Punto (Mk2/2b) Evening all....

[MartinT]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen,

My 19 yo lad has been given a 2004 Punto 1.2 8v Active as his first car, so joined up as I’m pretty sure I’ll be needing some of the wealth of info and experience on here at some point!

Unfortunately his first outing didn’t go too well, after 10 miles the forward / back gear selector cable broke, so that’s the first job that I hope to do tomorrow.

Front bumper is also in a bit of a state, but found one in the same colour code on eBay for less than 40 quid, so that’s another job over lockdown Christmas. The replacement is from a Sport so looks a little nicer - hopefully it has the same mounting points!

Bit concerned about the headlight fitment, looks like they may have been ‘aimed‘ with the unit mounting rather than the adjusters - possibly the adjusters are broken - will know more when I take a look during the bumper swap.

Couple of other minor bits to look at like the wiper linkages and the 5th gear gate seems a bit ‘misaligned’ it that makes any sense - not sure if anything can be done with that or not.

Other than that, the little 1.2 engine seems pretty strong, bit of an oil weep but nothing too serious. Not checked underneath for rust yet, guess I’ll have a good view tomorrow when I have it in the air to change the gear selector cable.

:wave:

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi to you both

The cars are pretty robust.. and motors are sound

Things that will kill it:

Low coolant

Low oil

RUST..

Powersteering failure

The 8v motor.. if it has a rubber bung oil filler.. is Safe type.. so no rush for a cambelt

HUGE amount of mk2 info on here

SEARCH is great.. but ..unfortunately they are getting rarer nowadays.. both here and on UK roads


Things to sort NOW :

Spare key

Oil the bonnet release cable and mech

Check coolant system

Check over sills and floorpan

Wipers are a pain.. plenty of fixes available

Charlie

 

[MartinT]

Thanks for the reply

Yeah, forgot the key, only has one blue key ATM. Had a 1995 Punto years ago which I paid £££ for an additional blue and new red key, but looking on here it looks like I can get away with just a spare blue key for ~£70?

Had a new clutch and refurbished steering column in the last couple of years, so hopefully they are both ok for the time being at least.

Wasn’t aware of the bonnet release issue - will do a search on that one.

 

[varesecrazy]

No problem

I liked the mk2.. had a very nice 1.2
8 valve.. before I needed an auto and sold it

When that snapped its cable.. thankfully..
It popped the bonnet..then failed

Failing when shut makes it hard work

 

[judderbar]

When I did the bumper and followed the Haynes instructions it was not clear to me how to remove all the bolts holding the bumper to the wing. If you look up from below with your safety glasses on you can find a point where you can see up behind the place where the mudguard is attached and see one of the bolts and reach it with extensions from inside the bumper. The picture shows the approx position you need to work from inside. There is also a bolt you can see from inside the wheel arch for the headlight which might have to be removed. it is fairly obvious if its nice and shiny........once you see it.

 

[MartinT]

Cheers for that always good to have a head start on the position of hidden fixings

 

[varesecrazy]

Bonnet cable info:
https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2...mk2-2b-bonnet-release-cable-17.html?p=4533594

 

[judderbar]

This man makes this bumper job look very easy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=k2KiSAXcu-Y

He does not need to remove the headlight bolt and the bolt I was reaching from totally under the car he just finds with his fingers from the wheel arch. When he actually removes the torx bolt it is very clear where that bolt is visibly rotating from outside the wing.

Which means I am tempted to take the bumper off and give the radiator beam the 5 year inspection.

 

[MartinT]

Yep found that video too. Like you say, doesn’t look too difficult, although assuming the fixings have rusted to some extent (what fixing wouldn’t on a 16 year old Fiat!) then the difficulty may be getting enough torque on the bolts working from inside the wheel arch. I’m tempted to buy a cordless impact wrench - thankfully all my cars and bikes have been new in recent times and not needed one, but if I’m going to be helping my lad with this car then in might be worth it!

 

[judderbar]

Yep found that video too. Like you say, doesn’t look too difficult, although assuming the fixings have rusted to some extent (what fixing wouldn’t on a 16 year old Fiat!) then the difficulty may be getting enough torque on the bolts working from inside the wheel arch. I’m tempted to buy a cordless impact wrench - thankfully all my cars and bikes have been new in recent times and not needed one, but if I’m going to be helping my lad with this car then in might be worth it!

if you have front mudguards that torx bolt is going to be fine i think. The ones underneath will be more of a problem.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Front...e:Fiat&hash=item36630baa4c:g:OwMAAOSw1bpewra0

 

[MartinT]

The mighty Punto lives!

Gear selector cable replaced without fuss and a slight adjustment of the second cable has restored 5th, so now it slips into every gear with ease ?

 

[varesecrazy]

Good stuff !

Do check its Duckbills.. before the next batch of rain