Fiat Punto 1.2 Elx

[andy2306]

Hi,

Ive had my fiat punto for 4 months and ikt has recently begun to run very poorly when cold. It is also losing water and overheating. I took it to the garage and he said it was the headgasket (£230) I had this done but it hasnt sorted out my problem he also skimmed the head and replaced the timing belt! Any ideas, i still think its the headgasket

Is there anything else that could cause this to happen? im not sure if the exhaust is leaky when i put my hand over it what should i feel?

Thanks
Andy

 

[jonnyfishing]

Andy

I came across a similar thing with the same model 2 years ago. It concluded that the head had an internal leak that only occurred when the engine heated up. To cut a long story short,.....head from scrap yard, cleaned, another new head gasket,.....car still on the road and running perfect(serviced it 3 weeks ago).

 

[yes2mud]

I had a similar fault too jonny,it was a 5 cylinder Merc diesel.It had a mysterious coolant loss,but not overheating until it had lost enough coolant!
Turned out to be cracked/corroded around an exhaust valve guide,so when warmed up it was ditching coolant down the exhaust with the gas.Put it down to not having the antifreeze changed regularly enough.A new head fixed it.

Andy,don't burn your hand,with the engine idling,hold a thick pad of cloths firmly over the tailpipe for a few seconds.Any leakage will be heard as a sort of whoosh or whistle.