Newbie owner in Kent

[alwaysinafield]

Hello all!

Recently purchased a 2001 1.6 Puma and love it. But wondering if you might be able to help with a couple of problems?

1. The rear windscreen wiper makes an attempt to move gets stuck and then just makes an awful noise until you wiggle the wiper arm.

2. The passenger side window sometimes works and sometimes stops an inch or two from the top.

Neither huge problems but would be good to get sorted if I can as I love driving this car.

Many thanks,
Stephen

 

[Sylvester]

1. The rear windscreen wiper makes an attempt to move gets stuck and then just makes an awful noise until you wiggle the wiper arm.

2. The passenger side window sometimes works and sometimes stops an inch or two from the top.

Hi

1- Check the windscreen wipers arms under the hood, something might be in the way - but probably need a new motor, not sure tough. Someone here will probably know more.

2 - Happened to me as well. Goes down and stays there. Pressing the button up and down only had little or no effect. 1 morning I had to pull it back by hand, I was seriously nervous, I might removed the glass from it's place...Few days later I found the problem. The screws on the clamps, by the + and - side of the battery were so loose, almost fell off. That worked for me. If that's not the problem, take door panel off, could be an easy fix.

 

[Sylvester]

If you will need any part to fix the issue, email Ian: [email protected]

 

[alwaysinafield]

Thanks for the ideas so far and the email address i'm certain to be needing some parts if not for these but certainly in the future

As an aside there's a small oil leak which has been identified as the rocker gover gasket. I've ordered the gasket but any ideas on what would be a resonable cost for fitting. Local garage has quoted me £125 which seems like it could be a bit steep.

 

[Sylvester]

Thanks for the ideas so far and the email address i'm certain to be needing some parts if not for these but certainly in the future

As an aside there's a small oil leak which has been identified as the rocker gover gasket. I've ordered the gasket but any ideas on what would be a resonable cost for fitting. Local garage has quoted me £125 which seems like it could be a bit steep.

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=9307&hilit=rocker+gasket+cover" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ł125 = 1.5 hours job. That's way too much. I'd say they'd charge an hour = appr. Ł 80. Shop around for quotes. After cambelt set change my oil is leaking as well a bit, I can see drops on the side. It's been 3 months and oil level didn't really change much, so I'll wait until spring to replace it. If the oil amount you lose is not really noticeable, I recommend to get the wipers fix first, because winter is coming and you'll need them. Oh and welcome to the forum. If you need help later, just a choose that category from the main page and try to use the search option on the top, many problems has been solved in the past.

 

[zinc2000]

Hi and welcome along.

if its the rear wiper chances are its the motor that's the problem, should be an easy swap for a new/second hand one.

If your local garage charges that much, go to another garage, my local garage up here is around £35 per hour (I know thats no use to you but just saying).

Personally I would fix the window first

 

[alwaysinafield]

Thanks everyone! Agree that the window and wipers should be a priority but people are complaining that the car is making a mess on the road That and it is a bit smelly!

 

[Sylvester]

people are complaining that the car is making a mess on the road That and it is a bit smelly!

If there are visible oil patches after a day parking, under the car than 2 options: 1- There is a serious gap(s) on the gasket cover. Unplug spark plug leads, one by one check spark plugs and if they swim in oil, the cover change is more then necessary. 2-What is the level of the engine oil? Check with cold engine and on flat surface. If it's more than it should, than the pressure during drive could squeeze out more oil, then originally it'd escape through that gap.

 

[Frank]

Hello all!

Recently purchased a 2001 1.6 Puma and love it. But wondering if you might be able to help with a couple of problems?

1. The rear windscreen wiper makes an attempt to move gets stuck and then just makes an awful noise until you wiggle the wiper arm.

2. The passenger side window sometimes works and sometimes stops an inch or two from the top.

Hi,

Quite bizarrely, I had the exact same two problems when I got mine -

#1. Lift the boot lid and clean up the brass contact pins on the right hand side with fine wet 'n dry. Do the same on the contact plate itself, but go easy as those are soft copper there, not brass. Close boot, try rear wiper.

Still not working? The earthing for that rear wiper is made through the boot hinges - so, rag under hinges and GT80/WD40 the life out of them, while moving the boot lid up and down. My journey ended there and the rear wiper worked and has done ever since. But if it hadn't, then I would have permanently attached the temporary earth wire I jerryrigged to the boot lid earlier (wiper then worked), while figuring out how they must have earthed that boot lid.

#2. Rag and a can of silicon spray. Protect seats, etc with rag and spray all of the window rubber on all 4 sides and also spray the window itself on the edges, both inside and out. After an hour, carefully test window, but don't force it. Pull the window up with your hand, if you have to, but don't force that motor and mechanism.

Repeat every day for 4 days and then it should be fixed. After that, just make sure you open and close that window twice a week and spray the rubber surround once a year.

People often think that there is a mechanical fault there and maybe sometimes there is or maybe there is now...after they have kept on trying to force that window. But, the clue here is that it is always (95% of the time) the passenger window that plays up - and that's because it doesn't get used much.

Hope that helps.

 

[alwaysinafield]

Thank you Frank for this i'll give them both a go! The rear wiper does sometimes make an awful noise but it's like it doesn't have enough umph to get the actual wiper arm moving.

 

[Frank]

Thank you Frank for this i'll give them both a go! The rear wiper does sometimes make an awful noise but it's like it doesn't have enough umph to get the actual wiper arm moving.

No problem. You never know how these things will play out, but certainly with my window, I genuinely never thought that would work - motor sounded really feeble, but that spray routine actually worked fine!

As for your rocker box gasket - keep a very close eye on the oil level, but don't overfill it. Put a carrier bag underneath the car at night with a bit of wood on it. In the morning, reverse back, put an old newspaper on any oil on the bag and hide the lot in a hedge until the evening. That'll shut the neighbours up.

That quote is way over, even down our way. See if you can get a recommended mobile mechanic on it. Price should be around £45, maybe even less, and this time of year is good as the guys tend to work a lot quicker than when in heated workshops. It's not a complicated job, but as you've only just got the car probably a good idea to watch and learn from someone else first.

 

[alwaysinafield]

Thanks Frank! Really appreciate your time and effort and definitely going to check around for a better quote. Will keep you posted as to how I get on with window.

I fear the rear wiper is definitely a motor problem so will see if I can get a replacement and get that sorted.

 

[alwaysinafield]

The Puma experience has been a short one! Brakes failed on the M1!! Managed to get off motorway and towed to a garage only to discover the petrol tank is leaking to. Garage said it was a death trap!!

Feeling gutted I picked such a dud but lucky as it could have been so much worse.

Appreciate all your advice and help and wish you all a very happy Christmas

 

[zinc2000]

Sorry to hear you have been let down, least you escaped without injury but can I ask, was that private purchase or from a dealer?

Either way seems to me you have been sold a product "not fit for purpose" could be you can make a claim against whoever it came from.

Just a thought

 

[Sylvester]

The Puma experience has been a short one! Brakes failed on the M1!! Managed to get off motorway and towed to a garage only to discover the petrol tank is leaking to. Garage said it was a death trap!!

Feeling gutted I picked such a dud but lucky as it could have been so much worse.

Appreciate all your advice and help and wish you all a very happy Christmas

Sorry to hear that. At least you are ok. The previous owner probably knew these problems...Taking any legal actions against him? He sold something, that could have killed you...speak to a lawyer. With every single car, that's really important, how the previous owners treated her. Even a Ferrari could have been the same...Wish you good luck, to your next car!