Hello - I Have A Punto 52 Reg. Had A New Cam Belt Fitted And Ever Since I Have A Bubbling Noise When I First Start Up The Car. Seems To Effect The Temp Cage A Little. Also When I Accelerate (when The Engines Cold) It Whistles Abit Thru The Lower Gears. Most People Think Its The Head Gasket Going But I Have Checked The Radiator Bit And There Is No Bubbling In There. The Bubbling Sounds Like It Is Coming From The Passengers Side Of The Engine. Problem Is If You Lift The Bonnet With The Engine Running You Cant Hear It! You Can Only Hear It When Your In The Car. Any Ideas? Any Tips I Would Really Appreciate. I Dont Want To Go To A Garage And Have New Head Gasket If Thats Not The Problem. Thank You

check the usualy signs of a head gasket yes (mayo oil cap, smoke exhaust, etc. etc. compression test is the real answer) u say it is coming from the passenger side when sitting in the driving seat. does the car overheat on the temp gauge and when u mean bubbling is it at what point i.e engine started or just the electrical systems primed. does it sound like a pump/ whirring sound?

sound like running water? if yes then its proberly cuming from your heater matrix signifying an air lock in the cooling sytem. try bleeding it.

exactly right running water sound in heater matrix air locked

howether a properly bled system doesn't get air in it for no reason unless you drive on your roof on the weekends so it's gona be a head gasket

punto's always do this when head gaskets go

also the water level does not change untill the very last minute when all the water seemingly disappears in an instant it's all because the air collects in the top of the engine not affecting the water level in the low position of the tank

also they never mix oil and water so don't bother checking that

Hey. Thanks for the reply. driving on my roof at weekends is a personal hobby of mine! how did u guess?! So bleeding it will help or will it just come back? And you think the head gasket is on the way out? (How long is a piece of string and that) but how long will it last?

no the temp gauge stays fairly steady. it drops below half way point mainly. the bubbling noise is when you first start the car (i guess when its cold)

smartalec247 said:

no the temp gauge stays fairly steady. it drops below half way point mainly. the bubbling noise is when you first start the car (i guess when its cold)

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i have noticed this aswell, it happens to me on a cold morning, it last 10 mins then its fine again, i think when the engine gets quite warm the bubbling stops.

mine only does the noise for 3 seconds when moving off at the beggining of a cold start but after that its fine. Bleed the system and if the noise comes back you know its proberly the headgasket.

I have the same problem on my 2000 mk 2 punto. it all started when the fan started playing up and either not running or running slow and the in trafic I got the temp gauge light on, once I managed to start the fan and spray wd40 in the motor it seems to be running ok now but I am still finding that the heater is making a bubbling noise and the temperature of the heater goes up and down irratically,