come one, if it doesn't then the fan itself is faulty, if it does then then the switch is faulty,.,.
If neither are faulty, the reason the fan isn't coming on could be air in the cooling system.
oh and No, the fan won't come on straight away when the engine is started,., only when its hot, that's what the switch is for,..,.,
keep an eye on the temp gauge to the left of the speedometer on the dash to see if the car is getting too hot,.,.,
good luck with it mate!,.,.,.
bridge the two contacts of the wire leading into the switch and the fan should come one, if it doesn't then the fan itself is faulty, if it does then then the switch is faulty,.,.
If neither are faulty, the reason the fan isn't coming on could be air in the cooling system.
oh and No, the fan won't come on straight away when the engine is started,., only when its hot, that's what the switch is for,..,.,
keep an eye on the temp gauge to the left of the speedometer on the dash to see if the car is getting too hot,.,.,
good luck with it mate!,.,.,.
I had a go with this thing this mornig but I used a key ring, does the fact that it didn't work mean that the keyring isn't a conductor of electricity? My wife's work mate has also told her that we need at least three wires and a light bulb to do a proper test, I have my reservations about this but I have found a short piece of electrical wire which I plan to use tomorrow.
So essentially the procedure should be: start car, leave it running until the red-light on the dashboard comes on, then do the test, correct?
So essentially the procedure should be: start car, leave it running until the red-light on the dashboard comes on, then do the test, correct?
no, that is not correct
you take a single piece of insulated copper wire with insulation taken of at each end so the wire can conduct electricity ,the ignition switch should be in the on position without starting the engine,then you bridge the connections and the end of the electrical connector of the radiator fan switch. obviously this test is best done with with the electrical connector taken off the radiator fan switch.You definitely do not need three wires.
if the fan comes on,this means your fan is working-so it could be a dodgy fan switch.
did you check the fan switch fuse?
Thanks SPS, your description of the procedure is closer to what I expected, this '3 wires' business isn't going to do the trick. The reason I used the keyring was because I couldn't find a copper wire, but I've now found one which I plan on using this evening when I get home, I'll keep you posted. and yes, I've already changed the fan switch fuse.
and yes, I've already changed the fan switch fuse.ok, I turned the ignition switch without starting the car, removed the fan switch and bridged the contacts as suggested and the fan did come on.....where do I go from here? Should I go to the nearest Halfords and purchase a new switch? What information do I need to arm myself with when going to the shop? thanks for your replies.
Could be either two things, blocked radiator core wich can stop the hot water getting to the temp switch to turn fan on, and the fan switch what we think it could be, i dont think you can get a switch at Halfords? you could try a scrapyard or main dealer maybe even on the internet?
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