General New Punto..few issues.

[Chris_hlx]

I've just bought my girlfriend a 2000 1.2 elx. Got it cheap as it needs a few jobs doing.

Jobs so far are:
The car is blue but the tailgate and rear bumper are black, no signs of any accident damage and the last owner bought it like it so god knows why!

Few interior trim bits missing and or damaged. Nothing major and that can't be lived with for now.

Brakes are getting low so will all be being replaced.

Radio is falling out and doesn't work. Aerial is missing.

Car has been keyed on most panels but has only gone down to bare metal in a couple of places. A day with a large tube of cutting cimpound will remove most of them.

And finally the one thats got me confused. I've read about the steering issues with these cars, just not the one I've got. The steering isn't heavy,no warning lights on the dash, the city button still works. However the steering wheel is on sideways??ie the horn symbol is pointing straight up when you're going in a straight line. Doesn't effect the steering but the indicators cancel at the wrong times and you can't see the speedo over 55mph!

Anyone come across this before? Is it gonna be a case of removing the wheel and putting it back on straight or the has the tracking justbeen done totally wrong? Car drives in a straight line so the actual tracking is fine.

I'll be having a good look at it tomorrow but thought I'd ask on here first, see if anyone could help!

Cheers.

 

[s and b]

take the wheel off see if it can be turned round
really havent taken any notice but i thought they only fitted in one position

its more likely they fitted the downshaft to the rack on the uj in the car by your feet with the steering wheel not locked on centralisation position
thing is if this is the case then in one lock to lock position you will be straining the clockspring wires for the airbag
remember to disconnect battery for 12 minutes before removing airbag in steering wheel

 

[Ziggy122]

i hope some knob in a garage somewhere hasn't messed about with the track rods lengths to make it do that

And i thought the wheel only went on 1 way, but everybody says put wheels straight and set the wheel straight...

Also When you say its Blue with Black bumpers
Do you mean like this

If so - this is a Standard Punto, the vanilla version (punto and Punto mia oh and Punto van)

But the active/sport/active sport/elx/hlx/HGT etc all have nice CC'd bumpers

Missing trim - visit a breaker yard - get the parts cheap - give them a damn good clean and fit them While there - get an ariel base / ariel

The stereo dropping out means its not sat correctly

Key'd pannels will require alot of polishing, the Key'd to bare metal will require filling with colour and sanding then polishing

Ziggy

 

[Chris_hlx]

I always thought the wheel only went on one way..guess there's only one way to find out! The steering is straight even though the wheel isn't, its equal turns to full lock both ways. I'm going toc heck the track rod lengths later before I remove anything, for how far round it is any problems with them should be very noticeable.

Re the pic. Basically no! The car is the same blue as that, the front bumper is colour coded. The rear is like the one in the pic and the tailgate is black. If I find one being broken in the right colour I'll change them, for now I'm not to bothered.

There's a rather large breakers yard just round the corner from me that will def be getting a visit once I work out all I need.

The stereo is more out than in at the moment but I've fitted enough over the years to sort that out.

I've got all the tools to get rid of the keyed scratches, done it once or twice before. From initial inspection the only ones down to bare metal are on the bonnet. Might just do these as best I can without repainting them then either respray the bonnet or replace it. Seems to be a common colour so getting the right colour panels shouldn't be a problem.

Car will be parked in Asda car park everyday with everyone that can't park, doesn't know how to hold a door when opening it and trolleys with minds of their own. (Can't say anything about my girlfriends driving you can read this!!) So I'm not to bothered about it being perfect, hence why I got it.

 

[Chris_hlx]

Quick update for you.

Wonky steering wheel has been corrected. Tracking had been done very badly, garage couldn't believe how bad in fact. So now the steering wheel and wheels are pointing in the same direction!

Been hunting around in the boot and I'm guessing the odd colour tailgate is due to the back window being smashed at some stage, the bumper looks as if its been reversed into something at slow speed. Nothing serious but explains why they don't match the rest of the car.

Found out the passenger seat didn't tilt, was missing half its bolts and very loose so a trip to the local breakers and a replacement is now fitted.

Radio is working properly and correctly fitted now. Reason it was sticking out was a connects2 ipod lead and rcas. Quick and easy fix.

On the lookout for a replacement bonnet, tailgate and rear bumper then I can concerntrate on the rest of the scratches.