Garage in Reading needed

Hi there,

First post here and I'm looking for some advice. I've got a Punto HGT on an 02 plate and it's not very well. It's done just over 40k miles, I got it in November at 32k, so it's been driven plenty.

I was a complete idiot and ran it very low on oil a couple of weeks ago, now it sounds very rough at 2500rpm+ when it's warm. I put some oil additive in and it hasn't made a bit of difference, most people I've spoken to suspect it's the tappets. I'm convinced the noise is getting worse too.

I have heard however that HGT's can have a problem with the variator going. My car does sound like a diesel when you start it up and it sometime's stalls after starting when the revs go high, but drop quickly below 1000. I heard these could be symptoms of the variator going.

I only moved to Reading a few weeks ago so I have no idea where is a good place to go. I don't want to pay out for the tappets and still need to get a new variator, so I want someone who really knows their stuff and I don't mind paying a bit more to make sure it's all done properly and sorted out.

Please help my poorly Punto.

Rob.

I cant think fo many garages in Reading that I would feel 100% happy letting them work on a HGT. I struggled to find one that knew their way around my old Bravo HGT.

You've got Solo Italia who are not far up the road in Oxford. They might be able to have a listen for you and maybe give you a better idea of the problem.

otherwise you could PM DannyHGT. He lives in Reading and has just finished rebuilding the engine in his Punto HGT from the ground up. He might be able to have a listen and point you in the right direction.

Hope that helps mate.

Hi. Just found this post so i thought i would add my 2p worth.

While i owned my Galaxy i used AC Mechanical, 33 Loverock rd on 0118-9590500. They were good on labour charge and the boss Alan seems to know what he is on about. They do a lot of performance stuff so it might be worth a ring. Good luck with it

Not sure if you have fixed this issue yet but if not consider giving DTR a ring (Mortlake towards Kingston) so about 1/2 hour from Reading. They are not Punto experts but are Barchetta experts and the HGT and Barchetta share the same lump under the bonnet.

Just a thought..................