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Why would an entire rear cluster fail on a Mk2B Punto? It just flashed up a warning on the dash and now nothing works in the cluster.

 

I've not had a look yet but it would be good to know where to start.

 

 

Earth pin on the back of the cluster corroded / burnt away . Solder a separate wire from the earth track of the board to the body

 

I had a look this afternoon, everything looked fine. I plugged the cluster back in and the bulb failure warning was still on, but only telling me about the brake light this time. I replaced the brake light bulb and the warning cleared even before I'd pressed the brake. It seems that the brake light bulb blew and the car decided to shut down the whole cluster. I suppose I'm doing well if that's all the electrical randomness I get from a 12 year old Fiat.

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I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but is there mileage in having a sticky for who's got what in terms of specialist tools?

 

Frixample; Say somebody had a cam-locking kit for a KV6 and was willing to lend it out for beer and a hug, this could be listed.

 

I've got a pretty big pair of ramps but precious little else to offer; but I'd put 'em on a list for sure.

 

Borrower collects and returns; status updated to show whether something is currently out on loan and who's got it; kind of name and shame if things stay out for an unexpectedly lavish duration.

 

Just a thought.

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I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but is there mileage in having a sticky for who's got what in terms of specialist tools?

 

Frixample; Say somebody had a cam-locking kit for a KV6 and was willing to lend it out for beer and a hug, this could be listed.

 

I've got a pretty big pair of ramps but precious little else to offer; but I'd put 'em on a list for sure.

 

Borrower collects and returns; status updated to show whether something is currently out on loan and who's got it; kind of name and shame if things stay out for an unexpectedly lavish duration.

 

Just a thought.

 

There was a thread along these lines a while back,  a few folks with proper stuff and lots of us with basic tools and sympathy if you breakdown nearby.

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There was a thread along these lines a while back,  a few folks with proper stuff and lots of us with basic tools and sympathy if you breakdown nearby.

 

It's the proper stuff that's interesting. Theoretically, if that thread was easy to find the AS on-board search engine would make it navigable. You could search for, I don't know, "hub extractor" or whatever and see who's got one and lives in the same hemisphere as you.

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I had a look this afternoon, everything looked fine. I plugged the cluster back in and the bulb failure warning was still on, but only telling me about the brake light this time. I replaced the brake light bulb and the warning cleared even before I'd pressed the brake. It seems that the brake light bulb blew and the car decided to shut down the whole cluster. I suppose I'm doing well if that's all the electrical randomness I get from a 12 year old Fiat.

I've already done the earth wire mod on the driver's side (I think or it could be the passenger but I'm pretty sure it's the driver's side). I fitted a bullet connector to it as well so you can still remove the cluster. I tried cleaning the earth pin up and coating it with silicon grease but the fault kept coming back. The jumper wire cleared it. Did I read you were having problems with the clutch juddering or did I imagine it?

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I've already done the earth wire mod on the driver's side (I think or it could be the passenger but I'm pretty sure it's the driver's side). I fitted a bullet connector to it as well so you can still remove the cluster. I tried cleaning the earth pin up and coating it with silicon grease but the fault kept coming back. The jumper wire cleared it. Did I read you were having problems with the clutch juddering or did I imagine it?

 

There weren't any wiring modifications on this side, but the connector had been greased. If it happens again I'll put a jump wire on it. 

 

I'm not sure if I mentioned the clutch juddering, but it does sometimes. I'll change the crankshaft oil seal one day when I can be bothered.

 

It's been a great car, mostly because my wife likes it and I don't have to fix it very often.

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Horsey Horseless:

 

An early steam powered car, designed with a horses head on the front in order that it doesn't scare people who are confused by the lack of four legged propulsion.

 

Also, a very thin wearing joke where it's the answer to every "what car should I buy" thread. Everyone knows that the correct answer is HYUNDAI SONATA.

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There weren't any wiring modifications on this side, but the connector had been greased. If it happens again I'll put a jump wire on it.

 

I'm not sure if I mentioned the clutch juddering, but it does sometimes. I'll change the crankshaft oil seal one day when I can be bothered.

 

It's been a great car, mostly because my wife likes it and I don't have to fix it very often.

Glad it's going ok, I remembered you mentioned a juddery clutch in the fiat a go go thread, but I don't think you were actually talking about this car (so my memory isn't completely failing, I just miss read it) :) It started to judder for me once I'd owned it for about three months. According to the Fiat Forum the Mk2b were fitted with clutches that like to judder.( just type Fiat Forum clutch judder in Google and look how many results come up) I followed their advice and did a quick take off in third whilst slipping the clutch. This kept it fine for about six months and then I did it again. I think if you just repeat this it'll be fine.
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Getting chilly out, so...

 

Winter tyres - bit early, or get 'em on (since I have them now) ?

 

Pretty sure they are designed for minus lots to plus 20C or so, so fine to fit now. Some people run them all year without issue. They start to work better at +4c I think, so it's about right to fit them.

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It's 7 degrees, according to a duck.. sorry, ADAC ect. This is a bit of a piece of string question - if you live out in the wilds and you need to get to work early in the morning then yes, as soon as. If you only do journeys that can be differed 'til later then meh, as and when.

 

Here in Croatia we have to have winter tyres from November 15th 'til April 15th, no matter how stupidly warm it gets in March.

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12v car bulbs and relays ....what sort of volts can they take until they dont like it?

 

got a add on relay set up for my vw headlights fed direct off the alternator post , popped both dip beams the other night and trying to suss why

Measure the volts at your alternator terminal and compare with voltage at the battery terminal.  

Some alternators sense the voltage at the battery terminal and regulate their output to keep that voltage constant. This means that the voltage at the alternator output terminal WILL be higher than the nominal voltage. How much higher will depend upon the resistance of the connections between the alternator and the battery AND how much electrical load the alternator is seeing.

 

So connect your light feed to the battery terminal, not the alternator terminal. And fit a fuse as close to the feed as possible!!

 

 

Although the bulbs are marked "12V" they are designed for the nominal vehicle voltage which is 13.5ish.

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Getting chilly out, so...

 

Winter tyres - bit early, or get 'em on (since I have them now) ?

 

Have a look at 'all season' tyres, almost as good as a pure winter tyre but can be used all year round. I think their better for our climate overall as they tend to be very good in the wet as well.

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