Hey,
Had the Sei 1.1 MPI for almost 2 months now and in that time its been a fun and reliable car. However a couple of days ago i noticed the coolant bottle had been highly pressurised (coolant fountained out even after it had cooled down),the car was very lumpy when first starting and it was using coolant.

Today at work i checked the bottle and it was full of creamy froth i rang a few garages who all quoted over 400 quid!

Driving home the EML flashed a few times....i'm guessing it detected misfires? but thankfully the temperature light never come on.

Ive decided to try fix this myself using the guide on this forum. ive got a few questions before i begin tho.

-As the car never overheated will the head need skimming?
-If the head needs skimming does it need stripping down?
-Is it worth replacing the water pump and thermostat at the same time?
-Whats a good quality head gasket kit? (Ive heard Payen are good)
-Whats a good set of head bolts or will any do?

Fingers crossed she'll be running again in a few weeks....for now its back on the motorbike for work.

Cheers,
Shaun.

Yes always skim the head for the price it's simply worth not doing

Just the cam removing depending on milege ID relap valves and do stem seals

Yes replace with a good quality water pump and thermostat flush the rad out too

Payen or OEM is all ID fit

Any really but payen are not too expensive

Also replace cambelt,oil and filter.

Hi,
What make is a good quality water pump?

The heads done 70k......would the valves need doing?

Thanks for your help
Shaun.

PS. My brothers father in law who's a mechanic has just quoted 70 quid.......seems far to cheap to me as I can't even get the parts for 70 quid.

I get genuine marelli from unto.pl and thermostat they sell the inards rather than the whole housing. Would be wise tbh to do the valves does seem way to cheap you can do these cheap and miss out skim and changing other parts but not much point

Before you go and start pulling the engine apart, I'd be inclined to do a compression test, just to be certain that the headgasket has failed before you commit to swapping it out. Do order a water pump, tensioner and belt though. I'd also be inclined to swap out the thermostat and maybe even the coolant temp sensor while you're at it.

Hi,
Isn't the presence of oil in the coolant bottle a sign of hg failure? Also when I got home the exhaust was steaming.

ID already strapped for cash so can't afford a test which proves what I already suspect however I appreciate it could save me money catch 22.

Cheers,
Shaun.

You could get a compression tester off ebay for a few quid, it's a very simple DIY test.

Whereabouts are you I have a compression tester here in somerset

Hey,
I'm from Grimsby.

I drained the coolant today and it had turned from blue to green and was very dirty looking (only changed it 1k ago)? Also there was a lot of cream under the oil cap. Also when I started it it was only running on 3 cylinders....no EML on tho?

I'm thinking of just changing the headgasket as a matter of course. Ive stripped it down to the head....took all of an hour...and I had plans to change the water pump etc anyway.

The one thing I'm worried about is how to get the inlet manifold off. I don't really want to disturb the injectors etc. Is it simply a case of removing the nuts from the studs and manoeuvering the head off?

Thanks for your help,
Shaun.

Yep just unbolt entire manifold and it should pull off there's some green gaskets that should come part of the hg kit

Thanks. Your advise is very much appreciated.

I bought this set last time (just bought another ready for my 1.2 bottom end swap)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140483385971

DRSIK said:

I bought this set last time (just bought another ready for my 1.2 bottom end swap)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140483385971

Click to expand...

That's for spi not mpi.

Mpi one but the head gasket is crap and needs a better quality one fitting. The cam cover seal is not as good as the revised Fiat one.
Any manufacturer that quotes the head gasket fitting both 1.1/1.2 engines is worrying. The bore on the 1.2 is 0.8 bigger for the 1.2.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PAND...BOLT-SET-99-/140466503631?hash=item20b474bfcf

Invisible Man said:

Hey,
I'm from Grimsby.

I drained the coolant today and it had turned from blue to green and was very dirty looking (only changed it 1k ago)? Also there was a lot of cream under the oil cap. Also when I started it it was only running on 3 cylinders....no EML on tho?

I'm thinking of just changing the headgasket as a matter of course. Ive stripped it down to the head....took all of an hour...and I had plans to change the water pump etc anyway.

The one thing I'm worried about is how to get the inlet manifold off. I don't really want to disturb the injectors etc. Is it simply a case of removing the nuts from the studs and manoeuvering the head off?

Thanks for your help,
Shaun.

Click to expand...

whip the plugs out, chances are 1 or 2 will look "steam cleaned"

TBH - I've never skimmed a 1.1 , as I KNOW they've not been overheated / cooked by me, and I always check for flatness on reassembly,
LOTS of guides in the Cinq /Sei section , as well as punto 1 and 2,

I also added some pics from my last change - panda section

a basic repair is @£10 - gasket only, bolts can be torqued twice, ( hence your £70 quote...)

waterpump..as long as it's still got an impeller it'll do to get the car running / proven again.
pump / belt are a simple job - for a day in MAY..

Charlie

Hey,
Water pump is staying on and the old belts going back on seems it looks like new! Like you said get the head done, let the car prove itself then bugger about with other parts. I've had a right game with it tonight.

-How do you get the inlet manifold off the mpi seicento? Do you have to disconnect all the injectors etc?

-How do you get the heat shield off the exhaust to get to the exhaust manifold bolts?

Came very close to calling time on the Sei tonight.

Shaun.

Heat sfield should just unbolt from the manifold iirc. Use some wd40 to remove the nuts. The bolts usually snap off... you can run fine without.

Perhaps gasket failed due to previous lack of coolant allowing corrosion? Who knows...

Might be time for a new radiator (£30) and perhaps an after market temp gauge to keep an eye on things...

Invisible Man said:

Hey,
Water pump is staying on and the old belts going back on seems it looks like new! Like you said get the head done, let the car prove itself then bugger about with other parts. I've had a right game with it tonight.

-How do you get the inlet manifold off the mpi seicento? Do you have to disconnect all the injectors etc?

-How do you get the heat shield off the exhaust to get to the exhaust manifold bolts?

Came very close to calling time on the Sei tonight.

Shaun.

Click to expand...

leave injectors etc on the inlet mani and just unbolt the studs on the head I normally do this once the head is off so take the head complete with inlet mani just disconnect sensors, injectors and fuel lines.

Heatshield is a bit of a pain tbh as siad give all the bolts a good soaking. I've also found it best to remove the front bumper and radiator for good access

Invisible Man said:

Hey,
Water pump is staying on and the old belts going back on seems it looks like new! Like you said get the head done, let the car prove itself then bugger about with other parts. I've had a right game with it tonight.

-How do you get the inlet manifold off the mpi seicento? Do you have to disconnect all the injectors etc?

-How do you get the heat shield off the exhaust to get to the exhaust manifold bolts?

Came very close to calling time on the Sei tonight.

Shaun.

Click to expand...

Hi Shaun,

if you'd tagged me = username - I'd have seen this earlier,

I always SOAK the manifold bolts for a couple of days.. not broken one yet..

TBH I lave the inlet on the head, just remove fuel line and throttle cable.. easy as.. useful for mild leverage on the head joint separation.

my panda pics;https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-guides/437182-panda-8v-petrol-head-gasket-change-gars4.html

Charlie

Invisible Man said:

PS. My brothers father in law who's a mechanic has just quoted 70 quid.......seems far to cheap to me as I can't even get the parts for 70 quid.

Click to expand...

That'll just be for the labour, I'd imagine..