Hi Guys and Girls,

Have recently bought a Fiat Punto 2000 reg Mk2 8v. Since buying it have had to replace injectors and fuel pump, but have now developed another issue and am not sure whether it is the Head Gasket or something else.

The car starts fine, but when the car is warm there is a smell of burnt oil and smoke coming from the passenger side of the bonnet, then I get an intermittent loss of power in third and fourth gears.

There is no signs of creamy oil in the breath hoses or around the filler cap and coolant is clear and has not changed levels since I purchased the car four weeks ago.

Can see signs of an oil leak on the passenger side of the engine, below the ignition coils.

Any advice would be greatfully received, as I am no tech wizard when it comes to the engine and am low on funds.

Cheers

Welcome to the forum

Sounds like there are a couple of issues here, not forced to be connected.

As far as the oily smell and leak are concerned its most likely just your rocker cover gasket leaking. A new one is cheap enough and easy to fit. When I did mine I got away with a new one, just cleaned everything up and used a very good sealant along the gasket face. Try Loctite 518 and remember to go very steady when re tightening the bolts, just a tweak is enough

As for the hesitation in the upper gears, not sure on this one. For what they cost and the job they do you could give your car a new set of ignition leads and spark plugs. Remember to dab a little copper grease on the new plugs threads and use the Haynes Manual trick of a short length of rubber fuel pipe slipped on the end of the plug to screw it into the head to begin with. That way you wont ruin anything should the plug start to go in cross threaded. Once its all the way in just an 1/8th of a turn with the ratchet and its done

On my car the rubber pipe that plugs onto the air cleaner housing was hanging off when I got to it, you can only see this when you take off the air box but you need to any way to access the plugs.

Good luck and let us know how you got on mate

Bubbles blowing into the coolant tank and creamy sludge in the rocker cover are signs of failed head gasket. But the latter can also be condensation from too many small journeys.

As always, rule out the easy stuff like plugs and leads.

If you want the definitive head gasket test a good garage can test the coolant for petrol fumes "sniff test". Any fumes found and the head gasket has failed no arguments.

Thanks guys, have just bought new plugs and leads so will be fitting them tomorrow. Should have mentioned earlier that for the first 100 miles (after battery was reconnected) had no issues with hesitation but after that it only seems to occur when the engine is warm (can't tell what temp as no gauge), could this mean that the lambda sensors aren't functioning correctly, and will the deposits on the plugs help determine this?

Checked rubber pipe and it's attached ok, new air filter.

Cheers

Hi again mate

You could well be right re Lambda sensor although if it is i'd say it'll be the upstream one rather than both of them. As far as I know the second one is there to check on the state of the CAT but please feel free to chime in if anyone knows different

Where about's are you in the country mate? If your nearish to me in sunny Hull i'd be happy to help you.

I knackered my upstream Lambda up using WD40 down the throttle body and it got really dangerous to drive. I had a look around on the web for the correct part number of an NGK one and went to Halfrauds for one using an old Vauxhall Owners Club Trade Card. Got a little bit off at least.

Difference was night and day although I did really did have a really wrecked O2 sensor.

Best of luck either way mate

Lambda symptoms are running OK when cold but choking up and poor fuel consumption when hot. If the voltages stay within acceptable limits the ECU might not throw up an error message.

This might help
http://www.lambdapower.co.uk/diagnosis/diagnostic_index.asp

Update, have changed the plugs and leads - two plugs were completely rusted through and the inside of the leads attached were rusted too. Just done a twenty mile journey and no hesitation. Fingers crossed it's sorted.

Thank you so much for your help, would not have thought of the plugs and leads

Will kepp you updated after 100 miles and thanks again

Job well done there mate

Update!

Spoke to soon, problem arised again. Twenty minutes into journey on small hill, throttle fully open and still no power then it kick back in several seconds later. Disconnected the lambda sensor but problem still there!

Is there another sensor at fault or is it still a lambda sensor at fault. Help! going insane atm.

Check the timing and air intake for leaks

Narrowed it down to four sensors -

Air Temperature and Pressure
Lambda
Camshaft Position Sensor
MAP Sensor

Is there any way of finding out which one by disconnecting and where is the MAP sensor located on the 8v mk2 because the haynes manual has no mention of it.

Cheers

Haynes may refer to it as the air flow sensor? or some other name along them lines

As the problem is intermittent I would expect the sensor themselves to be OK. More likely the wiring and the connectors may need checking first. I would take all connectors apart, use some WD40 to clean them and then reconnect. Ignition coils could also be the problem.

Hi

It may be the inductive coil breaking down within the crank sensor, they can become intermittant when warm causing your injectors to stop fueling if the ECU is unable to see a low ac voltage signal from the crank sensor; no signal from the crank sensor will cause a non start situation. As far as the head gasket is concerned a chemical test or preferably a leakdown test should rule the gasket in or out.

Have stopped the hesitation in third and fourth. Yay! But still have a intermitant problem when car is warm and going uphill and all the time when trying to travel over 60 mph, car is over revving and no increase in speed.

Any suggestions? Please am suppose to take the family on holiday in two weeks and need the car to be working as live in wales and lots of hills.

Sounds like your clutch is on it's last legs there! Only real possibility for that one

Replaced the clutch but now the clutch pedal is about a 2cm off the floor, but can still change gear. How do I get the pedal to come back up? Help!

Well guys, all sorted thank you for all your help, much appreciated!