Hi,
I believe way back in August last year I graced you all with a little cam belt tensioner issue. Well...... I think the little Punto has felt left out and decided to spring a new problem. It's leaking water, from somewhere around the thermostat casing (as you look at the engine from the front of the car, top right of the engine block, just below rockerbox casing). Any ideas what this could be? I don't have any record of the radiator ever being changed, nor water pump, nor stat, so it makes sense for something to go wrong. Only started noticing it because the heaters occasionally don't work, and the car starts to overheat. This is probably just because the coolant level is a little low as it keeps leaking. Any ideas? I'm going to have a play now, I'm hoping it's just a gasket. It's been doing it increasingly over time so that'd make sense. Either that, or a blockage. I don't think it's water pump as the leak wouldn't make sense.
Cheers for the help (in advance!)
Dave

The stat is only held on by a pair of 10mm bolts, so its easy enough to remove it and replace the gasket. I fitted a new stat recently (the stat and housing are one piece) and as well as the standard gasket I put some silicone-based sealant on the joint. Loctite 5926 Flange Sealant is the stuff to use, think there's similar Gastite and Hermetite products but make sure its the silicon ones you use. I've actually fitted the water pump and stat housing on my Capri using just this silicon sealant and its spot on.
Just make sure that its the leak causing the overheating and not vice-versa; i.e. if you re-seal it then make sure it doesnt overheat even if the leaking stops.

Nice one, thanks. I've just come back from having a play, and in good old Italian tradition, discovered another problem
Think the seal has gone on the distributor where it connects to the rockerbox cover. Spurting a little bit of oil out, so there's something to fix on a rainy day... Talking of rockerbox cover, round the front, never seen such an impressive oil leak! Too much effort to sort that out, cheaper and easier to keep refilling the oil
As for the water leak, I took the distributor off and have pretty much confirmed that it's the gasket between stat casing and engine block. Cleaned it all off and ran the engine for a while and hey presto, more water. It's only tiny amounts. So plan is to order the gasket from fiat, then when it comes round to it, take the stat off and give it a quick test in some boiling water, just to make sure it's not the stat stopping water going through (I'm sure the stat's working fine as there's water passing from the it to the radiator through one of the chunky pipes).
Bet I wouldn't have this with a British car...)

The same sealant is good for oil leaks too

When my stat went it stuck open, and the engine took forever to warm up. So if yours gets up to temperature normally and doesn't overheat then the stat itself should be fine.