Hi! Thanks to everybody for the good infos in order to get the hood of my old 1998ish Convertible back in shape, now it's time for another problem:

- Yesterday I've been to London and I discovered that every time I stopped at a traffic light the temperature gauge rised tremendously. And that every time I re-started and the car went up with rpm, it turned back to the normal value.

Apart from that, the heating in the car was dead. It just started working with the cooling fluid very hot, and when I passed 50 mph. Today, I poured some water in the radiator and the car started working at the right temperature again.

According to what I know about cars, I immediately realized what could have been:

1) Scale in the cooling circuit;
2) Heater excluding switch damaged;
3) Unefficient water pump;
4) Leaky cooling radiator;
5) Leaky heater radiator.

Number 5: correct.

I sorted out from the fact that every time I turn on heater and fan, I can smell the classic disgusting "flat-iron steam" smell, and the windscreen becames damp from the inside.

The innumerable cases of broken heater radiators on every-year Puntos from 1993 to our days can't tell it wrong: I HAVE to get my H.R. replaced.

The main problem is not the price of the piece. I found it on eBay for 30 quid more or less. The main problem is how it get fitted on the car: inside the dashboard after having removed it completely.

How much could I spend from an independent garage, getting there with the part in hand, and asking to have it fitted? I am not trying to do that myself since I don't have the right tools and the place where operate (it won't be fun parking the car with the dashboard sitting on the front seats because it starts raining while I do that )

You're probably looking at 3 hours labour. So, depending where you live, anything up to -- what? -- £70 an hour (Central London).

Cheaper to buy a few tools and DIY.

It is quite a fiddly and long job so it depends how brave and proficient you are with a set of spanners really.

As you are probably aware it is dashboard out, then remove heater box and undo the bolts which hold the heater matrix in place from the engine side.

It would take even a decent garage, 3 hours to do the job well so I would budget around £400 for the total job. You may get it done a lot cheaper but get a fixed price no haggle quotation before they start the job!

I think 400 £ providing the part myself is like a gunned-hand robbery. The main problem is that I can't do the job myself: I don't have a garage so if I get late or starts raining I can't leave the car half taken apart overnight. Otherwise, I am not so confident in operating on the steering column that must be undone to remove the dashboard.

I'll be happy to have it fixed for 150-200 £, counting that I bought the car for 750 and next part to be fixed are the brake pads almost gone.

A friend of mine said he knows a good mechanic that does fair price. I'll ring him as soon as I get the part.

The costs reflect how long the job takes, nothing more.

Never done it on a Punto, but I doubt the steering column requires removal.

Honestly, on some cars it's a much harder job, and thus, many mechanics will simply refuse a fixed quotation on it.

I once (never again) fitted a gearbox in the street. It took ages because I'd never done any serious work on that model before and needed to source other s/h bits as the job progressed. But it got done.

Labour charges don't vary that much in a given area, whether it's a £700 FIAT or a £70,000 Maserati. Why should they?

It Needs to, needs really, it's a big ****ty job, I done it myself, took around 3-4 hours, maybe 5, but wasted time on discovering where to find hidden screws (guides wasn't clear enough). Can be done, nothing impossible, but not easy easy job. Must removed the dashboard, not necessary to remove it from the car, but must be moved.

For critical solution you can exclude the heater by connecting together the two tubes in the engine bay. I made this one winter, but in Italy the winter wasn't so critical like in uk (got sick too, by the way), on next winter I made the job

I'd be glad to do it myself, but my problem is that I don't have a covered place where to do the job.

I could go to a Sainsbury's with closed parking in an afternoon when it is not too crowded, but I think that somebody looking at me when undoing the dashboard in my Punto will be able to call a psychiatric team and get me in a clinic.

Or waiting for the weather to be a bit nicer and doing it when it's sunny. My main problem (apart from the closed space) is that I want to start the job, do it, and re-assembly the dashboard immediately after. I'll try to use "K-seal" replacing all the coolant fluid, but that's just a temporary trick: that f***ing radiator must go. And a new one has to come.

It is a horrible job.

You pays your money, you take your choice!

You do not need to remove the steering column, just the dashboard. The steering column is left in situ. Although it does help to remove the steering wheel itself.

Maybe I'm calling in wrong way the pieces, but the steering wheel must be putted on the ground, like here:



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I done this like that, wihouth taking the dashboard outside the car.

The "heater station" (plastic big box at the centre where heater is) probably maybe is "glued" to the sound isolation, could seem bolted even if all bolts are removed (engine bay). Just push out with Hulk force very very hard.

Here also some pics that could be useful.

Everything from left side drive, but I don't know if the bolts are side switched on yours. Hope it helps someway.

Good job, take a beer for angry moments

Yes you need to remove the steering wheel using a 24mm socket, but not the steering column itself.

The plastic steering column surround, yes.

Probably there are different ways for the job done, I didn't removed the wheel but putted on the ground all the column.