[ghodlur]

Experts,

Post the recent detailing, I can see a lot of wiper marks on the windshield which the detailer said cannot be removed. Although it is not affecting my view but I am getting irritated by the wipe marks on the glass. Is there any way to eliminate the marks permanently? Any product available which I can use as DIY during my weekly washes?

[ghodlur]

Punto met with an accident last Thursday i.e 4th Jan while returning from office. The accident took place on the Majiwada flyover in Thane. This flyover has a distinction of max accidents or near misses. I have attached the pic for reference purposes. The flyover bifurcates into two directions - one going towards Ghodbunder Road Thane and other going towards Kalyan/Nashik. Invariably there are confused souls who actually wanted to go to Thane but end up on the lane going towards Nashik and at the very last minute realize the actual path and turn towards Thane. Putting the Indicators on can never be expected from such people. This results in near misses, accidents, traffic jams etc. The signs are available at the start of the flyover but are mostly torn. There is a sign available at the bifurcation but on the left hand side and is very small and not easily locatable. Hats off to the Traffic guys and the flyover contractors for making such a beautiful piece of marvel and putting vehicles and people at risk on almost daily basis.



Coming to my accident. An Indica cab who wanted to go to Thane Ghodbunder Road ended up on the lane towards Nashik and at the very last minute entered the lane towards Thane without any warning banging on my right side. This caused my car to be pushed towards the second lane where an Audi was approaching. The Audi guy could not apply brakes in time which caused the Punto's left side to hit the Audi's right front fender. All this happened in split of seconds and before I could realize the event, the Indica had zoomed off. Luckily for me, I was not hurt in any way. Got down and inspected the car with the Audi guy also parking to inspect his damages. I had expected the Audi guy to go full guns on me and demand compensation but my good stars he realized the situation and coolly walked off saying he will claim Insurance. I parked the Punto at a safe location and inspected the damages. At the that moment, I could see bot the front fenders damaged, with right side fender liner also come off. Called the FASS Lifetime Mobilites to arrange for a towing vehicle and got the punto to workshop to inspect the damages. I decided to claim the Insurance for this accidental repairs.




The following damages were assessed temporarily till the car was surveyed by Insurance co.
1) Right side fender
2) Left side fender
3) Steering rack link rod (right side)
4) Lower arm bent
5) Suspected Knuckle joint
6) Right fender liner

Steering link rod snapped


Lower arm bent


Knuckle joint suspected to be damaged.


Apart from this the both alloys in the front had scratches and right front mud flap damaged.

On 5th the car was surveyed by the Surveyor from HDFC Ergo who took the pictures, checked for earlier claims, confirmed the documentation part and provided the approval by late evening. This means the work would begin only on 6th Jan. FASS confirmed some of the parts like Steering link rod and lower arm were unavailable and had to be procured. FASS gave an intial estimate for the repairs.

[Moto_Hill]

Glad that you're safe and no one got hurt. It's such a pain to see our ride in such a state without any fault of ours. Last week, I had a narrow escape, when a stupid cab driver suddenly decided to open his door in full without checking his rear as I was driving past him. Luckily, I was moving slow and was able to just sway enough to prevent the collision.

Did the fog lamp also get damaged? It is mentioned in estimate, the cost is very less though.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Moto_Hill

Glad that you're safe and no one got hurt. It's such a pain to see our ride in such a state without any fault of ours. Last week, I had a narrow escape, when a stupid cab driver suddenly decided to open his door in full without checking his rear as I was driving past him. Luckily, I was moving slow and was able to just sway enough to prevent the collision.

Did the fog lamp also get damaged? It is mentioned in estimate, the cost is very less though.

No, fog lamps were OK. However the right front head lamp had a minor crack. the surveyor approved the replacement of the same too. I did ask the SA whether the lamp will be re-used as refurbished for which I did not get any satisfactory reply.

[ghodlur]

When the front bumper and fenders were removed for closer inspection it was found that the front right suspension had a bent and had to be replaced. The approval for the same was sought from the surveyor and luckily FASS had the part which was immediately replaced.



Parts replaced:
1) Steering link rod
2) Front suspension
3) Lower arm
4) Fenders - right and left
5) Front bumper painted



The repairs were continued for the next 3 days and finally on the 7th day the repairs were complete. Punto was restored back to its full glory. The total repairs cost came to Rs 25730, Insurance approved Rs 23336. My contribution was Rs 2394 which included the compulsory deductible of Rs 1000 and balance was consumables + taxes.



It felt really good to sit behind the wheels of the Punto.

Experience with HDFC Ergo: The claim process was really smooth with HDFC sending the SMS regarding the claim registration, approval, surveyor nomination with name and contact no. The survey process was smooth too with surveyor being quite knowledgeable of the damaged parts. Some good challenges too from his side to the estimate like no requirement of power steering oils, bumper painting etc. The surveyor was easy to communicate too when answering some doubts, approvals and messages regarding re-inspection after repairs. All in all would recommend HDFC Ergo for car insurance.

[ghodlur]

Experts,

Need suggestions to bring back this to its original state. This is due to the accident I had recently. Pains me a lot when I see it. Can experts suggest a quick fix solution? Buying a new alloy is totally out of question.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Need suggestions to bring back this to its original state.

Have you shown this to MaxShine folks? They may have some solution. Hub cap will need replacement, search on AliExpress.

[ghodlur]

Bumping up a sleeping thread.

It was time for the annual service of the Punto, the odo read 61500 kms. I had pre decided that I will not be visiting Thane FASS i.e Lifetime Mobilities whose quality had degraded as seen in the last few visits. The options available with me was RS Motors in Kandivali and Vroom Pointe at Koperkhairane. There were some good reviews from TBHPians who regularly service at Vroom Pointe and hence decided to visit them for the servicing. Booked an appointment a week before and dropped in for service on Saturday 16th June. In the hope of becoming the first customer of the day and my vehicle being taken for service immediately, I reached the FASS at 9.30 am. But to my disappointment, the staff reached by 10.30 am. The staff was limited with only 30% reporting. Little did I realize that choosing Eid day for servicing proved wrong.

It took Vroom Pointe another hour to get the work started. Sharad the service advisor listened patiently to my concerns and the issued I had been experiencing in the Punto. I was assuming the service was a normal one but Shard checked the records online and confirmed that this will be a major service of 60K kms which was not done during the 4th year service at FASS Thane.

The following was done as a part of regular service:
1) Replaced Air Filter
2) Replaced Engine oil
3) Replaced Oil filter
4) Replaced Fuel filter
5) Replaced Pollen filter (AC)
6) Replaced Alternator belt
7) Replaced Gear Oil
8) Replaced Power steering oil
9) Replaced Brake/Clutch oil
10)Replaced the Coolant
The power steering belt was also to be replaced but due to unavailability of spare and existing belt confirmed as Ok by the Technician/Service Advisor. The timing belt was also inspected and confirmed to be OK.

The following was done additional:
1) Replaced the Damaged front fender liner
2) Replaced the worn out under hood sound deadening pad
3) Replaced the mudflaps with Rubber one (not the fibre ones)
4) Replaced the stone guard
5) Replaced the coolant box

The total hole in the pocket was Rs 17455/- (I had estimated 15k as max, I was wrong here too). After a long wait of 6.5 hrs at Vroom Pointe, I finally drove back home.

Attaching some random pics taken during the servicing.

Air filter removed


Pollen or AC filter removed


Under hood sound deadening pad removed


New sound deadening pad


Damaged front left fender liner


New fender liner installed


New mud flaps installed


New Stone guard.


Old Coolant tank removed, had huge mud deposits


Sound deadening pad installed


New coolant tank

[ghodlur]

The steering mounted buttons on my Punto have started behaving erratically. They were operational till last week. But since past two days they have become inoperational. The MAIN button when pressed does not respond at all. I had experienced this once in the last 5 year of ownership and that too in last month which normalized in a day. This time however it seems to be reluctant to accept the command. What could be the issue?

Experts, pls advise.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

What could be the issue?

What about the other buttons? There is usually a beep if you press any button, even if it does not lead to a function being executed.

Check battery voltage. Blue N Me gets cranky when the battery voltage drops or god knows what. This usually results in a flashing odometer. Being a Fiat, this behavior could be erratic.

I have had a few instances of the steering controls not responding but this is connected to the flashing odometer syndrome. Not otherwise. A battery terminal disconnection for 15 minutes has always resolved the issue.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

What about the other buttons? There is usually a beep if you press any button, even if it does not lead to a function being executed.

Check battery voltage. Blue N Me gets cranky when the battery voltage drops or god knows what. This usually results in a flashing odometer. Being a Fiat, this behavior could be erratic.

I have had a few instances of the steering controls not responding but this is connected to the flashing odometer syndrome. Not otherwise. A battery terminal disconnection for 15 minutes has always resolved the issue.

The other buttons are doing fine and working. Due to MAIN button not responding to any command, I am unable to access the media files on the USB.

I do have a few instances of Odo flashing but that usually gets rectified by itself at the end of the day. I am not sure if the battery voltage and the buttons on steering are any way connected, but will get it checked.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I am not sure if the battery voltage and the buttons on steering are any way connected, but will get it checked.

Well the buttons talk to the Blue N Me m (sounds odule, which triggers the media system and phone connectivity. The module is powered by the battery. The system stays on if you happen to be on a call and turn off the ignition. I am not implying that it stays on all the time. However; irregular battery voltage as a result of a weak or weakening battery has resulted in such behavior with Blue N Me. Many have reported this. It has happened to me a few times though not the same symptoms as yours. The stock battery held up almost 5 years post which I started to notice the engine not firing up in the usual cycle it takes and the occasional Blue N Me issues. This disappeared after fitting a new battery.

In your case, the starting current draw is probably higher being a diesel.

Can you hit the Windows logo button (sounds a beep), say "Play" and once the player starts playing music, try MAIN again. Could also be button fatigue. You could also say "Artist" or "Folder after pressing the Windows button. That will jump directly to the browser. I must say that I was 99% unsuccessful with the word "Folder". The system understood Artist though.

On a different note, I am wondering how so much silt ended up in your expansion tank. I hope tap water has never been used to top it up.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Can you hit the Windows logo button (sounds a beep), say "Play" and once the player starts playing music, try MAIN again. Could also be button fatigue. You could also say "Artist" or "Folder after pressing the Windows button. That will jump directly to the browser. I must say that I was 99% unsuccessful with the word "Folder". The system understood Artist though.

On a different note, I am wondering how so much silt ended up in your expansion tank. I hope tap water has never been used to top it up.

The Windows logo button works well with a beep sounding, haven't tried playing media files, will give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

The silt in the coolant tank was shown about 6 months back to the FASS in Thane, they said they would clean it but never did. Finally took a call and replaced the tank itself after flushing the radiator. It took almost 25 mins to flush out the dirt in the system. Attaching a pic of the flushing to show the colour of water.

[ghodlur]

While starting for home from office yesterday found front left tyre totally flat. Replaced with Stepney tyre and proceeded to Premji Tyre plus for getting the tyre checked. The loss of air was due to side wall crack on the tyre. The tyre had been a replacement for a previous tyre with a bulge. The reason for crack was attributed to sharp stones piercing maybe when driving over a pothole.

Had no other options but to replace the tyre with a new Michelin P3ST. Costed me Rs 6800/-. Got a Feb last week (0818) manufactured tyre. The damaged tyre will be sent to Michelin for warranty claim. Mark Premji assured me that (like last time during the bulge tyre replacement), 50% warranty can be claimed.

Also got the Wheel alignment, Balancing, Tyre rotation done at the workshop.

The damaged tyre with sidewall crack.

[ghodlur]

The suspected steering control buttons almost magically started working like normal. Few of my Fiat friends had suggested to lay low regarding the issue saying that its a Fiat, things would get normalized automatically. I did the same and am now able to access the media files without a sweat.

I could not even relax with the above problem getting solved that a new problem surfaced. Have been hearing noise from the front portion, hence suspected the suspensions to be the culprit. Even on smooth surface and on the speed breakers hear the tak tak sound from the front left. Suspect either the elastic pad or the rubber pad to have cracked or gone bad which is affecting the suspension when on rough surfaces. A visit to the workshop will only reveal the true cause.

Any opinions by Fiat owners for this issue?