Operation Fix It Again Tony

[Fraz]

Many months ago my brother asked me to help him find and buy a car for his kid as a first car, 

 

it had had to be cheap, reliable and not be completely rusty. 

 

Knowing i I was going to be the designated car fixer should it go tits up when the inevitable happens and it needs work, we spent literally 2 months trying to find something an 18 year old boy would like and wasn’t a complete wreck.

Stuff was selling literally within hours of being advertised and we were becoming bored and desperate.

 

My standards dropped.

 

Things took a bleak turn.   

 

One bad decision led to another and at the end of it we bought a Fiat Punto. 

 

Sporting a spritely 1.2 engine, steel wheels (better for hitting Kurbs) and a CD player it was given an enthusiastic nod from said 18 year old. This being the most emotion I’ve seen from him in a while I took it that he was very happy with the purchase. 

 

So they did some learning in it and recently it was dumped outside my house with “it’s making noises”

 

 

An assessment was carried out and the following appropriated. 

 

Timing belt kit

waterpump

thermostat

track rod end 

abs sensor 

front spring 

 

A total of £110 delivered which wasn’t the worst.

 

The car itself is in actually good condition for an Italian race car however the main issue of noise and a lack of heat was due to something quite interesting. 

 

Ladies and gents - I produce for your viewing pleasure, the water pump from it. 

I’m astonished it wasn’t overheating..

 

heres the new and old beside side each other for comparison. 

 

Anyway. It’s all back together timing wise before I had to go to work today and as you can imagine, the noise is gone. 

 

Sadly despite the purchase of an ABS sensor as a pre-emotive strike based on its fault codes, I’ve just seen all the wiring to the abs pump has been unwrapped and (badly) wrapped back up. I suspect an evening with a multimeter and soldering iron may be in store for me. 

 

Thanks Tony.....

[Talbot]

Yowser.  How badly scored-to-fuck is the pump housing?

[outlaw118]

6 hours ago, Fraz said:

I’m astonished it didn't explode

FTFY

I've always thought the Punto was a good looking thing, a mate of mine's wife had one (MK1) for ages until it got destroyed by a Polish lorry driver. I did basic stuff on it, was more impressed by the price of the bits.

[Fraz]

6 hours ago, Talbot said:

Yowser.  How badly scored-to-fuck is the pump housing?

Funnily enough it’s fine looking. I think it’s been like this for some time. When I drained th me coolant I couldn’t even see any debris in it. I dread to think where the remains of the water pump are tbh 

[Dave_Q]

That deserves a place in some special museum of automotive WTF, seen the impellers crack and/or slip on the shaft but not wander off and grind themselves to death.

Was the old one metal or plastic impeller? Did you investigate where the rest of it ended up?

[Fraz]

I’ve had a quick root around and flushed some pipes but nothings coming out. I suspect when I get round to re-filling the coolant I’ll find out if the matrix and/or radiator is blocked. Unfortunately I’m a jubilee clips short of sealing the coolant system at the moment.  (up yours weird band style water hose clips) 

 

Good news on the abs front. Suspecting it was wiring I stripped the plus at the abs Ecu and the plug in the wheel well. Everything was fine. 
 

The abs sensor on the wheel hub had the audacity to literally come straight out with only minimal swearing and no drilling. Shocker. 
 

New ABS sensor fitted (Bosch oem) and we have readings again at that wheel and no fault codes. 
 

next up is to bleed the system. Tidy up a tiny bit of rust at the bottom of a wing and hand it back to the eager 18 year old for wheel spins and burnouts. 
 

oh - pic of the wrecked old timing belt for bants 

[cort16]

My Mrs had these new and my god they're so unbelievably slow with the 1.2 8v it used to make me want to cry whenever I drove it. She loved the car though.

Probably ideal performance levels for a new driver.

[horriblemercedes]

Jesus, how does a water pump even get like that!?!? Those faces are nicely ground 

[Fraz]

I know. 
 

Predictably the coolant has gone dark very quickly. I’ve flushed out what I can. Given nothing clearly been circulating for some time I’ll let them run it for a month or so then drop it back in for another coolant flush and a service. 
 

Saying that. It’s just been in a 10mile jaunt of back roads and nationals and it’s running bang on half way, full heat constantly and no funky noises anymore. 
 

Perfect for sitting revving it to the limiter in a car park somewhere looking cool

[GeorgeB]

20 hours ago, cort16 said:

My Mrs had these new and my god they're so unbelievably slow with the 1.2 8v it used to make me want to cry whenever I drove it. She loved the car though.

Probably ideal performance levels for a new driver.

Strange, I've got one (2005 model) and it is reasonably nippy and handles like a go-kart.

Great fun to drive.

[MikeR]

100 squid for the bits !!  , thats a change for a Fiat

the water pump for a  Teapot was 100 notes , in fact everything on that Fiat was 100 notes , must of gone to subsidies the other models ???

[robinmasters]

On 3/31/2021 at 12:44 AM, Fraz said:

I’m astonished it wasn’t overheating..

heres the new and old beside side each other for comparison. 

 

The type on the right, with the smaller impeller which sits 1/2" proud of the pump body, seems to be the more common. They obviously don't need much cooling. 

[somewhatfoolish]

On 3/31/2021 at 9:32 AM, Dave_Q said:

That deserves a place in some special museum of automotive WTF, seen the impellers crack and/or slip on the shaft but not wander off and grind themselves to death.

Was the old one metal or plastic impeller? Did you investigate where the rest of it ended up?

Impellor looks to be aluminium or pot metal alloy, so the shavings will have anodically protected* the insides by dissolving. 

[Eyersey1234]

On 3/31/2021 at 12:44 AM, Fraz said:

Many months ago my brother asked me to help him find and buy a car for his kid as a first car, 

 

it had had to be cheap, reliable and not be completely rusty. 

 

Knowing i I was going to be the designated car fixer should it go tits up when the inevitable happens and it needs work, we spent literally 2 months trying to find something an 18 year old boy would like and wasn’t a complete wreck.

Stuff was selling literally within hours of being advertised and we were becoming bored and desperate.

 

My standards dropped.

 

Things took a bleak turn.   

 

One bad decision led to another and at the end of it we bought a Fiat Punto. 

 

Sporting a spritely 1.2 engine, steel wheels (better for hitting Kurbs) and a CD player it was given an enthusiastic nod from said 18 year old. This being the most emotion I’ve seen from him in a while I took it that he was very happy with the purchase. 

 

So they did some learning in it and recently it was dumped outside my house with “it’s making noises”

 

 

An assessment was carried out and the following appropriated. 

 

Timing belt kit

waterpump

thermostat

track rod end 

abs sensor 

front spring 

 

A total of £110 delivered which wasn’t the worst.

 

The car itself is in actually good condition for an Italian race car however the main issue of noise and a lack of heat was due to something quite interesting. 

 

Ladies and gents - I produce for your viewing pleasure, the water pump from it. 

I’m astonished it wasn’t overheating..

 

heres the new and old beside side each other for comparison. 

 

Anyway. It’s all back together timing wise before I had to go to work today and as you can imagine, the noise is gone. 

 

Sadly despite the purchase of an ABS sensor as a pre-emotive strike based on its fault codes, I’ve just seen all the wiring to the abs pump has been unwrapped and (badly) wrapped back up. I suspect an evening with a multimeter and soldering iron may be in store for me. 

 

Thanks Tony.....

That water pump looks more fucked than the local prostitute 🤣

[Fraz]

And here she is all cleaned up nicely ready for wheelies and the like. 
 

We’ll see how long she lasts before she returns to cowboy motorsport for more tinkering 

[Stanky]

That's polished up very well! Nice work, and should be around for a good while longer now you've dealt with some service items.

Good to see

[Barry Cade]

Shh. Don't tell everyone. 

Fiat's are ace.