Fiat Punto steering

[aldivalloch]

I thought I'd post this as it might be of assistance to anyone who runs one of the small Fiats fitted with electrically assisted power steering (EPS).

 

My wife has an elderly Mk 2 Punto 1.2 that was our son's car when he was at university. He handed it back when he moved on to better things.

 

A couple of weeks ago the power steering stopped working. I retrieved the car and started searching on various forums for advice. I also spoke to the owner of the garage that maintains our cars.

 

The conclusion we reached was that the car probably wasn't worth repairing, given the potential cost of replacing the steering column, motor, ecu, etc.

 

Just before consigning it to the scrapyard I decided to have a look at the electric motor. It was easy enough to remove (and I'm not at all technically gifted!). Once I'd got it out I recruited the assistance of a neighbour who has a lot more ability than I, as he worked for years as a tv engineer before becoming maintenance engineer at a local factory.

 

We took the motor apart and he inspected the little circuit-board that sits inside it. "Don't much like the look of some of this", he said. He spent half-an-hour mopping off all the old solder and then re-made all the connections.

 

I put the motor back on and, lo and behold, I had fully-functioning steering again! Cost? Potentially next to nothing, but in this case a well-deserved bottle of whisky.

 

So if anybody is experiencing problems with this type of steering, check the motor before spending hundreds on more expensive remedies, or chucking away a car that has miles left in it.

[la bala]

Good info for someone, good of you to take the time.

[team tractor]

Motors are £150 for recon units .

It's a common problem