[coolkurt]

My 4.5 year old Fiat Punto 1.4 has developed a problem. There is a sound from the engine on acceleration. There is no issue while idling but as soon as one starts accelerating, the sound increases. What could be the issue? I checked the belt etc but it seems ok.

[avira_tk]

Punto owners, my Feb 2011 Punto has a weird problem. The fuel consumption for trip B was 5.9l/100km. After 783 km when I refueled the cut off happened around 39.5 litres and I was able to put in 40 liters. My question is whether I should get my fuel system checked, how can a car that consumes 46 litres become full at much below that level?

[igniteddriver]

Originally Posted by coolkurt

My 4.5 year old Fiat Punto 1.4 has developed a problem. There is a sound from the engine on acceleration. There is no issue while idling but as soon as one starts accelerating, the sound increases. What could be the issue? I checked the belt etc but it seems ok.

Did you check for any exhaust leakage?
Engine noise will be a little higher when the oil level is low. This will be noticeable only during acceleration

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

Punto owners, my Feb 2011 Punto has a weird problem. The fuel consumption for trip B was 5.9l/100km. After 783 km when I refueled the cut off happened around 39.5 litres and I was able to put in 40 liters. My question is whether I should get my fuel system checked, how can a car that consumes 46 litres become full at much below that level?

Thats why you should not trust the FE shown on the MID
The actual FE and the one shown on the MID will be fdifferent.
And other things to consider,

1. Was the trip B reset in the previous refill?
2. Was your previous fill only till cutoff? or some half litre more like the current one that you've mentioned

If the answers for both the questions are Yes, then you must be actually happy because the MID is showing 5.9l/100 which translates to a FE of 17kmpl but you have got a FE of almost 20kmpl (783/39.5)

And doesn't it surprise you that the MID is showing a consumption of 46Litres (and some more residual fuel assuming your car didn't dry up), when the fuel tank capacity of a Punto is just 45Litres?

So The baseline is just this- never trust the MID - its never accurate when it comes to FE calculation (IN ANY CAR)
Always calculate your FE by tank full to tank full method (At auto cut off in preferably the same trusted fuel station)

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Thats why you should not trust the FE shown on the MID
The actual FE and the one shown on the MID will be fdifferent.
And other things to consider,

1. Was the trip B reset in the previous refill?
2. Was your previous fill only till cutoff? or some half litre more like the current one that you've mentioned

If the answers for both the questions are Yes, then you must be actually happy because the MID is showing 5.9l/100 which translates to a FE of 17kmpl but you have got a FE of almost 20kmpl (783/39.5)

And doesn't it surprise you that the MID is showing a consumption of 46Litres (and some more residual fuel assuming your car didn't dry up), when the fuel tank capacity of a Punto is just 45Litres?

So The baseline is just this- never trust the MID - its never accurate when it comes to FE calculation (IN ANY CAR)
Always calculate your FE by tank full to tank full method (At auto cut off in preferably the same trusted fuel station)

The trip meter was reset at the last refill to full tank, the MID used to be deviate by around 4% maximum for the last three years. This is the first time I am seeing such a large variation of nearly 15% and totally scary to boot, the needle suddenly dropped.

I am worried if the MID is broken/needs a reset. I am more than happy with the mileage, it would have been a nightmare if it went the other way.

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by igniteddriver

Did you check for any exhaust leakage?
Engine noise will be a little higher when the oil level is low. This will be noticeable only during acceleration

I am getting a low oil pressure beep. I guess I need to take it for a top up

[gsurya]

Originally Posted by coolkurt

My 4.5 year old Fiat Punto 1.4 has developed a problem. There is a sound from the engine on acceleration. There is no issue while idling but as soon as one starts accelerating, the sound increases. What could be the issue? I checked the belt etc but it seems ok.

Likely needs spark plug replacements & cleaning of the contacts, at least this is what resolved it on my Fiat Uno a couple of years back.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by coolkurt

I am getting a low oil pressure beep. I guess I need to take it for a top up

Yes. Please get the oil consistency checked as well. Are there any signs of leak (just check your parking)?

I had similar issue - kept getting "Low Oil Pressure" beep on and off - the SC topped up fuel, but I still got it. Later, I noticed excessive white smoke on start-up - the SC checked oil consistency and they found something amiss. It later turned out that the engine was burning oil, and they had to replace half the engine along with a lot of other stuff.

[zincmetal]

Highbeam headlights of my Punto 1.4 Emotion 2009 stopped working on my last trip to Jaipur although lowbeam and every other lights work fine.Recently got my car service done at Fiat ASS - Tuli Motors in Delhi they told me that an Electronic module(ELM?) had conked off and needs to be replaced(cost-17k). Has anyone faced this issue? Is replacing the only solution and how long would you think before lowbeam lights go out as well?

[desdemona]

Originally Posted by zincmetal

Highbeam headlights of my Punto 1.4 Emotion 2009 stopped working on my last trip to Jaipur although lowbeam and every other lights work fine.Recently got my car service done at Fiat ASS - Tuli Motors in Delhi they told me that an Electronic module(ELM?) had conked off and needs to be replaced(cost-17k). Has anyone faced this issue? Is replacing the only solution and how long would you think before lowbeam lights go out as well?

Tough to say. I suggest you get the diagnosis confirmed at Kashyap okhla or noida. I have heard mostly good things about them, and not enough yet about Tuli to judge their skills/trustworthiness. All the best!

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by zincmetal

Highbeam headlights of my Punto 1.4 Emotion 2009 stopped working .... Tuli Motors in Delhi they told me that an Electronic module(ELM?) had conked off and needs to be replaced(cost-17k).

They might be talking about the comms unit like you see in this list:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/comms-unit

IMO, take a serious look at all earth wires, a loosened up earth wire could also trigger this problem IIRC.

[devansn]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

The trip meter was reset at the last refill to full tank, the MID used to be deviate by around 4% maximum for the last three years. This is the first time I am seeing such a large variation of nearly 15% and totally scary to boot, the needle suddenly dropped.

I am worried if the MID is broken/needs a reset. I am more than happy with the mileage, it would have been a nightmare if it went the other way.

Another set of things to consider:

- Do you trust the fueling station for the quantity of fuel? If their meter shows 40 litres, you may be actually getting only 39. When I refuel from some particular fueling stations, I have seen that the MID kmpl is more or less similar to what I get from tankful-tankful calculation. Otherwise there used to be only 0.5 kmpl (more on MID) difference.

- The time at which the fueling happens also can marginally affect the quantity of fuel because of the density of fuel. Early mornings may be the best time.

[sdp1975]

99rpm has apparently stopped selling parts for Punto and Linea as per reports in TFI and they'll apparently take 2 months to start selling Punto/Linea parts again.

So now Punto/Linea owners have no choice but to go to FASS for spares - this is particularly important for cars out of warranty. Really bad news for Punto/Linea owners. 99rpm was well known for OEM spares and owners could always purchase parts here and get their vehicles serviced outside of the FASS.

[desdemona]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

99rpm has apparently stopped selling parts for Punto and Linea as per reports in TFI and they'll apparently take 2 months to start selling Punto/Linea parts again.

So now Punto/Linea owners have no choice but to go to FASS for spares - this is particularly important for cars out of warranty. Really bad news for Punto/Linea owners. 99rpm was well known for OEM spares and owners could always purchase parts here and get their vehicles serviced outside of the FASS.

I agree, though to be fair to Fiat I have to point out that the spares availibility problems at FASS are greatly reduced now, at least so I conclude from personal experiences and word-of-mouth in delhi ncr, chennai, bangalore, mumbai and pune.

Things are improving at FASS, though perhaps not equally or enough everywhere (Guwahati? Raipur? Goa?).

[GrammarNazi]

Its UNFAIR, yet legal.

AFAIK, theres a ruling as per competition commission that spares are to be made available OTC, however maybe some FIAT A.S.S.'s can act street-smart and indirectly evade from selling spares OTC.

The company that many of us are FANS of, is afterall a pvt ltd company. It's probably legal for them to control things to the extent that regular servicing ASS can be priced as high as they like (like for example, recently for a short period Maruti arbitrarily made Synthetic oil compulsory), regardless of the inconvenience to the owners. How else can they have 500 dealerships by year end ?

Basically its somewhat like we're paying them to call them our "mai baap" so to speak. All this for so-called "Brand Value".