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Technical My B's died...

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Technical My B's died...

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willowlodge

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Sep 9, 2006
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My B's died on me!

I was happily pootling along the M62 on my way home to York at 100+ mph and I notice didn't my temperature gauge steadily increasing to 130 degrees. The first sign there was a problem was when 'smoke' appeared from under the dashboard and soon filled the cabin to the extent I couldn't see through the it and had to pull over. The smoke turned out to be dirty steam form the cooling system.

The nice man the RAC towed it to my garage for me but the bad news is that the cylinder head gasket's gone and that, because of the temperature, the head's warped, the pistons have fused and the cap to the coolant tank has melted. Basically, the engine's now been declared dead. :cry:

Does anyone know of anywhere that does reconditioned engine's or where there's a reliable engine going spare for a 1997 B?

I'm hoping to resurrect her rather than break for bits.
 
That's horrible. Really sorry to hear that.

DTR in London do reconditioned engines or will be able to get hold of one for you. www.dtrsports.com

There was also a B on ebay that someone was breaking. Might be worth having a search there as well.

Jon
 
Well, your own engine could be resurrected but it sound like it will be cheaper to find a replacement. It must have got really hot for the coolant tank cap to melt?? As for "fused" pistons:eek: That's a new one on me, maybe the piston rings have expanded but several parts of your engine will have expanded in the extreme heat and will have stifled free movement.
You would be advised though to bite the bullet and pay for a reconditioned engine rather than one with no guaranteed history:(
Could you please tell me the mileage of your car as a matter of interest??
A great shame and I hope you are back on the road again soon.
 
I'd be surprised if the pistons were fused in any way. If that were the case I'd have expected the wheels to lock up.

In my experience a head gasket going can mean that you need to get the head skimmed to take account of the warping, but it's normaly cheaper than a new engine. This is all based on my experience with normal cars and not Fiat's of course :)

Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide to do!
 
Really sorry to hear the bad news although I would doctor your original mailing re the speed - people have got into trouble for similar omissions of guilt!!

Found this guy on the .net, no idea what they are like but will give you an idea of costs for a new engine...........also comes with a warranty

http://fiat.reconditioned-engines.co.uk/

Would steer clear of eBay engines etc as it could be a false economy, might save a couple of hundred quid in the short term but may be buying a pup.

Let us know how things go!
 
Can you still turn the engine over by hand?

Even though things got pretty hot, I'd be very surprised if there was enough damage to warrant scrapping the engine.

Having said that, if you remove the head and get it skimmed, you should really replace the cam belt. I've just done the same job on my 156. It overheated on the M62 as well:(

The head skim cost £22.50 + VAT. But the gasket set and the belts and new head bolts pushed the parts cost over £300.

John
 
Cheers for the suggestions thusfar :worship: and to thanks to all those of you who've replied so quickly on this already (y)

I've contacted Doogal about his engine and it's suitability for reconditioning as well as the link for the recon engine that LittleRedB kindly attached. Now it's just a matter of time waiting for their respective responses and saving my pennies in the meantime.

All things considered I'd really rather get her back on the road becasue I've already spent £1000 rebuilding the rear axle and brakes this year and she's had four new tyres less than a fortnight ago! Amazing the difference vibration free driving makes to the enjoyment of the journey...

Oh and for the record, there's only 65k on the clock. I've had her for 8 years now but she was only used at weekends for the first 6. For the last year I've been commuting 300 (fast) miles on a round trip twice a week in her so that's probably had something to do with the engine giving up the ghost. I'm quite leaden footed when it comes to driving...
 
There's absolutely zero compression on the engine and it can;t be turned over manually, Presumably this is why the garage have informed that the pistons fused.

I wasn't unduly concerned when the cabin filled with smoke but the engine also lost all power and wouldn't go over 60mph and the injector light came up on the dash.

In my naievity I prised the cap off the coolant tank and threw in 2 litres of Evian which I had with me and attempted to struggle to the next service station. In hindsight this wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made...
 
Not the dumbest decision you will ever have made either because I am sure the damage was already done:eek:
I think here that your best course of action will be the engine off Doogal. Just sticking a gasket on your skimmed head will probably be a waste of money because by the sound of it there is more damage than just the head.
 
willowlodge said:
Cheers for the suggestions thusfar :worship: and to thanks to all those of you who've replied so quickly on this already (y)

I've contacted Doogal about his engine and it's suitability for reconditioning as well as the link for the recon engine that LittleRedB kindly attached. Now it's just a matter of time waiting for their respective responses and saving my pennies in the meantime.

All things considered I'd really rather get her back on the road becasue I've already spent £1000 rebuilding the rear axle and brakes this year and she's had four new tyres less than a fortnight ago! Amazing the difference vibration free driving makes to the enjoyment of the journey...

Oh and for the record, there's only 65k on the clock. I've had her for 8 years now but she was only used at weekends for the first 6. For the last year I've been commuting 300 (fast) miles on a round trip twice a week in her so that's probably had something to do with the engine giving up the ghost. I'm quite leaden footed when it comes to driving...
Click to expand...

Most barchetta engines should easilly cope with 1200 miles a week esp if the total engine milage is that low, sounds like it's been thrashed & neglected. Anyone that drives a car to the levels of speed you mention has to constantly keep on top of very regular servicing and keep a constant eye on the guages to see problems at the earliest opportunity.

Speed aside in which your dangling your licence on a string, as anyone caught at 100+ is automatically banned. I hope that you have learned a lesson so the next engine survives a long and happy life.
 
Damn, sorry to hear that. I broke my engine last december and had to replace it, not the best days of my life...

However, Sweden's union of brakedown garages (?) have a database www.bildelsbasen.se from where I found this:

http://www.bildelsbasen.se/?index=default&link=item&searchmode=1&vc[]=135125100&vc1=135&vc2=125&pc[]=120101100&pc1=120&sortfield=vehiclemodelyear&sortorder=1&page=1&id=12664789

I bough mine from Goteborg, 69000km on the clock and it's working fine. Cost me 6000 kr ~ 700 ~ 500 ?
That's ~109000km so not bad. And Helsingborg is on your side of Sweden, presuming you live in GB. So I suggest you give them a call, most of the swedes can even speak english.
 
Thanks to Doc and Al for thinking of me and my B. Unfortunatley for willowlodge (fortunatley for me) I sold me engine only last week to a nice chap from oop North.

Cheers

Doogal :D
 
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