Technical Fiat punto mk2b starting problems

[Fiatpuntomk2b]

My mk2b has had a problem for about a year now but it has never bothered me as I knew how to get around it . But I have recently handed the car over to my dad who wants to get in the car and drive it without worrying about anything . So the problem

Every morning whether its cold , hot,sunny, raining most weather really the car doesn't like to fire up . It struggles to start , normally i just remove the negative cable off the battery and it starts . I would normally drive about 20minutes to work and about the same home at dinnertime other than that it's left all day, but when I get back to it later in the day it fails to start again.

I've had a new battery put on and had the alternator checked at work and they've said everything's fine .

I don't know what to do now . Everything on the car electrical wise is standard apart from a blackbox installed by my previous insurance (I need to remove this but I'm not sure how too )

Anyone have any advise on what to.check ?

 

[flisko]

crank sensor

 

[Fiatpuntomk2b]

Would it still try and crank ? It behaves like the battery is flat even though the battery is brand new

 

[flisko]

with bad crank sensor car would crank normally just not start up
check earth points on chassis, just follow - negative battery cable and you will find bolt to chassis and check it

 

[murfman53]

Hi,

Have you considered your starter motor, particularly the solenoid.

John.

 

[flisko]

Hi,

Have you considered your starter motor, particularly the solenoid.

John.

wouldnt bad starter just make a click when trying to start it and not actualy crank

 

[murfman53]

wouldnt bad starter just make a click when trying to start it and not actualy crank

Yes you're dead right. But thats assuming the contacts within the solenoid have burnt out altogether. What if they were just making poor connections within the soleenoid, the result could be slow and lazy turn over when cranking the engine. You did mention that you noticed the engine wasn't cranking great................even with a good battery. If the cranking speed was good and constant however, then I would then look closely at your crank sensor, as has been suggested.
Closely look at your cable connections to the starter motor, and try and start the engine.Then turn off. Then check the cables again, and see if any are HOT too touch. If any are hot, its usually an earth is the fault. Like to know how you get on, your problem could be mine any time.

John.

 

[jazz452]

Don't give enough details, are you removing the cable to stop battery going flat? Is it petrol or diesel?

 

[quaffle]

It struggles to start , normally i just remove the negative cable off the battery and it starts .

Hi mate. Assuming you mean you disconnect the battery and reconnect it and it starts this suggests the solenoid is at fault. A new solenoid/starter motor unit is about £40.

 

[Fiatpuntomk2b]

Just too update you guys charged the battery all last night. Come home from work at 6pm and fit it . Car was unresponsive and didn't turn over dash lights but but car doesn't turn over or fire. I'm getting a warning of gearbox failure and max temp warning . I've found some.burnt out wires in a connector behind the ps headlamp bolted on to the chassis. I'm in the process of removing the bumper so. I can remove the headlamp to gain a bit more access .Anyone know what this connector is for ? Can you get one off fiat separately or would you need to buy a loom ?

 

[flisko]

make pic

 

[Fiatpuntomk2b]

Here you go. Directly behind the ps headlamp bolted to the chassis. You can see the melted wire .

 

[flisko]

dunno what that connector or wire is, could be for rear wiper
but still that wouldnt affect starting

 

[multipete]

It's an earthing block.Alows lots of wires to be earthed at one point

 

[quaffle]

Yeh that's an earthing point. You can put some electrical tape round that wire and tidy it up a bit while you're there but it is probably unrelated.

 

[Fiatpuntomk2b]

It's an earthing block.Alows lots of wires to be earthed at one point

That's what I wanted to hear. This could be the cause of my problems then.

 

[multipete]

Let's hope so.

 

[Fiatpuntomk2b]

I fear this could be the end for my punto stripped the tape of the loom near the earth connector block and it seems the wire is burnt all the way down.to a sensor for the gearbox ( I think ) . Does anyone know if fiat do a repair kit for looms , I work at a peugeot dealership and we supply connector blocks and some wiring for looms . I fear a new earth block and the sensor would come with a complete new loom which would out way the value of the car. See attached pictures and as always any help is really appreciated

 

[Ziggy122]

Scrapyard loom probably next option?

Or cut anf strip damaged wires and earth them manually else where, as clearly rot has gotten in (water) and caused high resistance and therefor excessive current and overheated the cables

Tbh id go down routr of stripping the damaged bits out and just putting new cable in and re-earthing it elsewhere

Ziggy

 

[Fiatpuntomk2b]

Scrapyard loom probably next option?

Or cut anf strip damaged wires and earth them manually else where, as clearly rot has gotten in (water) and caused high resistance and therefor excessive current and overheated the cables

Tbh id go down routr of stripping the damaged bits out and just putting new cable in and re-earthing it elsewhere

Ziggy

This is probably my best option to be honest. What is the name of the sensor that is also burnt ?