mk2 punto died, unknown warning light

4743hudsonj

ok so my girlfriends car just died, she drove it to and from work no probs, got changed started her up down the street, drove to her door to run in and grab something, went back out and the car is dead

it wont even turn over

just a simple dash light which she explains as being a person strapped in with a seatbelt and a ball????

.....im as confused as you are

i should explain that im not there personally and this was over the phone

her stepdad who thinks he knows his stuff but hasnt a clue in reality (i know a bit) thinks its a dead battery but batteries in my experience never go from 100% fine to not turning the starter motor AT ALL in the space of 20 second, and they usually have a battery warning light:P

so hes going to jump it

ive told her to stop him as it will just degrade the battery, so next time she needs to jump it, it may just die altogether without possibility of recharge.

so i need to know what this is/could be

she hasnt got a handbook, i shall buy a haynes manual from my work tomorrow if i cant get a answer on here

thanks in advance

slummymummyof3

Alternator?

4743hudsonj

slummymummyof3 wrote: »

Alternator?

hmm i did think of that but i cant be sure without a handbook

goldspanners

4743hudsonj wrote: »

her stepdad who thinks he knows his stuff but hasnt a clue in reality (i know a bit) thinks its a dead battery but batteries in my experience never go from 100% fine to not turning the starter motor AT ALL in the space of 20 second, and they usually have a battery warning light:P

so hes going to jump it

ive told her to stop him as it will just degrade the battery, so next time she needs to jump it, it may just die altogether without possibility of recharge.

i have no idea what the warning light might be, but maybe her step dad knows more than you think.
checking the state of the battery is always a good place to start,if unsure try jump starting it anyway, it wont do it any harm,failing this check all the fuses and battery connections,also check connections at starter motor aswell and the negative lead from the battery to the chassis.
also have someone hold the key in start posistion (dont do this for too long,this will kill a battery)while you are ready to hit the side of the starter motor with a hammer or similar, it could be a lazy starter motor,be prepared for the engine to start up,keep your hands well clear of any moving parts.;)

Coupon-mad

4743hudsonj wrote: »

just a simple dash light which she explains as being a person strapped in with a seatbelt and a ball????

Airbag/electrical malfunction?

Inactive

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Airbag/electrical malfunction?

Sounds likely, it is a Fiat, their electrics are notorious for failing.

4743hudsonj

goldspanners wrote: »

i have no idea what the warning light might be, but maybe her step dad knows more than you think.
checking the state of the battery is always a good place to start,if unsure try jump starting it anyway, it wont do it any harm,failing this check all the fuses and battery connections,also check connections at starter motor aswell and the negative lead from the battery to the chassis.
also have someone hold the key in start posistion (dont do this for too long,this will kill a battery)while you are ready to hit the side of the starter motor with a hammer or similar, it could be a lazy starter motor,be prepared for the engine to start up,keep your hands well clear of any moving parts.;)

if theres one thing i know, and its that jump starts are NEVER good for batteries, sure they bring it back to life, but since when were massive surges of electricity at higher cranking amps than desired good for electrical systems eh?


but hes gone and done it anyways and it didnt work

me thinks starter motor or something, it doesnt even turn over once

but n more than a minute before it started from cold with no hesitation

not a battery issue to me......

but as you have otherwise mentioned loose connections could be the cause

i fount out the light was airbags

she just said thats only just appeared with the fault so the fault has triggered that light for some reason.

goldspanners

4743hudsonj wrote: »

if theres one thing i know, and its that jump starts are NEVER good for batteries, sure they bring it back to life, but since when were massive surges of electricity at higher cranking amps than desired good for electrical systems eh?


but hes gone and done it anyways and it didnt work

me thinks starter motor or something, it doesnt even turn over once

but n more than a minute before it started from cold with no hesitation

not a battery issue to me......

but as you have otherwise mentioned loose connections could be the cause

i fount out the light was airbags

she just said thats only just appeared with the fault so the fault has triggered that light for some reason.

ok then. here was me thinking it was a 12v car that would be slave starting it not a 72v milk float.
i regularly slave start new and old 12v and 24v starting systems with more electronics than an old punto,you wont be causing any damage by slave starting from another car with a similar battery. if the battery is the same then all you are doing is supplying power from a different source via jump leads,where is the massive surge?

Just_Incredible

Electrical problem

Air bag wiring runs over top of glove box. This can easily be disturbed, especially if glove box is full. ask yourself ...have you recently had to push the glovebox hard to close it?

if that don't work then you need a code reader to erase fault code and resolve it

4743hudsonj

goldspanners wrote: »

ok then. here was me thinking it was a 12v car that would be slave starting it not a 72v milk float.
i regularly slave start new and old 12v and 24v starting systems with more electronics than an old punto,you wont be causing any damage by slave starting from another car with a similar battery. if the battery is the same then all you are doing is supplying power from a different source via jump leads,where is the massive surge?

its a massive merc with a battery over twice the size of hers


so yes, it wont be too good for it

seeing as he tried it lots of times

KeithP

4743hudsonj wrote: »

its a massive merc with a battery over twice the size of hers


so yes, it wont be too good for it

seeing as he tried it lots of times

But still only 12 volts.
Size of battery (or indeed size of the car) will have no effect on the amount of power that the disabled car may draw.