Just had the cylinder head gasket replaced on my mk1 after starting to get some nasty puddles of oil on the drive and anywhere I had been parked up for more than a few hours.

Started off with the cheeper options - rocker cover gasket , then cam seals/belt , then had to bite the bullet and got the cylinder head gasket done on friday just gone.

But the car is still losing oil
Could this just be oil coming off the engine after the gaket was done as the block had a good coating of think black slime before it was done or is it likley to be something more serious again?

The guy who did the head is a qualified mechanic whose doing a few "side jobs" after recently going bankrupt.
He checked the head over and asked if I had ever had any warnng lights etc or if the engine had been running hot but I had had no other problems realy except a good slick of oil between the head and the block so the mech reconed I could get away without having the block skimmed.
I know it priety much common practise to skim anyhow but as I'm on a seriously tight budget and have to use the car as my everyday ride(I'm really stuck with out it) I took him at his word.

Any ideas?

It could be the actual thing that holds the oil has rusted badly and left a hole thus leaking oil? I had my car checked over today and mine is quite rusty, he said the ones in punto's are prone to going rusty and then leaving a hole and leaking oil. I've been told to get a wire brush and clean mine up, then put some stuff on that stops rust appearing. Jack your car up and have a look to see if you've got a hole.

- Leo

Leopunto said:

It could be the actual thing that holds the oil has rusted badly and left a hole thus leaking oil? I had my car checked over today and mine is quite rusty, he said the ones in punto's are prone to going rusty and then leaving a hole and leaking oil. I've been told to get a wire brush and clean mine up, then put some stuff on that stops rust appearing. Jack your car up and have a look to see if you've got a hole.

- Leo

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Ok I take it you mean the sump pan?
Not too bad if it is a hole in the pan I suppose as I know a scrappy thats got 2 just about compleat punto's in.

Needless to say I've been doing my bit on recycling these recently -
one full set of sports alloys in good condition and 2 good tires - £70
Boot lid interia trim £3
Rear windscreen wiper motor £6
amoungst other odds and ends.

Next parts I'll be looking for will be a front bumper , and a possible door/wing but thats in the long term if I ever save the cash to get a re-spray done

I have had a problem with my car recently, i had to do some major repairs on it which left me money less and then after that found myself with an oil leak, which was somehow getting on my clutch making it slip, which i just had replaced, another new clutch and new rocker cover gasket down the line im hoping this will be the end of my problems, the only other option is the gear box seal. any other known places they seem to be able to leak oil from??

if the repair bill hits £300 for anything there's gonna be 3 punto's at the scrappy

Bit brutal I know but I cant afford to be with out a car for work etc.
I can do some of the work myself but its the time I'm without a car that really screws me over

My punto leaked oil for about 2 weeks after i got it, it went to two different garages who couldn't figure it out. One day was poking about underneath the car and tightened the oil filter real tight. End of problem, it was loose.

When I get a couple of spare hours this week I'm going to get the front end jacked up and get the axle stands under it so I can get a proper look.

Hopefully will be doing this on Tuesday if things go to plan but who knows what time and the other half will have me doing

I had about 6 goes at getting mine fixed :bang: and I think finally we sorted it.
I had a hairline fracture in my oil filter housing which eventually cracked, on replacing this (thanks to Trevor here!) I still had a leak because one of the pipes was no longer fitting tight. Had to order that from fiat.
If you are jacking it up clean it and then look again.
Good luck!

If you've done all the engine replacey bits, then I would suggest taking a very close look at the sump pan, as the original ones are pretty good at rotting away and leaking.