Grande Punto power steering issue.. 1st post, please help

[pixielou01]

I have a 06 punto grande sport and it has just failed its mot because of an electrical fault on the power steering. The garage have advised me I will have to go to the fiat dealership and will cost approx £600 . The steering pulls to the left and does not fully return to central position automatically.. Does anyone know if a replacement steering column would repair this issue or do I have to go through the dealership?

 

[User Not Found]

I have an 06 1.4 16v sporting and had the exact same issues as you. Turns out that its quite a common fault on the earlier grande puntos,for after a few years, the sensors fail. hence the left one pulling stronger than the right one (or vice versa). Anyway, I went to fiat and they wanted nearer £900 for a new steering column, plus they were quite rude so i decided to shop around. Basically, the long and short of it is that I could'nt find anywhere except for a fiat dealer that could fix it because they need specialist equipment to do so etc etc.
However I did find this small company; http://www.westernpowersteering.co.uk/html/fiat_punto.htm

who did the job for me in under 2 hours for I think it was £300. That included a 2 year warrenty on the parts too (official fiat parts). The bloke was very friendly, fair price, could'nt ask for me. It was bit of a drive for me, being in Manchester and him being in Bristol however it was well worth it as I've saved hundreds and the car feels great now.

 

[jameshobiecat]

Carlick said it all. Time to plan a trip to bristol.

 

[T14086]

Loads of places do refurbished columns (£200-250) or look on ebay, get it sent to your address and fit it yourself or get someone/local garage to do it for you, £50