"Dynamic" HELLO !

[hornbeck]

Guess what i drive lol

Anyway, i've got a problem and need a part or two... Turns out my car had previously been front ended, and whoever put it back on the road just grabbed a punto grande dashboard and threw it in, hoping for the best.

Now i've got several computers that are refusing to speak with each other and i can't shut the damn seat belt noise up... every time i start driving, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding for about a minute and a half.

Apparently i need a set of clocks with the part number 51834181 otherwise it's ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding for life

 

[a1ant]

Hi and WELCOME TO THE FORUM! :wave:

I see you have got a wanted add up already for the clocks!

Good luck fixing up you GP, dont forget to post in the Grande Punto section if you require any advice/ info.

Alan

 

[portland_bill]

The replacement dash would have been because the passenger airbag had deployed, leaving a large hole.

If you are the next owner, the previous owner's name is on the registration document. Ask them if they repaired it, or if they know who did. Or ask whoever sold it to you. Last owner's insurance company may have sold it on to a scrappy, who sold it to someone who has repaired it. A bit of detective work may find the original clocks sat somewhere, not yet disposed of. Put them back in and hopefully car will be happy again.

May just need what is called a proxy alignment - making the computers accept each other. Hopefully someone else on here will confirm or deny this.

Good luck

 

[hornbeck]

If you are the next owner, the previous owner's name is on the registration document. Ask them if they repaired it, or if they know who did. Or ask whoever sold it to you. Last owner's insurance company may have sold it on to a scrappy, who sold it to someone who has repaired it. A bit of detective work may find the original clocks sat somewhere, not yet disposed of. Put them back in and hopefully car will be happy again.

May just need what is called a proxy alignment - making the computers accept each other. Hopefully someone else on here will confirm or deny this.

Good luck[/QUOTE]

HIT A BRICK WALL WITH THAT ONE (caps lock)... As i'm in london and the previous owner is in wolverhampton.

Milage is stuck on KPH instead of MPH, and i can't reset the clock to tell the right time either.

Took it down to Ancaster Fiat and they charged me 45 quid for a diagnostic investigation session that lasted all of two minutes... the 7 computers that make a ring network ain't talking to each other and the assumption from the tech guy is that the dash was replaced with the wrong clocks, however, the fee for clocks out and back in again is 90 quid.

All i wanna do is turn the soddin seatbelt warning alarm off...

Why do main dealer workshops have to be so bloody expensive? i mean if i pay the 90 quid and it turns out that the clocks are actually ok, then that's basically 150 quid for zero information... not the best exchange rate in my book.

And if the computers are in a loop, then why does the information only travel in one direction? Why can't it go backwards and forwards and do a precise print out of exactly what's wrong??? i mean they are all fiat parts after all.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi,
and welcome,

so your'e not prepared to travel to the midlands to get it sorted..,
where did you buy it then..??

sounds as if you've got a claim against whoever sold it !,

Charlie

 

[portland_bill]

HIT A BRICK WALL WITH THAT ONE (caps lock)... As i'm in london and the previous owner is in wolverhampton.

Try writing to them? A good, next day service is provided by the Royal Mail. In the is technological age, we seem to forget.

Try directory enquiries.

Talk to whoever you bought it from. If they are a trader, the car has to be roadworthy and legal. With different clocks, and the proxy alignment not done, mileage reading is likely to be that of the donor vehicle. They have a duty to fix this.

If this vehicle has had a bump and been fixed cheaply, it was probably a write-off. There was probably at least one trader involved in its journey from its original owner and you. Have you done an HPI check? Are your insurance company happy with the car, as their database will show if written off. If it shows no markers, are you sure you've got the right car? Check the VIN against the V5.

This forum cannot fix your problems, you have to do that. We can only give advice.

 

[hornbeck]

Found it on ebay about 18 months ago and it was a private sale.

Still cheap at 1600 quid, more so as at the time it still waited almost a year until its first MOT, and similar cars without history were about 6 grand.

I believe it was a cat d... in that it didn't need a certificate after being put back on the road, and the insurance company are ok with it.

So far i've changed the slam panel, front bumper, indicator stalk, sub frame, and a few other minor bits that i wasn't happy with, and the car still stands me in less than 2 grand, which is good for a 58 plate car... so i can't really complain that much, but after a year and a half, that set of clocks are well gone.

Someone did run a diagnostic shortly after i got it, and it appeared to be the seat belt clasps, as they've got wires, so i assumed that they'd been triggered and that i needed to locate a new pair, which would resolve the issue... sadly not the case.

Alls i need now is the clock cluster, with part number 51834181... which i no longer have to look up as its imprinted on me brain... kinda feel like JR Hartley with a yellow pages.

Wouldn't mind hearing more about a proxy do dah though, where you force the computers to recognise each other like a demented marriage guidance counsellor, as if nothing else, that option might at least allow me to add a few other part numbers to the list of potential donor clock clusters.

I'm used to points and condenser running an engine... all this ecu malarky is clearly daft, when parts made by the same manufacturer won't talk to each other because one has a second fag lighter or something equally as minor and pointless.

ho hum

 

[portland_bill]

A proxy alignment needs either the Fiat dealer's "examiner" tool, or software called MulitECUscan, (MES) the registered version. Search this forum for proxy alignment and see the MES threads. Have a good read.

Meanwhile, hopefully someone else will confirm whether that option might work in your case.

Identify where you are in London, there might be someone with a full version of MES near you who can help.

Might still be worth contacting the seller, even via Ebay, and ask what happened to the original clocks. The rest of the dash may well be damaged, but the clocks are likely to be fine. They could well be sat in a dusty corner somewhere.

Meanwhile, keep searching scrappers and Ebay for a set of clocks that might work. Even if you get the right ones, it'll still need a proxy alignment.

The mileage is electronic, partly to make alteration difficult. The computer has to be told to accept replacement clocks, otherwise they'd be swapped around willy-nilly to alter mileages. With a proxy alignment, I believe it will accept the same mileage as the body computer, or a higher one, but it won't allow you to reduce the mileage. It will also not allow setting to 999999.

 

[hornbeck]

A proxy alignment needs either the Fiat dealer's "examiner" tool, or MES.

Meanwhile, hopefully someone else will confirm whether that option might work in your case.

Identify where you are in London, there might be someone with a full version of MES near you

...................

which section of the forum should i post that under?

searching for someone with full dealer MES to carry out proxy alignment???

 

[portland_bill]

This post is already doing that. Modify your personal details to give an accurate location, or post it on here. Someone nearby may volunteer. No-one will volunteer if they don't know how far they'd have to travel, or where to.

 

[hornbeck]

Catford area... between lewisham and bromley, south east london