Hi every1, been a long time since i was last on this forum, ive been naughty and driving around in a 53 plate customised clio.... but now thats sold im back to good old fiats!!! and their problems... lol

Picked up a cheap punto 1.2 active 2003 model. Got it cheap with a private plate, 17's etc and a few boy-racer bits and bobs here and there... but having a few problems...

The car is having trouble getting into first gear, although the clutch feels like it needs replacing desperatly, and when i select reverse ther is a wierd whine when im moving backwards..... The car has done 29k and i was told there was a gear selector cable replaced by fiat at some point, but the gears are still crap... im just hope'ing its not a new box i need....

Secondly the ride is rough, feels like im driving on just alloy, without the tyres lol. Theres no vibration but the ride is horribly rough. I was assuming it was the 17" wheels with the low profiles, but the car i had before had the same type of wheel/tyre combo and it was nothing like this.... Not really sure what it could be, although i want to go down to either 16" wheels or maybe, dare i say it but 15"s....

Then finally i was told the battery was cr*p, which i found out when i tried to turn the key this morning.... I replaced the battery with a new bosch 4year battery and it seems fine, but have noticed in the history that comes with the car that the battery has been replaced before, so im worried there may be a problem with the alternator or something, is there any way i can test that just to stop me worrying?

And finally, the seats have been replaced by a cheap set of crappy bucket seat recliners. The seats move slightly as the subframes i assume are universal and are only held in by 3 out of 4 bolts..... Ive got the MOT soon, and wanted to know if theres anyway i could get new subframes without knowing the make of the seats as they are unbranded...

Getting the gear oil changed might help the 1st gear problem, apart from that maybe a buggerd gear selecter or the gearbox itself, whine noise when moving in reverse i thought all cars do that? i drive on 14s and its bad, worser when your needing the loo right enough lol, the punto standerd shocks are pretty crap i would say anyway, but having 17" low pro will not help at all, will though if you upgrade to better shocks or drop to 15". You can get the alternator voltage read, i dont know about the subframes though

Didnt finish what all i was going to say, sumone came to my door..

When engine is running for a few mins then test battery with multimeter should show 13.8 - 14.2 with engine running then turn on h/lights and heaters if it drops below 12v alternator prob on its way, or somethings not right also if the car has amps ect.. that will drain the battery i would think if car is left for couple days..

not got my audio in the car yet, will the alternator test work still as i have put a brand new battery in less than 24 hours ago? How do i check the gear oil level, lol... Cheers

Yes i would think it will still work even though your stuck a new battery in, theres only one way of checking your gear oil level and thats drain it (i think) theres an hex screw cap somewhere on the back or front of the gearbox housing, usually fairly obvious and about 3?4 the way up the housing from the bottom better getting sumone that knows what there doing..