(G) Please help! The temp gauge is over red.

Hi everyone!
This is my first post on this forum. I'm a newbie in a motoring world and to be quite honest not very advanced in the technical side of the cars. I bought my first car, which is Fiat Punto mk1 3 months ago. Was driving last weekend when I notice that temp gauge was on the red, so cooled the engine, topped the reservoir with antifreeze and it seemed to be ok until I had to drive this Saturday again. After 5 min drive the gauge was over red, so got back home checked the reservoir and it was almost empty. Friend of mine told me that it could be a headgasket or faulty thermostat, headgasket has been done quite recently though. The huge bills is the last thing I want. Please any help and advice appreciated.

With regards,

dai

hi! welcome to the forum

have you checked for leaks?
do you have white smoke from the exhaust as this is a sign of blown hg
you might have an air lock? see if the top radiator hose gets hot, if not try bleeding the cooling system, if it fails to become hot the thermastat probably needs changing

fill it up and leave the car running for a short while (not till it overheats though.) Then check underneath for leaks, aswell as the passenger footwell. If you find any puddles, let us know where and we might be able to source the problem. If not then a HG is certainly a possibility.

Thanks for the replies guys!
I'll have a look after christmas, possibly on Boxing day, then come back with the results.

Regards,

dai

if it wasnt the headgasket and you drove home on the red it will be headgasket now

probably thermostat wasn't changed with hg

probably the original cause

but now you may need both

again

I bet a £10 FF donation that the head wasn't skimmed when done

i can't understand why anyone would not skim a head

but your right it does happen on an alarming amount of head gasket jobs

i mean how dum do people have to be

Hi and Merry Xmas everyone!
Didn't have a chance to look at the car earlier this week, but had a quick look today and yes, there is a leak somewhere where the radiator is. Quite a big puddle under the right headlamp and a smaller one uder the left one. I just hope it's not the headgasket as it's gonna cost me half the money what I paid for the car.

Regards,

dai

you might be lucky then, either way the radiator wants replacing. once you've done that and filled and bled the system, you need to check for signs of HG failure... loss of coolant, overpressurised coolant, steam from exhaust, lack of power etc.

Gonna take it to the garage next weekend. What are the chances to blow the HG if I have to drive 0.5 miles or so?

I had a leak in my radiator last year and just put some rad seal in. it hasn't leaked since. I also around the same time had to swap the head gasket it wasn't that expensive because i did it my self (with a bit of help). a way we knew my head gasket had gone was when the engine was on open the water cap ( make sure its not hot!!!) and see if it is bubbling as it was for me.

are well punto head gaskets are a little harder to diagnose than that

they don't burn oil they don't mix they don't bubble they don't lose water from the radiator tank until the block is completely empty off water and boiling they don't show on a sniff test unless you rev them loads from warm ie just been driving

and dont use rad seal it's crap and it foockers your engine

Hi everyone!
An update about my car. Because of the festive period only managed to get someone to look at it yesterday. And the good news is, it's not a headgasket. There was an air lock in the radiator and it's also leaking. Have agreed to get it replaced, £130 for the job and the part. Is it a fair price?
I also been told by someone, that I can get the rad repaired and it will cost me cheaper, won't it be a false economy? And another thing... what if I decide to call off the raplacement? Does it mean that I sort of commited when we agreed for him to come and do the job? Sorry, I probably sound stupid, but this is my first car and this is the first time I'm dealing with that sort of situation.

With regards,

dai

can get a new rad off ebay for less than £50 so that price is a bit too much
its only 1 bolt and 2 hose clips to remove and re fit

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/fiat-punto-60-...QQcmdZViewItem