Hi everyone,

I've been a big fan of this forum and learnt a lot along the way, so thanks for all your contribution to the forum and in advance to anyone who could help here

My first post so I'll intro myself quickly, driving a Fiat Palio 1.6 (we have a love-hate relationship - I love her but hate how much she empties my wallet), I'm living in Cape Town, South Africa.

So I have had some on and off issues with my car overheating after diring for periods of longer than 30 mins, but usually starts fine and runs ok just have to put a bunch of water in.

I had the waterpump checked, pipes, thermostat etc. no issues were found.

I suspected head gasket but didn't find any oil in the water or vice versa.

So my latest issue is that my car cut out while on a short drive, temperature went up but then drifted back down to the halfway mark while driving but then it cut out while I was driving on the highway when let the revs drop to idle RPM.

When I stopped the temp gauge crept to the high position and there was both steam from the water resovoir and some grey smoke around the engine (though I couldn't locate the source of this) so I left the car to cool down (the fan was on while the car was on the side of the road), I noticed that the water reserve was empty so I put more water in and tried starting a few hours later and I could hear the starter going but the car won't start. Tried again the nexty day after towing it home but whenever I try starting, the water in the reseve tank is being pushed out of the top cap under pressure and still comes up and out once the cap has been taken off (for a few seconds).

Could a blown head gasket be so bad that it could cause the car not to start on its own or would it have had to do a lot more damage to the engine to prevent it from starting?

Anything I can do to check the reason it won't start? or likely cuprit here (apart form me) : )

Thanks guys

Hi,
yes a badly blown head gasket will cause zero compression ( compression pressure is what's pushing the coolant out past the safety cap..)
..so it'll have no chance of starting.

as a diagnostic aid ;
remove the spark plugs,
look for signs of rust / or a "steam-cleaned" look,

Charlie

Welcome here at FF.
Have the cooling system presurized at a good workshop.
A defective waterpump could be the problem as well..

Thanks guys for the advice. I'll check the above and report back

Peter Pick-Up said:

Welcome here at FF.
Have the cooling system presurized at a good workshop.
A defective waterpump could be the problem as well..

Click to expand...

A pump issue could cause overheating..

but not over pressuring of a stone cold-non running- engine

a blown head gasket is a result of engine overheating, anyway you need to identify the reason why the car is overheating if it's the gasket or the cooling system, you should check the coolant system again in my opinion, an always closed thermostat or a bad water pump, leaky hoses,etc...