General General advice

[Evo201190k]

Hi all,
Im sure lots of my qs will have been answered, so excuse me.
Just brought a 2011 punto evo active 1.4. Paid 1.3k . Spent 300 on service.
A “get used to a car” as I haven’t driven for like 20 years. Mot and serviced once brought..

A few qs if anyone has do advise please?

* is it worth getting the skid plate ? Was advised this is missing . Saw a thread saying, this petrol version didn’t come with one, it heats up the engine and not needed. Thoughts ?

* timing belt ? Is it worth it? Costs half the cost of the car to get a new one .getting £600 quotes fo belt, pump and aux belt. i only expect to drive it, say a year to build a no claims and upgrade to a Porsche or something nice. .

* any owners have issues, comments or views, observations Good to get thoughts . It’s a nice runner for its age. And I treat it like gold . Any comments would be useful
Thanks

 

[GrandePunto PL]

For a 1 year?
Check the timing belt. Top cover is only 3 bolts (10 mm). See if it's cracked.
If not leave it alone.
Don't buy stuff, not worth it.
Do an oil change, that's it.

 

[bugsymike]

Hi all,
Im sure lots of my qs will have been answered, so excuse me.
Just brought a 2011 punto evo active 1.4. Paid 1.3k . Spent 300 on service.
A “get used to a car” as I haven’t driven for like 20 years. Mot and serviced once brought..

A few qs if anyone has do advise please?

* is it worth getting the skid plate ? Was advised this is missing . Saw a thread saying, this petrol version didn’t come with one, it heats up the engine and not needed. Thoughts ?

* timing belt ? Is it worth it? Costs half the cost of the car to get a new one .getting £600 quotes fo belt, pump and aux belt. i only expect to drive it, say a year to build a no claims and upgrade to a Porsche or something nice. .

* any owners have issues, comments or views, observations Good to get thoughts . It’s a nice runner for its age. And I treat it like gold . Any comments would be useful
Thanks

Do you have any service history, according to my books it should have cam belt changed at 72.000 miles or five years which ever sooner so in an ideal World it would be on it's third belt by now.
I understand your thoughts about spending money given the costs of the job, basically you either take a chance and fingers crossed and accept if belt goes then car scrap with blown engine.
Never heard of factory undershield causing hot running.

 

[Evo201190k]

For a 1 year?
Check the timing belt. Top cover is only 3 bolts (10 mm). See if it's cracked.
If not leave it alone.
Don't buy stuff, not worth it.
Do an oil change, that's it.

Thanks for the reply. Yep I’m only planning to have it for a year. Oil and the other fluids and filters and spark plugs were changed. ( oil apparently was in bad condition).
How do I go about checking the timing belt please?

 

[Evo201190k]

No service history log. But I did get a full service a month ago, from a family friend mechanic. Bro in law doesn’t trust him lol. But took i took it to the free basic health checks at Halfords, kwikfit and a free one when I signed up to RAC. And they said generally it’s good, bar the missing skid plate and advisory rust on the suspension. And the main thing they said was about the belt

 

[Evo201190k]

Also a bit concerned with all these uncovered wires? And recommended tapes to cover? Should this have been sorted during the service?

 

[GrandePunto PL]

Wiring is OK (for an old car), don't "fix" it.

 

[Evo201190k]

Wiring is OK (for an old car), don't "fix" it.

As in don’t put any tape or cloth insulation around those exposed ends? In my ignorance, why?

 

[Zardo]

Also a bit concerned with all these uncovered wires? And recommended tapes to cover? Should this have been sorted during the service?

I believe it came out of the factory like this

 

[GrandePunto PL]

Look at the plastic protective tubing, conduit. There is a cut along the whole length.
This is mechanical protection only, it is not about sealing (wiring must "breathe"). Plus the split let's you repair the loom (replace one wire etc.).
By wrapping the exposed ends with electrical tape, you can make it worse, mechanically concentrate stress precisely at the exposed wires (unless you also glue the tape itself to the part (lamp housing, or whatever). Let the conduit move a bit (leave ends free like factory does).
But not too much movement (exposed wires should not hold, support the wiring harness weight), like conduit flapping around the engine bay.
Those torn cloth tape pieces are mostly cosmetic issue at this point. You can remove them or replace (doesn't matter much).

 

[AnthonyH]

No skid plate needed.

No timing belt replacement needed.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Zardo]

No skid plate needed.

No timing belt replacement needed.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

A bit risky if the timing belt is the original one from 2011
Also if the car breaks down somewhere on the road because of the belt, not only will it be totalled but you'll also have to tow it to a scrape yard which might generate additional costs

 

[Evo201190k]

That’s the engine. Is there an easy way to check the belts condition ?

 

[GrandePunto PL]

Comprehension check. Read the thread again.
Told you, it's 3 small bolts and you can see the timing belt (cracks, is it running on the edge of the VVT wheel, is it loose).
Watch any YouTube video (timing belt job) or find forum posts (maybe even a Guide - Grande Punto section).

 

[Evo201190k]

Thanks , I’m not a mechanic and there is only one set of 3 bolts which don’t look easy to remove . YouTube only shows once these 3 bolts have been removed . Not how or what to remove to see the belt. And I don’t know what those arrows point too . Looks like the oil cap and 3 big bolts

 

[Zardo]

You could try and contact the previous owners and ask them if the timing belt was replaced, or maybe ask the garage which did the servicing for that vehicle. However, whatever they tell you might not be trustworthy. When my father bought a used, 10 year old car with similar mileage (turbo-diesel), the seller, an official garage, told him the belt was replaced. Only it wasn't since it ruptured about 10 months later on the german autobahn, when shifting gears and erroneously applying slightly too much double-clutch gas on the accelerator when shifting to a higher gear. The timing belt ruptured and engine pull and noise were suddenly gone forever.

 

[Evo201190k]

yep the dealership are morons. Won’t give a receipt cause of its low value and started moaning about the price after they agreed it. They said it wasn’t serviced when they acquired it. However thanks for all for the advice and tips. I’ll figure how to remove that engine cover to expose the belt.