Punto (Mk1) 1994 Punto Cabriolet ELX 90

[Didge3]

Not sure I see the point of turning it round when blanking though. Is it something to do with not getting an eml? Are the blanking intake side or exhaust side? I suppose if you blank inlet side and then let the egr vent the exhaust gases into engine bay you may trick some older ecu that it's working and not get a code but not sure I like the idea of that myself.

You rotate it just so its still mounted and plugged into ECU so you don't get EML but since its now rotated into just open air its not actually doing anything...

 

[blu73]

i see... i can't see why the valve can't open and close if its just attached normally but blanked.. never really been able to figure out how the ecu can tell they are blanked as its just opens and closes a solenoid - i guess if i knew what sensors its reading to decide when to open and close it i might be able to understand this but as i see it having had a few in my hand if you blank it and leave it where it is the ecu should still be able to open and close the solenoid and there is no pressure sensors to tell it nothing is flowing through it as far as i can tell... perhaps i should do some more reading, i just don't really care enough about it to do so lol.

 

[Didge3]

i see... i can't see why the valve can't open and close if its just attached normally but blanked..

The solenoid pushes the valve down into the part you're blanking off, so if you installed the valve on top of the blanking plate it wouldn't be able to open.

 

[blu73]

Mmmm not on the ones I've had off but fair enough guess that's possible on some designs

 

[Didge3]

Did some more cleaning off the engine block today, pretty much got all the oil crud off the front of the engine now so hopefully I'll now decipher where an oil leak is coming from.



I took the EGR off too, wasn't particularly dirty, had a bit of carbon build up around the valve itself but it came off very easily, you can see where it mounts to the engine, the valve on the EGR itself pushes out into the upper hole pictured.

Just out of curiosity just above the spark plug for cylinder 1 there is a sensor with a red boot/cover for the connection, is it a knock sensor?

And lastly revisiting the topic of the 1.6's ability to destroy the throttle body pipe. The problem seems to be you have to remove it from the airbox in order to change the filter, and to get it off involves a lot of tugging and twisting of it, so over the years it gets weaker and weaker until mine and it seems many others break.
Mine is very split...

However I've come up with an idea to fix it, the part of the hose that enters the throttle body is very solid and doesn't have any real flex (the end on the left in the photo below), so I'm thinking if I cut the hose roughly where that white ziptie is on mine, and replace the torn bit with a 90° silicon bend and juiblee clip the two together?
The MAF sensor and oil breather T into the bit I'd be keeping so that's not a problem.



Thoughts?

 

[chesh]

Red unit is a coolant temp sensor that is sending a signal to your speedo.

There is also another coolant temp sensor on the thermostat's housing which sends signal to the ECU.

 

[Didge3]

Red unit is a coolant temp sensor that is sending a signal to your speedo.

There is also another coolant temp sensor on the thermostat's housing which sends signal to the ECU.

Thank you, I saw the one on the thermostat so had ruled this out as being one
Do you know if the 1.6 has a knock sensor?

 

[chesh]

Thank you, I saw the one on the thermostat so had ruled this out as being one
Do you know if the 1.6 has a knock sensor?

It does not have. nor MAF sensor.
It has just a Cranksensor, and the one that connects to the intake is called an "Intake Air Temperature Sensor" (IAT), and does not measure the air flow.

 

[Didge3]

Intention today was to strip down the brakes, clean everything up and check if anything needs replacing. Problem is my wheel bolts have been over-tightened to hell and back. After failing to loosen them initially I got some plusgas and sprayed it liberally and left it for an hour or so and then attacked them with my breaker bar, all I was achieving was rocking the car back and fourth with all my might but the wheel bolts won't budge, literally all of them are stuck. So I got fed up and stood on my breaker bar, snap! The end of the breaker bar sheered off :bang: The socket I was using is fine but my breaker bar which I've never had an issue with in the last ~3 years has completely sheered

So looks like I wont be taking any of the wheels off until its Taxed and insured so I can take it to a garage with actual tools

Currently ordering bits for my idea to replace half of the TB hose with a silicone hose.

 

[blu73]

wow they sound tight tight lol... air powered impact will prob get them out without too much hassle though so leave them for now i guess.

Please don't get blue silicone pipe, black ftw!

 

[Didge3]

wow they sound tight tight lol... air powered impact will prob get them out without too much hassle though so leave them for now i guess.

Please don't get blue silicone pipe, black ftw!

I have ordered black don't you worry. I would never disgrace my engine bay with blue silicone, I don't know what everybody's obsession with blue is

 

[blu73]

Good lad.

 

[Didge3]

I have successfully repaired/replaced the intake pipe

Bought some silicone pipe with a 45° elbow in it.


Cut the end torn bit off the old pipe and handily the new pipe slides right over it.




Measured, cut, measured again, cut a bit more until I eventually had the right length.
Few jubilee clips later and success a new intake that shouldn't break now


Will probably write up a little guide at some point as I assume a lot of 90's are like this.

Dropped my pen cap when I was marking where to cut the hose and of course it landed between the engine block and the starter motor, tried to retrieve it but only made it worse so that'll be there until it either melts or if I ever remove the starter (highly unlikely).

Engine is clean as its ever going to be, started cleaning up the sump with some brake cleaner and as always the way ended up using the whole can cleaning just about everything (well I ended up using the last of the can when I forgot it was under the car and lowered it straight down onto said can )

 

[blu73]

I've unloaded so many cans of brake cleaner on the panda engine and general bay area - need to order some more actually as i ran out the other day. Something you should just buy in bulk, I use so much brake cleaner its silly.

So have you just pushed the pipe inside the silicone and stuck a jubilee clip round it or is there a actual joiner piece inside there??

 

[Didge3]

I've unloaded so many cans of brake cleaner on the panda engine and general bay area - need to order some more actually as i ran out the other day. Something you should just buy in bulk, I use so much brake cleaner its silly.

So have you just pushed the pipe inside the silicone and stuck a jubilee clip round it or is there a actual joiner piece inside there??

Theres a 50mm metal joiner piece yes

 

[renaultvation]

Inspired by your engine cleaning, I decided to the same to Bertie. He has been dripping oil for years and I am having a new driveway laid in July. I used a combination of Gunk a stiff brush and a steam cleaner. With a clean engine I quickly discovered the problem - the cam cover gasket. £5 at my local motor factors for a new gasket and the job was soon done. I now have a leak free engine!

 

[Didge3]

Inspired by blu73 and his work on my old Panda I decided to wash the Punto and try to give it a polish, historically I haven't had much polish as they always seem to come out looking the same... But this time I took my time (about 3hrs in fact) and successfully polished half the car!

These scratches (just two of many) I have managed to completely remove!





Now the panel is shiny and clear from scratches along with some other previously scratched areas of the car



And at last I finally have a picture of the car that I'm proud of! (Well this side of the car...)



Tomorrow I plan to do the other side

 

[renaultvation]

How is the lacquer on yours? I need to respray the bonnet and the header above the windscreen on Bertie. Also need to remove the dent in the passenger door where my son pushed the door shut with his bum!

 

[Didge3]

How is the lacquer on yours? I need to respray the bonnet and the header above the windscreen on Bertie. Also need to remove the dent in the passenger door where my son pushed the door shut with his bum!

The lacquer is actually fine, no areas I can find it peeling or in anyway faded. The main annoyance is the dents and chips, ideally I need a whole new bonnet, mine has 2 dents in it and about 1000 chips which have gone straight through the paint and resulted in little rusty dots

The car has a lot of small scrapes (some of which I managed to polish out yesterday) but the ones that are deeper than the paint a previous owner has attempted to re-paint.... not only are these areas incredibly uneven but its not even remotely the same colour at least they tried

 

[blu73]

a mk1 without lacquer peel, amazing! lol