Hello all I'm new to the forum and a new driver.

Iv recently just brought my first car, a 1999 Fiat Punto 1.2 60s and have had plans of maintaining it proper;y and maybe working on some visual aspects of the car with some new bumpers, alloys and the rest...

I do love the car although I'm having problems with over heating and loss of water. I notice i tend to over heat when I have been sitting around for a while or made then engine work a bit harder than it should.

When it happens I get the over heating light on the dash and bubbling coming from under the bonnet. Its so annoying! Then i open the water lid too see there is no water in there, I have to fill up to the max where it should be and its all ok again. It tends to loose the water every 3 days or so, so there has to be a leak somewhere. Aswell as this the heater tends not to work all the time, so I was thinking airlock? but not sure.

Finaly on top of this I have a little bit of oil leaking from the gasket cover. I hope its not head gasket! theres no white mayo under oil cap or smoke from exhuast. The performance seems more than ok and it runs fine otherwise. Im so confused, where is all my water going and why is it over heatin, im dreading it being a head gasket! plz help!! Cheers for any feedback!

The oil is likely to be rocker gasket. Doesn't take long to do (most time consuming is ensuring the thing is clean before re-fitting it...and maybe time to have a cuppa before starting )

Err - loss of coolant - check your passenger footwell, see if it's wet. If not, have a good look round at all the pipes and where they're attached.

Start with the Easiest Task - Rocker Cover
Simple Task - As said above - long part is cleaning the dam things up
Guide is here

Now to overheating

Loss of water and Boiling Means well and truly over heated
Opening the Radiator cap = Dangerous
NEVER open it when its hot - always let it cool before you open it

Firstly Fill the System - and bleed it properly
Sounds like you chuck water in - its airlocked and your just boiling the water off and the cycle repeats

Get the System Bled Properly and Filled up Correctly

Also Check the Fan operates while your under the Bonnet

Once you've bled it and checked fan works - see if the water disappears then
As it could be HG = Loosing it
Have a leak = Loosing water / Air locking

Ziggy

Cheers for the replies, Iv sorted the prob now. Brought a head gasket kit and replaced it, drained the coolant ect. All seems good now, the old head gasket was in a state lol.

Cheers for help

Hing on a wee mo!!

You are asking elsewhere on the forum about improving performance and you've just had the head off.

Did you get it skimmed, and did you reseat the valves?

Cheers

D