Technical Punto ELX Steering Rack

[Martin]

I have a 3 yr old ELX which is now on it's 4th steering rack. The dealer insists there is nothing wrong with the car and the fualt is in the design of the steering racks. Has anyone else experienced this problem. it manifests itself as a knocking whilst turning the wheel.

 

[cspiteri]

I have the same symptoms...they developed after about 12 months from when i purchased it. I took it back to the Fiat people from where i bought it and told me that there is something that loosens itself every so often. It was all fine until i drove over a really big pothole and i started hearing it again. The mechs never mentioned any faulty designs though, and never changed anything as far as i know. They also said it's not a serious problem.

 

[Phil]

My ELX (`94) also makes ominous noises when the steering is taken off from full lock. I had a garage look at it and the nut (or whatever fixing) at the end had not been "staked in" by the factory, so it could work loose and the bearings inside the rack could move above a lot more. This causing the knock-on effect of early wear. Luckily the garage were very helpful in that they took it apart, packed it with grease and tighted it right up. Only now, about 2 years after this happened the knocking noise is starting to come back,- but I dont think its going to fail the MOT test sometime soon!