Grande Punto Punto Grande help please

[les1466]

Hi, I know I am probably not posting the correct section here but for some reason I keep getting a message saying I do-not have permission to post in the F.A.Q's section.

My question is:
I have a 65 plate Punto Grande selespeed semi automatic. Last week I started noticing a juddering while the car was changing gear, mainly from first to second and when reversing. I also noticed an oil symbol light up briefly in the speedo clock and a message appeared on the LCD display saying "transmission - check handbook". I do-not have the handbook so I took the car to a garage near me as I thought it probably needed the gearbox oil changing with the oil symbol lighting up. I payed to have this changed. The problem still occurred so I took it back to the garage and they ran it through a diagnostics machine and it shown an error message number P17444. Hydraulic circuit pressure sensor.

Does anyone know what a hydraulic circuit pressure sensor is, where it is located on the car, where I will get one from and roughly how much they are??

The garage did not seem to want to know as my car is a Fiat. They said to contact Fiat, but the likely hood that they would know what the part or the fault code will be would be practically zero!!

The car drives fine when it is in motion but feels worse after it has warmed up a running a while. I can judder quite badly when starting in first gear at lights.

Any help and recommendations for a good cheap mechanic to fix this problem in the Manchester (UK) area would be really appreciated.

Thank you.

Les

 

[varesecrazy]

hi, and welcome to FF,

firstly don't go back to that garage - they dont sound too helpful,


Basically your semi-auto gearbox is common to lots of FIAT group cars,
your best - most cost effective - option is to find a good FIAT / Alfa Romeo specialist ( they will deal with these things daily) and have all the right info and test gear,
they are usualyy in small units on industrial estates , so dont have the HUGE overheads of FIAT maindealers,

It may not be a Really cheap fix - but a LOT less that leaving it to the FIAT dealerships - "lets try this" approach,
good luck,
Charlie

 

[les1466]

The problem is finding one of these garages that deal with Fiats. I used to own a Stilo Abarth selespeed and that was a nightmare, unless it was obvious stuff, to find people to repair them.
This garage I went to is a proper garage and had a £4000 Snap On diagnostics machine that said what the fault was. The reason they looked like there wasnt interested was because they couldnt find the part from their supplier and no-one seemed to know what it is?? This was the reason I am asking on here in case someone does know what this part is, where I can get it from etc.
The main problem I have is the car is not a standard car as such, they very uncommon and very few about, apparently??? I even rang a main Fiat dealership and what the mechanic I used made total sense!! I rang asking if they knew what could cause the oil indicator to appear and the message on the LCD display and was told. "I cant understand how you can get a message on the display telling of a fault as there is no sensor on my car to indicate this". Well how did I see it then??? That was off a Fiat main dealer master technician!!
See my problem? thats the reason I am asking on here.

Also, does anybody else have one of these Punto's? Mine is a 1.4 and extremely slow off the start. I bought the car just over a month ago and aside from the problem I am having the car is in ridiculously clean condition. I love the car, its half the costs in insurance and I save quite a bit on petrol, its just very slow to get off the mark. Is this how they are and its because Ive gone from a 2.4 Abarth to this? Or should it be quite quick off the start??
Is there some place where I could take the car to see if its hitting its spec correctly? I dont mean just a diagnostics machine, this only shows faults if they appear, I mean something shows exactly how the car should run and if there is anything not running right? I think I may just be getting paranoid about the slow start because i was used t a much bigger engine, but it would nice to get the car fully checked over as well.

Thanks
Les

 

[TallTom]

You have lots 1000cc capacity, it will be noticeably slower

Abarth Stilo around 8.5 seconds or something to 60, 1.4 Auto probably closer to 12-13 seconds even though it might be a lighter car.

 

[Magic Johnson]

New gearbox possibly? How old is it? Miles?

 

[les1466]

Hi, no I doubt very much it is the gear box, its only just done 21,000 miles. The car runs fiine, its just an initial juddering in first gear and reversing.

TallTom... I dont understand what you are saying? Do you mean its normal that its that slow when starting off or that I should have more?? I dont understand what you mean by,
"You have lots 1000cc capacity, it will be noticeably slower".

Thanks
Les

 

[Magic Johnson]

It could be:

Clutch
Box itself
engine mounts
gearbox mount

it could be anything, I suggest you take it to a proper garage that don't rely always on ECU scanners to tell them what is wrong with a car.

 

[les1466]

Yes its looking that way Magic Johnson... I'll do a search for Fiat garages in Manchester.
If anyone can recommend someone that would be great?

Thanks

 

[les1466]

Does anyone know where I can get a service manual for this car... Or gearbox and around the gearbox diagrams? I cannot find a single thing about these selespeed Punto's, it's a real nightmare trying to get information??

 

[Magic Johnson]

Don't have to be FIAT, there are some cracking independents out there. It's hardly a specialist car either.

 

[Magic Johnson]

Some info:

Selespeed is a MANUAL gearbox at heart with an auto clutch, so there are intricacies.
a. Jerkiness. it will jerk every gear change until you find out how to drive properly. tis is normal, coz if you drove a manual before, manuals will have a slight lag when the you clutch in to change the gear. Applying this reasoning will let you know why selespeeds "jerk". Some can accept it, some cant.
b. Because it is a manual, the car will roll back on a slope. Conventional auto will move the car always but a manual does not until the clutch is engaged.
c. Selespeed problems. Like its DSG counterparts, it is a complex system, so only 2 workshops can put an X to the fault. AS & AC. It will have minor hiccups here and then but otherwise, it works like a charm. Basically, you can shift up / down while on auto. If in auto, the car will automatically shift gears for you depending on speed. If on manual, it won't

 

[les1466]

No, I do know how to drive these, before this I had a Stilo Abarth with selespeed for 4 years, that why I bought this, I love the selespeed gears... Also, the car has been driving perfect, this has only recently started doing this.

I actually think it could be something to do with the selespeed rather than the gearbox. When I took the car for a gearbox oil change, the mechanic took the cover off that covers the selespeed oil top up, there was oil over the bottle and over the cover. It was like something had come off or was leaking oil. My engine is meticulously clean and to see oil make me think this is why it is not inside the gearbox???

"It's hardly a specialist car either", Im not saying it is, its just that anyone I have spoken to about them knows nothing about them or didnt know they exist. Even the Fiat dealership I spoke to in Stockport wasnt really sure what my car was and had to take my reg to look up information on the car.

I will just have to book in with a Fiat garage and hope I dont get ripped off, this is why I am asking for help, I just dont someone to take the **** when it may be something as daft as a lose oil pipe from the selespeed.

Thanks

 

[Magic Johnson]

Who's taking the **** mate?!

 

[les1466]

Garages, especially Fiat ones, through previous experience. In fact Mechanics in general, if they you dont know what your talking about they will take the **** with prices. I'm know you dont get nothing for nothing these days but, if someone thinks they can take the **** when its something so simple, they will... I'm not expecting not to pay, I dont mind, I just dont want to be ripped off because I am not a mechanic.
Sorry if that sounds negative to mechanics, Im from Manchester and that can happen a lot.

 

[Magic Johnson]

Sorry, sorry I thought you meant I was!

 

[les1466]

hahahaha.... No, no.
I really appreciate any advice anyone can give me.
Sorry if you thought that.

 

[Louiserizzo]

Hi! I have a similar problem (along with many others). I have a 2007 grande punto with 71,000 miles on the clock. I bought the car from brand new and have so many problems with it! After not long of having the car it had electrical faults where everything stopped working, indicators, lights, radio etc, this happened whilst I was driving. This happened a few times but somehow managed to fix itself. Recently I've had to have a new clutch fitted too.
However, the last few days the car has been making some really odd noises (quite difficult to explain)its been making the noises particularly when I'm in 1st gear getting ready to move off. It also makes a clunking noise when driving up a hill almost like something is dangling off the engine. On top of that, the dimister has stopped working and so have the electric mirrors. I decided to take the car to my local fiat garage where I bought the car from to see f they could have a look at it. They had a look, then charged me £102 for doing so (with no warning) and have informed me that my gearbox has gone, I'm leaking oil, the battery is nearly dead and that my tyres are in poor condition. They quoted roughly £1200 to fix this, this is without fixing the dimister and mirrors as they can't actually find what's causing that. Has anyone else had any of these problems? Ive also been told the car is not safe to drive so I am carless-great!