so, its more or less been a year of ownership of my 2006 1.3 Grande Punto Dynamic so I thought I would update you all on this topic about how its been going.
So this thread opened with me making enquiries about the type of car, I wanted to get rid of my MG ZR and buy another Fiat, having owned a Cinquecento Sporting for about 8 years prior to the ZR, and then after saving a bit of money I bought this GP, and so the story got going on around post 46 of this very thread.
in hindsight I could have bought a better one - but saying that, they were all much dearer.... this car had minor faults that I didnt really know about at the time but overall the body and interior were good, it started and stopped and drove in a straight line, so the rest was just fettling, it also had alloy wheels [I like steels, but not with wheeltrims], my intention was also that I wanted to learn about diesel engines and I have done just that, I have learned a lot in the year and now have a car that is utterly reliable and drives like new, but without working AC which is annoying.
a new airbox/engine cover was needed as the original was broken, the front bumper needed a side grille cover, I found that the seal across the bulkhead was missing so I replaced that, a clip on the sun visor too.
before the car went into full time use, I gave it a service of new oil and filter, diesel filter, air filter, pollen filter, by the time you read this its already had its second change of oil and filter under my ownership.
I then sold my ZR, so I could put my GP into use, I was shocked that my insurance company wanted £75 to change the vehicle over, even though the GP should have been much cheaper than the ZR to insure, but oh well - more on this later....
I also got an
MES set up on my laptop with the cables, I have a small Asus T100 Transformer Book now and its ideal for
MES. I was also given a Delphi clone [sold as Multidiag] and cables which I can run on any car, its much like
MES in many ways. See screenshots of both:
so, the car didnt pull well at first, it seemed ok on the test drive [like they all do!] but a few miles later on during the trip home it wasnt right and there was a bit of black smoke from the exhaust, as the turbo on the 90 is electronically and vacuum controlled [not self controlled like the 75bhp version] I thought it was the vac pipes, they were all replaced, but the fault remained - although perhaps not as bad, it turned out to be the Pressure Converter which is a valve in the vac system that controls the turbo variable geometry, there was no fault showing for it, but a bench test with a vac pump showed it to be not working. A new pierburg valve sorted it, in fact I have a brand new spare as the seller sent it twice by mistake all the way from germany! Prior to my test drive the car had been out of use for a few months, this would not have helped.
at the tail end of summer 2019 I was noticing diesel fumes inside the car, it was no2 injector seal leaking, I had to do the job twice as first time I didnt have a seat cutter, and also the seal was stuck down the hole, so with new tools bought this job was done, all 4 seals have been replaced now and more knowledge gained, I also have quite a few sets of various thickness of spare seals too. At around the same time I noticed it wasnt starting too well, its lack of compression didnt help [before the seal change] but I thought it could be glow plugs, I bought a set of new ones but didnt need them once the seals were done, and pressing the clutch in on cold start [it says to do that in the owner book!] it was bang on, so I have a set of glows spare. Thinking back to when I got the car I could smell slight fumes in it, I put that down to it not having a DPF, so the problem could have been there a while but just got worse with the car in use.
I replaced the bulbs behind the heater panel, which was fiddly, but done ok.
The driver door lock stopped working from the inside, this happened twice but the first time it failed I was able to make a repair, the second time I just went to a local fiat spares place and bought a used mechanism, with a view to repairing the original but I think something else failed within the original so it got binned! at the same time when I had the door card off I noticed the door speaker was rotted through, so I just replaced the one with a good original from the same place I bought the lock from- I am still wanting to put new speakers in the front, just direct replacement woofers but dont know what to buy.
The MOT for the car was supposed to be in december, but I brought it forward to october as I didnt want to be fixing cars during winter should there have been a drastic fail, anyway it passed - pleased with that! first MOT under new ownership is always a nervous one!
the car was run all winter with no problems other than a noisy front suspension top mount, in late feb? could have been march actually, and while looking to see why the boot light wasnt working, disturbance of the lock mechanism also meant the boot open warning light stayed on, a bargain replacement lock sorted both issues, the old lock was knackered internally on the PCB and pins.
my insurance policy was due for renewal early march, so mid feb I compared the insurance sites and my original insurers were just £187 fully comp for the year. Now THAT was a good price!.
later in march onwards this year, at home during the covid19 lockdown and furloughed, I have replaced all the brake pads and shoes, although it stopped well before its far better now, the rears were possibly the originals and what was left of the linings literally fell apart when removed.
at the start of June I tried to tackle the top mount problem [and drop links at same time] but the end of each bolt holding the strut to the hub was badly rusted, the nut would not clear the rusted thread so I need to buy new ones before trying this job again as I need to cut off the exposed end of threads, but I think I will cut straight through the nut to split it. In the meantime I squirted some thin spray oil [not wd40] up into the top bearing area and it has quietened it down a lot as a temporary fix.
I also attempted to remove the front bumper to get at the AC condenser with a view to replacing it, that too was thwarted by rusted bolts so I doubt I will bother getting the AC working.
The latest job I have done is to replace the rear shockers, they were misted with oil on the outside lower parts and it picked up an Advisory at the MOT last year, so as they were cheap enough for a pair these have been replaced in the first week of July 2020.
And that brings us up to date really.
Tools I had to buy for various things
ESockets set 1/2" drive
torx key sockets for 1/4" drive
and hex key set 1/2" drive [for sump plug and injector clamps]
injector puller
injector seal remover
injector seat cutter
MES software, and OBD2 adapter to fit.
small puller to remove wiper arm
spring compressors [for when I do top mount]
small to do list
top mount left side
drop links [I bought a set in 2019, the originals feel ok, so might just be kept for now]
back exhaust box, its not blowing but the outer casing is so rotten I am amazed its still sealed, I might replace it, it didnt get noted at the last MOT.
to sum up
overall, apart from getting a slightly newer car [from the 2003 MG ZR I had with its non working HRW, and wind up windows, and door/tailgate locks that didnt work with the key], my objective was to learn about diesels, I have become a real fan of diesels now having had petrols all my motoring life [32 years driving], I have learnt a lot with this little JTD and its all knowledge that could easily be carried over to other diesel cars as all the systems are much the same, in fact as it goes the Mrs has just bought a Peugeot 308 HDi, so I think I am gonna learn more!
My car was cheap, looking on ebay, autotrader, gumtree and facebook marketplace now, its tricky to get a diesel GP for under £1k in my area in similar condition. I got mine for £700 but have spent a lot on it, thats ok though as I usually keep my cars for a good few years and once in a good state of condition like its in now, it will easily and cheaply stay that way as I like to keep on top of things - look after your car and your car will look after you, is how I see it.
I love driving this car, its very easy to drive with a good gear change, good steering and excellent brakes and a surprisingly firm ride, its quiet inside as well, it has a good amount of power for its tiny engine and is good on fuel, its also easy to work on [I have not had to fiddle with the EGR yet though!] apart from the AC everything works as it should and I think the only things I can fault it for are the small unlit glove box, and useless cup holders! the lag pulling away in first still catches me out now and then.
So, thats a year of ownership of my diesel GP. Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions about anything that I have mentioned then just fire away!
