FIAT Punto (1994 - 1999) - Grating hinges and wonky doors | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

Thu 20 Sep 2007 22:47

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Halmer

Bought an old FP to get me by until the new car arrives. Both doors make an awful noise when opening - a sort of grinding noise as though the hinges are knackered. One of the doors moves so much on the hinges that it actually hits the wing upon opening! Other than this and a broken rear wiper mechanism it seems fine for £300 with tax and MOT until March to get me till Christmas when the new one lands!

Anyone know how easy this is to fix on a Punto please?

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Thu 20 Sep 2007 23:20

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Chris M

I don't know about the hinges but I stripped the rear wiper motor on ours. It was siezed solid but works perfectly now. It was a really satisfying job to do and it cost nothing!

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Fri 21 Sep 2007 00:22

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Halmer

Cheers Chris.

I can hear a click when I turn it on but nothing happens.

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Fri 21 Sep 2007 00:42

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Gromit {P}

Sounds as though the relay that reverses the wiper motor is gone. Its easily replaced apparently - my Punto had it done under warranty a week after I bought it.

A shot of WD40 to unstick the door hinges followed by some oil should do the job, but it's odd the hinge itself is bending back against the wing. See if freeing up the hinges helps first.

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Fri 21 Sep 2007 00:53

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Kevin

Don't know the Punto at all - but always check the easy and obvious first.

For the door, is it the hinge pins that are worn, the mounting bolts loose or perhaps body/door panel misaligned or flexing? How you fix it depends on what the cause is.

For the wiper, as Chris mentioned above it is probably seized and a stripdown and clean will fix it but make sure it's getting power before you go to the hassle.

Kevin...

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Fri 21 Sep 2007 17:49

Grating hinges and wonky doors - oilrag

Check straps give trouble on Puntos, has it still got one?

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Fri 21 Sep 2007 21:07

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Halmer

Can't see a strap at all!!

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Sat 22 Sep 2007 15:49

Grating hinges and wonky doors - oilrag

Thought so :)

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Sat 22 Sep 2007 15:52

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Lud

Have any of the hinges rusted out of the door pillars by any chance?

If the bottom ones have come adrift, the top ones soon will and the doors will fall out on the road.

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Sat 22 Sep 2007 22:29

Grating hinges and wonky doors - oilrag

Its not a Merc Lud, Its Galvanised ;=)

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Sat 22 Sep 2007 23:06

Grating hinges and wonky doors - bell boy

All 3 door puntos suffer door stay problems,once the door has forced past the bottom hinge stay mechanism it will always groan and hit the wing if opened and left to its own devices,the giveaway sign is a nice little dent in the dor skin and missing paint on door edge
If you undo the plastic fitted door screw off loom and the two bolts holding the door on you can have the door off in a minute and either replace the bottom support door hinge and door stay (all one its the spur thing that strains) or try smacking some sense into it with a hammer
As regards rear wiper any scrappie will sell you a new motor as they were a popular saleable item a few years ago

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Sun 23 Sep 2007 10:29

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Halmer

Excellent thanks.

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Sun 23 Sep 2007 10:31

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Halmer

tinyurl.com/yq9udf {I shortened link to ebay using the tinyurl sticky at the top of the page so as to restore the page width back to normal - DD}

Is that the part BB please?

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Sun 23 Sep 2007 10:34

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Halmer

and by the way there's no strap and no rust anywhere either!!

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Sun 23 Sep 2007 11:24

Grating hinges and wonky doors - bell boy

looks like it halmer

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Sun 23 Sep 2007 11:33

Grating hinges and wonky doors - Halmer

Thanks BB.

Given that I'll only be keeping the car for a few months but don't wont to see it abused I'll try your hammer suggestions first!

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