Team-BHP - Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by nkrishnap (Post 3131016)

I believe all the cars that are sold from April 10th does carry the 3 year standard warranty plus an option to extend it further by 2 years.

My colleague is getting a Punto 90 HP (Dec 2012 Manufactured) delivered tomorrow. I will update about the warranty once the delivery is done.

Which dealer is this? Vecto told me there were no 2012 90HP vehicles available. Given the discounts on 2012, i wouldn't have minded picking up the 90HP.

My hundredth post and I am a senior BHPian already :D!

1) I had been driving through a stretch of uneven terrain for several days, to and from office. The under-body never scraped even once. Happy 195mm to me! But, during my biweekly wash and clean, I open the bonnet and my oh my! Acid has spilled from the battery, and some corrosion has just started setting in within the battery bay and the metal frame beneath. Two bolts have residues on their heads. The battery terminals were spared, though! I immediately flooded the area with soap water as a temporary measure, and cleaned it as much as I could. The next day, I took it to Oberoi Sec 63, Noida. Being a weekday, it was almost empty, and I summoned "Haribal the SA" (as in "Winnie the Pooh":uncontrol )
He came, opened the bonnet, inspected the whole thing and asked a technician to attend to it. The entire area cleaning was done in 15 minutes, some protective coating applied to the battery bay. The paint had come off though, with the primer coat visible. The ABS tray was washed thoroughly. The shroud wrapped around the battery with a velcro, was also cleaned. Mr.Gopalan also arrived in between. He also inspected the car and he noticed something around the coolant hose, and he asked the tech to check it. It was nothing serious, thankfully. All done, I was off in 20 minutes. I was not charged a single penny. The work was done at the entrance itself, no job card fuss, no big deal! I really like this place.

(I have fixed a session for an interior dry cleaning. I had been procrastinating over the seat cover and now need to spend around 1200 to get it cleaned. I am still without the covers, though. Can anyone confirm if that is the offical asking rate for punto interiors?)

2) I hear a random ticking/mild rattling sound from the dashboard area, just behind the wheel when going over rough patches., stone chips etc. Like "kit kit kit" but not while driving over plain roads. (It is absolute "sound of silence" otherwise). From some other forum, I gather it may be due to a loose dashboard bezel/plastic screen, and some screw needs tightening. Anyone has any idea where these screws are? Or whatever it takes to get it right?

Enjoy the brunch folks....

So summer in Delhi is here and my 1.4 fire punto is struggling all over again to keep me cool. Been like this for 2-3 years, even after the a/c upgrade. The thing is, it's brilliant when you're cruising but it's totally ineffective in stop gap traffic. The compressor trips and doesn't turn back on.
I've read it's got something to do with the way Fiat has mapped the ecu to improve efficiency and one has to get an ecu update to get it fixed.

Any idea how much the update costs? what should I tell the A.S.S - that the airconditioning is ineffective or I need an ecu update?

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolkurt (Post 3132166)

Ditto, I am facing the same issue in my 4 year old 70KKM Punto this year but its an MJD. Early mornings and late evening the AC runs just fine.....in day time the problem arises. The ambient temperature ranges anywhere around 45-47 in my area this year. What I have noticed is:
1. The AC runs fine when the car is cruising.
2. As soon as the car is stationary the compressor starts cutting off intermittently and this intermittent period keeps on decreasing till the time AC becomes ineffective (finally compressor runs for 8-10 secs and stops for 20 secs approx.)
3. I got it checked with an AC expert, he has checked and verified everything and blames it on the exceptionally hot summer.
4. He poured a jug of water over the condensor and voila the AC ran just fine for another hour or so after which it started acting again.

Any pointers any body....please: help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrohit17 (Post 3132226)

1. The AC runs fine when the car is cruising.
2. As soon as the car is stationary the compressor starts cutting off intermittently and this intermittent period keeps on decreasing till the time AC becomes ineffective (finally compressor runs for 8-10 secs and stops for 20 secs approx.)
3. I got it checked with an AC expert, he has checked and verified everything and blames it on the exceptionally hot summer.
4. He poured a jug of water over the condensor and voila the AC ran just fine for another hour or so after which it started acting again.

Any pointers any body....please: help.

precisely my point. Ive been facing the same issue. Ive read over at some other forum that this is definitely how the ecu has been mapped for fuel efficiency. Ridiculous of fiat actually. Its embarrassing when my friend's beat cools more effectively than my punto. What ive heard is that it needs an ecu upgrade which fixes the issue. What it basically does is reduce the cutoff period for the compressor, so cooling is more efficient.

Now i dont know how competent the folks at okhla A.S.S are. They might just rip me off like last time if i ask for an update to be done. Any suggestions guys? Has anyone got the update done?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand (Post 3132182)

Not to dampen your excitement, but you are still a BHPian...1000th post and you'll be a senior.

By the way, how do you rate your AC in this hot summer?
My car manages to cool the cabin but sounds like a helicopter!

Hemanth, I know...for me, the 1000 th post could as well be the travelogue I would write for my son's wedding, somewhere, attending it in some car. He is 8 now lol:.....

Seniority : It's in my heart mostly, and the proud association with the forum, makes me feel senior enough! When the neighborhood lady mistakes me for a driver cleaning a blue car, or when this very rich gentleman jokingly asks me "yeh apki beti hai kya" and I reply, "nahin ji, apki bahu, kripaya thukiyega nahin iski upar" spontaneously....I feel very "distinguished" as well! :D

The AC : well, it chills. It is extremely noisy at 4, loud at 3 (and the best setting for me) silent in 1 and 2. Compressor never cuts off, unlike what I hear about the 1.4. I would rate it 4.5/5 not for the noise, but for the perceptible power drop it causes.

Peace....

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolkurt (Post 3132333)

Luckily, I haven't faced any such issue in my Punto and T-jet. However, I did face something similar in my Santro. At that point the culprit was the radiator fan. As per the AC expert the fan wasn't working as effectively as it should have and the car's temperature was rising. The first thing that the ECU cuts during a rise in temperature is AC compressor. I can't say that it is the situation in your car however, there's no harm in getting it checked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolkurt (Post 3132166)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrohit17 (Post 3132226)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nkrishnap (Post 3132377)

For the Puntos with AC cooling issues, what is the manufacturing date/month of the car. Checking which batch of cars have this issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand (Post 3132391)

I think more to do with the petrol engines.
Anyways mine is an august 2010 manufactured car.
AC was upgraded (if I may say so) somewhere in 2011

And i thought mine was a one-off case!

Had ordered for warranty replacement of the compressor more than a month ago. Parts yet to arrive! Seems like a common issue - we need to narrow it down to some common parts. Lets see if compressor is the faulty part as claimed by FASS.

Mine is a 2012 refresh 90HP (March 2012).