PuntoPower FAQ

This collection of frequently asked questions was born several years ago, when I was collecting here some troubles and issues I was told about Punto GT. First series' Punto GTs suffer some problems, and Fiat repaired resolving these troubles and delivering the second series' Punto GTs. I even collected some questions frequently asked me in last years.

Since those earlier years, I made up my mind and I expanded the FAQ with more questions and answers also about the newer Punto Mk2. This is how is up to you the PuntoPower FAQ!

Akward location of the power steering hose

I think the power steering hose is badly located. In fact I friend of mine told me his power steering hose broke and spilled onto the exhaust and the cat-converter causing the fluid to burn. You should open your hood, you will be able to see that the power steering hose is right above the exhaust. I personally feel that it is the worst place the hose is located. So watch your mileage and get hose replaced often. (Lee David)

Hesitating when accelerating in third gear

This problem was noticed on delivery of the car (August 1994). When accelerating, the car would hesitate when third gear was engaged (as though the engine was misfiring). I had this checked out by the garage, but they couldn't find a problem. After annoying them for several weeks, they admitted that Fiat had issued a technical bulletin stating that there was a problem with the engine management computer on the early GTs. It gave a series of chassis numbers of cars that had this problem. However, the chassis number of my car was later than the chassis numbers listed and again Fiat said they could do nothing only submit my complaint to the factory. About a month later, I got a call from the garage saying that Fiat had revised the Technical Bulletin and that my car was now included and they could go ahead and replace the computer under warranty. They did this which solved the problem. I was told that I was lucky that I didn't have to pay for the computer as it cost over $1,500 to buy. I didn't consider myself lucky getting something that I felt I had already paid for.

About a year later, I had an Email conversation with a Greek owner who had a similar problem. However, he was not having much joy in convincing Fiat in Greece that they should replace the computer. However, as I remember, his car was out of warranty, mine was only 6 weeks old when the work was carried out. This Greek owner was then told by his garage that in order to avoid the problem, he should only change into third gear when he was at least 5,000 rpm!! I didn't think this was a good solution. Not only would it damage the engine, but would also make for very uneconomical driving. (Kenneth Simpson)

My Punto GT doesn't brake correctly at the rear side

Fiat recalled at their authorized garages any Fiat Punto, not only GTs, equipped with ABS system, delivered during the first months, to check and change an braking oil tube near the rear discs. Fiat communicated this update to be done for free at their garages sending a letter to every customer. (Marco Tenuti)

The engine doesn't accelerate at minimum rpms

First series' Punto GTs suffer the problem of the injection computer: some electronic sensor seems to be defective and the computer isn't able to keep the minimum rev. The engine revolutes irregularly between 800 and 1200 rpms and you aren't able to gain more rpms, although you push down the fuel pedal: at my garage they told they haven't found a solution yet; in the meanwhile, the better thing to do is to stop the engine, restart it, push the pedal immediately and keep the engine over 1700 rpms.
I suppose a dramatic solution could be to substitute the entire computer, but it should be a bit expensive.

My uncle also noticed the behaviour depends on the kind of the fuel. Some fuels seem to enlarge the problem, some other richer fuels minimize the difficulty. (Marco Tenuti)

Why newer Punto GTs have less horsepower?

First Punto GTs (Nov 93-Jun 94) have 136 HP. They had some injection computer problems. They were decreased to 133 HP and during Fall 1996 to 130 HP for those guidelines mentioned below. (Marco Tenuti)

I have heard that the Punto GT has been downgraded to pass new EEC emission guidelines, resulting in a slight decrease in horsepower. The Cars imported into the UK after January 1997 are affected.(Greg Lunt)

Which tyres on my Punto GT?

Default tyres are 185/55 R14, but in Italy you could install also 195/45 R15. You need your car to pass the official revision of the Ufficio della Motorizzazione Provinciale.
In other countries larger tyres are possible. I saw some Swiss and German Punto GTs with 16-inches tyres. Please make us know ! (Marco Tenuti)

My Punto GT will be equipped with 215/40 R16 tyres, which is possible in Germany with special admission and slight modification of the car. (Daniel Roegelein)

My wheels are Monotora system 7"x15" with 195/45 R15 tyres. (Luca Cavadini)

Some notes to install car stereo

Punto GT have been equipped with ready cables to install your favourite car stereo. If you even order the standard speakers of Fiat, you get an unique connector available near the car stereo box. That connector furnishes two 12V power connections, the power ground and even 8 poles (4 for signal and 4 grounds) for the speakers.
The speakers are however 6: in the front side you get two woofers in the doors and two tweeters under the front glass; in the rear side two midrange speaker are installed.

You have to do nothing: your car stereo should be provided with the right connector, otherwise ask to your preferred car stereo center the right connector for your Punto.

If you have to install also a CD-charger and you don't know how to pass the bus and signal wires from the front to the rear side, this is my suggestion:

  • pass the cables unders the moquette of the right passenger (or the left passenger if your car has the right-hand drive).
  • unmount the plastic stripe near the door - that stripe crosses from the front side to the point where safety belts are fixed.
  • there's enough space to pass as many wires as you want: get 1 meter and reach the middle part of your Punto.
  • unmount another plastic cover located under the rear seats and pass there.
  • you should have reached the rear box where you could pose your CD-charger.
  • bind the CD-charger to the rigid table that covers the red wheel.
  • remount what you unmounted, the rear cover, the side stripe and the moquette.
(Marco Tenuti)

Does Punto GT really accelerate 0-100 kmh in 7.9 sec?

Yes, most car magazines got similar times to 7.9. Some magazine got even better acceleration, but I suppose that measure should be done with one driver and another passenger, so that the car's weight reaches 1080+160 = 1240 kg.

When traffic lights are red ? My uncle suggests to put the 2nd speed gear if the road ground is a bit ruined, instead of the 1st. Any adversary gains some meter, but your wheels don't spin very much and you get 105 kmh in a flash interval ! (Marco Tenuti)

As for the real acceleration, I was told by the garage that there is a way of tricking the switch that cuts the Turbo in in First Gear and prevents that nasty lag where nothing happens for about a second.
If you press the accelerator then lift off slightly then push down the switch comes in earlier that the designated Rev band. Just make sure you do it on a dry road otherwise you'll just light the tyres up.(Greg Lunt)

Which rpms does the engine limiter stops the acceleration at?

It seems the limiter avoids the engine to take more than 6800/6850 rpms. Sometimes I got more rpms, almost 7200 rpms, which is a bit optimistic. It doesn't look the case to wait for the action of the limiter: better change the gear at 6500/6600, so that you don't encounter that noisy vibrations !

Rear door spoiler

Stelios has detailed instructions about that installation and some nice pictures too. He called it the Abarth spoiler, but there are also other spoilers with central stop lights.

Did you never read something about the mythic Punto Abarth?

During far fall '93, at the debut of Fiat Punto, I got an article of the Italian magazine Automobilismo, where they previewed some snapshots of Fiat Punto Abarth. It was equipped with an 2000cc engine, a 20V Yamaha, but I could imagine it was a prototypal version of the 20V installed on Fiat Bravo HGT and Fiat Marea. Those snapshots showed a Punto with 16-inch wheels and an amazing light-grey color.
Since that article, I never got other responses of that news. (Marco Tenuti)

My engine seems a Diesel engine when cold and started up

This issue is very common with Fiat Barchetta. You could see even the Barchetta.com site about that issue that seems to be more important on the engine of the first spider cars. In the case of the Punto HGT, the trouble is not existent. That sound can been heard only for some seconds when you start up an engine not warmed up or cold.
In the case of the more serious trouble of the Barchetta, the variator sound first happens as you slow down below the cutoff for it and it diesels a bit for 500 rpm from 2000 down. It has to be pretty bad for it to sieze and cause a problem at idle.
You could also tell by seeing if the engine would still spool up on its own, but this probably doesn't work on fly by wire Puntos.
If it only rattles, as in the Fiat Punto, after cold starts it's just oil draining out of the tappets, as long as it clears in say 5 sec. (Ian Farquharson)

I got another opinion by Shaul Boilow, who said: "Well, I had the same problem, I've checked it in the garage, apparently the timing tentioner was faulty and was replaced, now I don't have that noise anymore".

There is also a special toolkit for this engine, the TA468 Engine timing set Fiat 1.8 16v: it is composed by a tensioner, camshaft and flywheel tools. It's 5 pieces set for Fiat Bravo, Brava, Marea, Marea Weekend, Barchetta, Coupé, Punto HGT, and Stilo powered by the 1.8 16v twincam VFD engine model. The kit is supplied in a polypropylene case.

You can order the kit here.

There are even more opinions and information about the issue here:

A solution to HGT engine rattle

I know a lot of people have asked for a solution to the punto hgt engine rattle. I myself have wondered what has caused it. I've had a rattle on start up and the rattle on idle and found out that if you use an engine flush properly (I tried Forte or Wynns) and do an oil change, the variator is freed and the noise disspears instantly. Absolutely amazing. My car has done 60 K and now its like new again. The problem is that the variator sticks with carbon build up. (Stuart Fraser)

Which is the bodykit of the Puntopower logo car?

That bodykit was made by ITCDB, a Swiss bodykit and tuning reseller. I was told the bodykit is buily by Autotecnica Design, although it is unconfirmed. You cannot order the ITCDB bodykit, because the Swiss firm seems to close. I'm still trying to contact the Italian body maker Autotecnica Design for more information and prices.

There is only a car in the Puntopower gallery, which has been fitted with the ITCDB rear spoiler, the Nazgul's Punto Sporting Mk2.

(Marco Tenuti)

Which is the wheels set of the Puntopower logo car?

The wheels of the Puntopower logo car are from Enkei in 17" format and are suite with 205/40 ZR17 tyres. Those wheels cost about 2.200 Euro. (Marco Tenuti)

Which kind of lights on Punto Mk2?

We notice often expensive and luxury cars which mount lamps with very lighty and blue beam. A question arises: why do the Punto light projectors display a blue light, but luminosity really lower than those cars? The white-and-blue lights installed on Mercedes, BMW, Audi and other brands differ from Punto Mk2's ones because those are xenon lights, while Punto's are not.

Xenon lights work very different from the standard halogen lights, like Punto's ones. Halogen lights (or iodium lights) are standard lamps with incandescence, where electric current crosses the metallic wire, which becomes incandescent and emits lights. The presence of halogen gases inside standard lamps let them to increase durability and luminosity; some constructors use xenon as filling gas of the bulbs to enhance liability. The REAL xenon lights work for a principle of electric discharge. The bulb full of xenon gas contains two electrodes: when switching on the lights an electronic unit moves the circuit voltage from 12 V to 25000 V in order to create a very lighty arc between the electrodes.

The gas discharge lights are inherently different from the halogen ones and they cannot installed in halogen projectors. Some national Code of the Traffic and Roads, needs the cars using xenons mechanism are also equipped with washing devices and a slope adjusting devices: this is why it is very difficult and very expensive to install xenons lights on cars not developed with. (Marco Tenuti)

Aren't there any Lexus-style tail lights for Punto Mk2?

After several requests posed in forums and in my website, Formula 2 Design from Bologna (Italy) made available Lexus-style taillights for Punto Mk2. Some could issue those lights differ from typical Lexus-style look: give them a chance to see in the Formula 2 page in my website. (Marco Tenuti)

How I debadge my car?

The Punto Mk1 series had three releases:

Mk1 A (1993-1994), Mk1 B (1995-1997)

These cars can be debadged, but the rear door has some holes. You should fill the holes with an easy artwork at your garage.

Mk1 C(1998-1999)

This series can be debadged only by removing the badge which is only glued.

Mk2 (1999-2003)

All the releases of Type 188 can be debadged by removing the glued badge.

How do I update my Punto Mk2 to Mk2B?

Since June 2003, when Fiat Auto put on the market the revision B of Fiat Punto Mk2, several Punto Mk2 owners were embarassed by the way Fiat remade their own basic car. Fiat introduced a completely different front face, but the side view was unmodified and the rear part suffered only some cosmetic changes, but none of them important.

Geoffrey Apel experienced this full update, taking his own blue sprint Punto HGT Mk2 and updating it to the revision B. You can see the excellent result here. Anyway there was proof of evidence that this was very easy to do, because Fiat itself upgraded all the Fiat Punto Rally around in Italy, with the updated bonnet, the new front bumper and arches.

The list of parts to be swapped isn't so long:

  • front bumper
  • bonner
  • front wheel arches
  • new front light systems
  • rear taillights
  • rear bumper
  • exhaust outlet adaptation
  • reardoor Fiat circular logo
  • reardoor new reflecting placques

May I put a pop-off valve in my JTD engine?

Yes, you can install a pop-off valve in your JTD engine. You should install the pop-off valve kit for turbodiesel engines by Negrente. They produce an exclusive kit which can be installed on several Diesel cars, such as Volkswagen Golf, but also each model powered by the Fiat JTD engine, like Fiat Bravo, Fiat Stilo, Alfa 147, and Alfa 156.

Well, with current and future technology the air pressure loaded in the collector hoses of the turbodiesel engines is increasing very much and in some cases pressures of 2-2,5 bar are probed in some models. These pressures could really damage some technical couplings of the intake parts. Just see the latest models from Volvo and from BMW: they have default pop-off valves. BMW 535d, namely, which is powered by the 3,000cc engine but with a turbocharging double stadium, has top pressure of 2,85 bar and it can't resist without such valve.

Another effect is that the packed air stops its flow while moving to the engine and the turbocharger has a bit lag while restarting the motion of such air column. If you free some air with the popoff valve, the turbocharger takes less to activate again the motion of the reduced air column. The final effect is, of couse, the racing sound: the pop-off puff sound is something the tuning passionates consider something really viril!

For best sound performance of the pop-off valve, you should remap the ECU, moving the peak turbo pressure to the range just higher than 1,0 bar. Higher pressures guarantee a great sound of the pop-off valve, which could be as high as an equipped petrol car, like Punto GT. Of course more pressure on the Punto JTD could be risky, because the IHI turbocharger is really small and it doesn't resist too much.

Changing directional indicators

The German accessories and parts maker In-Pro develops several parts for most cars and they have also some parts for Fiat Punto Mk1:

  • Side indicator exchange set (grey)
  • Side indicator exchange set (yellow)
  • Side indicator exchange set (blue)
  • Side indicator exchange set (red)
  • Side indicator exchange set (green)
  • Side indicator exchange set (black)

They have also their website in German. Below there's a picture of the side indicators:

Changing instrumentation backlights

There is proof of a Swiss guy who changed all the backlights of the instrumentation and panel in his own Punto Sporting Mk2. The work is really hard to be completed, because of the 31 lights to be substituted. I put here a couple of pictures of the job done.

Different mirrors on Punto Mk2

Here there are some samples about some mirrors kits that can be applied on Punto Mk2. Any further information may be asked to the Punto owners in my PuntoPower gallery.

Dectane mirrors
(installed on Geoffrey Apel's Punto HGT)

Merkur M3-style mirrors
(installed on Richard Fallon's Punto Sporting)

Dectane website is available at www.dectane.de.

How do I emplant an Punto GT engine in my Punto Mk1?

Several of the fans browsing my website posed mye a typical question, I decided to answer for everybody: several owners of Punto Mk1 would like to upgrade their own car with the Punto GT engine.

I don't have any experience of such emplantments, although it shouldn't be impossible. However there are several issues about such emplantment and those issues should make anybody think seriously of it:

  • you need to change the whole exhaust system
  • you need to reinforce the braking system. Punto 55S was conceived to brake at maximum speeds of 160 km/h, not 200 km/h: Punto GT has infact 257 mm brake disks, whilst other Punto Mk1 models have smaller disks
  • you need to reinforce the suspensions because of the augmented weight caused by the engine
  • you need to bring with the engine also the gearbox, because of a gearbox capable to tolerate 250 Nm
  • you need some performance gauge to display turbo pressure and so on: better you know the status of your turbocharged engine while travelling...

As you can see there are several facts that should make you avoid to emplant the GT engine: why don't you buy an oldie GT at a fraction of the price of the full emplantment?