Proud member of the blown head gasket club!

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Proud member of the blown head gasket club!

Suz359

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Joined
Jun 6, 2006
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Hello, I thought I'd sign up as this site has been very useful the last week or so. After my car starting chugging, idling strangely and generally being scary, I am now proud to be a member of the fiatforum, but even prouder to be a brand new member of the blown head gasket club- after reading many a post I feel this is almost obligatory for all W-reg Punto owners with less than 45000 on the clock!
Having gathered a bit of knowledge from reading everyone elses post, my shock was supressed after the garage rang me to tell me today that after compression tests, yes it was indeed the head gakset and I am now facing a very hefting repair bill (£400 approx) (can't do it myself as only just manage to check oil and water etc). Ho hum, no holiday for me this year then. Mind you on the bright side, for a girl- I now understand (in my own little way) a lot about my engine that I didn't know before.
I do find it strange that my punto has no temp gauge- expect a horrible red light that comes on when you're just about to blow up so there's no way of stopping to check things out before things get dicey.
I still love my punto, but am just questioning my faith in her a bit.
Will it be ok when I get it back. It is being sent away to be skimmed and new cam belt etc being fitted. Does it need to run in or car I just drive as normal?

Thanks for a great site, I hope I don't have to use it too often (in a nice way)
 
Done properly, (not cheap)! the car should be fine afterwards.
 
Well thats the thing i need it done cheap but work i will let you know what i sort.
 
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Being new to fiats its a pig of a job looking at the engine lay out

Used to classic mini A series engine.....

Might be checking mine ;):eek:
 
Welcome

The Head Gasket is one of the jobs I've done to mine to get it prepared for the road - not an overly difficult job to do, the hard part was sourcing the problem (in my case bearing in Water Pump was worn so wasn't working effectively). If you're tackling it yourself make sure you set aside adequate time to get the work done. I set aside 3 days (1 day removing head, 1 day getting head skimmed, & 1 day refitting).

But if you're not confident in yourself to do it, you're better off getting someone else to do it - it's one of the harder jobs to do. Luckily I've done a few Head Gaskets before (cars, trucks & 1 bus!) and was fairly confident I could tackle it.

There's an excellent guide here to help you, it's for a Cinq but there's few differences in the method. Torque settings here. Timing Marks here. And a shopping list covering what I bought for mine:
  • Head Gasket set inc. Rocker Cover Gasket
  • Waterpump
  • Thermostat
  • Cambelt & Tensioner (your best off renewing it whilst you've it's off!)
Best of luck - any questions feel free to ask (y)
 
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