Many questions on my Punto?

[ash4589]

i have many minor problems with my 2001 model Fiat Punto and wonderin if anbody could help, rather thn me pay stupid money 4 a mechanic. ok here it goes.....
1) the light 4 my airbag seems to continuously flash whether it is turned on or off and i don't no y.

2) when i start the engine it takes bout 5-6seconds before it actually starts.

3) my petrol gauge is stuck on half way and does not move therefore i rely on the red light.

4) the lights on the dash do not light up when headlights r on! bulbs have been replaced and still no light

5) my central locking doesnt work. the fuses have been checked and replaced but still no joy

6) when in 1st and 2nd gear the car makes this horrendous grinding noise coming from the left hand side of the car. but as soon as i get into 3rd it stops

most ppl would prob turn round and say "its a fiat! wot do u expect?" lol, but does anyone have an answer for any of the above problems?

much appriciated

[Lakitu]

And the moral of the story? Don't buy a car that looks like a pencil sharpener ;o)

[Toureman]

Ask the experts on this forum......

http://www.fiatforum.com/forum

and ignore the silly answers.

[bigboots]

Ok 1 fiat had massive problems with the air bag system on these cars, could be a defective switch (or the wiring to it) for the N/S airbag, N/S airbag wiring above the glovebox, seat belt pretensioners, airbag ecu (under centre console), and the wiring harness were troublesome

2 for some cars were puntos this was normal they spin and spin before they fire and others fire straight away

3 does the gauge go to empty when the ignition is off? if not then the gauge is broken, if it does then it may be the sender unit in the tank or a wiring fault

4 do you mean the whole dash display is not lighting up? there is a button on the left (I think) to adjust this is this working or the spesific light to tell you the headlights are on?

5 Is it a 3 or 5 door? the central door locking motors used to pack up, and on 5 door cars the wiring chaffes on the N/S/R door

6 difficult to guess at this one as it could be a clutch noise or a gearbox noise

[david1702198]

in relation to 6 this could be yet another mk1 and 2 punto problem, the release bearing for the clutch wears and eventually collapses, sometimes just a matter of a new clutch kit needing fitted , however i have seen a couple where the bearing collapsed in a way that it destroyed the surrounding of the first motion shaft on the gearbox and in this instance the gearbox would need to be replaced.

[ash4589]

ok thanks guys.
my car is a 3 door mk2 punto. the middle pnel of the dash does not light up at all. as for the gauge when the ignition is off it used to stay at half wa, but it moved up wen u filled the tank. only recently now it seems to go to empty so is tht a possibilty of two faults?

also i noticed my cd player switchin between radio nd cd randomly wivout neone touchin it. could my car just av one big electrical fault?