I recently had my Punto's head gasket and water pump and the relavent parts replaced. It's handling fine, but a rattling noise has developed after a 250 mile drive.

The noise is worse the more revs I apply, but it seems to go away if I'm going faster. Do I need to worry too much?

Just check for obvious things like wire coverings bouncing on the alternator belt. Chances are that something was distrubed in the HG swap and has fallen onto a moving part. The reason it goes quieter at higher speed may be that the air moving under the car is pushing the obstruction out of the way.

Had the noise checked out by a mechanic who said it was something to do with pistons at the bottom of the engine as soon as he heard it.

Apparently it's supposed to happen if no oil is present, but I checked the oil before the long drive and the level was fine! Has this problem come about as a result of the head gasket being replaced?

So after weighing up my options, I drove my car home from Suffolk (around 250 miles), with the car rattling away. The garage had told me I'd be lucky to get to Ipswich from where I was, yet I got home with no other problems, except for the revs dropping randomly a couple of times, and the temperature gauge started to bounce between Cold and Normal for the last few miles.

My dad reckons it's a big end bearing and that it could go at any time, but it's been rattling for around 400 miles of driving now, and shows no handling problems at all. Surely I'd be having all sorts of issues with the handling etc if the engine was knackered?

The rattle sounds a little different now to how it did initially, by the way.

I am deleting my account off here as people are too busy replying to crap about modified, ugly wheels and stupid stickers!

Thanks for nothing.

Lenzar said:

I am deleting my account off here as people are too busy replying to crap about modified, ugly wheels and stupid stickers!

Thanks for nothing.

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Hang about,

You need to wait for someone more knowledgeable to come along, they would be able to give you much better advice, so free bump!
You could take it to Fiat to have a look but would be costly. If not a local garage to you, i dont know what the problem is im afraid

Lenzar said:

I am deleting my account off here as people are too busy replying to crap about modified, ugly wheels and stupid stickers!

Thanks for nothing.

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Nice one for being patient

Jonnio said:

Nice one for being patient

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A couple of weeks is plenty patient

Sorry, your latest post is a couple of days old.

Still not the best way to act lol. Just keep posting every couple of days instead of letting it get behind all the "crap" threads where nobody will see it.

Jonnio said:

Sorry, your latest post is a couple of days old.

Still not the best way to act lol. Just keep posting every couple of days instead of letting it get behind all the "crap" threads where nobody will see it.

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That post was me bumping it with an update - I've waited three weeks since the problem started.

have you put the right oil in the car its just a guess, as my boyfriend put the wrong oil in his and made it sound like there was a bolt in the engine lol so he changed it to thicker stuff and it stopped

also has your car got a cold start valve thing as they make clapping noises and make the revs go funny when they need replacing

I have discovered a similar problem (if it is one) .. the rattling noise seems to be coming from one of the pulleys at the bottom of the engine. It has had a recent alternator change, and I am only assuming the previous owner has had the belts changed at the same time. The noise hasn't affected the drive in any way, although it would be nice to idle at the lights without people thinking I've got a tombola machine under the bonnet! ... Gonna get it up on a ramp in my local garage on thursday, and will let you know the outcome .. if you're still here!