Hi,

I think my mates head gasket has gone again! its a Yreg 1.2 8v Mk2 Punto. hes only done 47k! and it only last went at 31k!. If i take the coolant cap off and idle the engine the coolant bubbles and theres a real oily petrolly smell and the water is like a turd brown colour. Also theres a strong burning smell (OIL) blue smoke also in the engine bay. Also the exhaust fumes are really strong petrol smell even once engine is warmed up.

If it is the head gasket how much would it be in total to repair?.

Cheers

I did mine in June, It cost me £35 to get the (stripped down) Head skimmed and £35 for new parts , this basically consisted of a 'Head set' full gasket and seal set, plus an new set of bolts. I did all of the work myself though.
I also took this oppurtunity to replace my Timing belt(and tensioner pulley) and fan belt, along with a thorough internal (chemical) clean of the coolant system plus an oil/filter change.

So basically £70 minimum, plus any optional extras as you see fit.

Good luck, it's not a bad little job,make doubly, triply sure you don't drop any ****e either down the engine or onto the mating surfaces when you pop the head back on....

Thanks for the info. I have also unfortunatly burst my punto's head gasket (at about 48k miles, not too uncommon from the posts i have seen). The posts on this forum have been of a great help in confirming what I have been seeing and my mechanic has told me.

Gurgling noise on start up from the coolant system, coolant fluid level varying dramtically. Some poor idling, coolant fluid leak from overpressure on the reservior. Lots of crap in the coolant system.

I have got the garage to clean out the coolant system as part of a service. However they want £480 to fix the gasket. I am telling them to stick it and have ordered the parts for myself. My dad and grandad are going to help out. Grandad machines his own gaskets for Diesel engines so hopefully this is going to make up for my complete novice status.

I bought the parts from SHOP4PARTS <[email protected]> I really struggled to get a gasket repair kit online. The price was not as competitive as what you are quoting but you could get a hell of alot of them for 480 quid.

I have taken your advice and am replacing the timing belt and tensioner while I am in there. If I can get this done in under 12 hours and with only the £100 on parts I figure I am ahead of the game. Hopefully I'll have a better understanding of my engine out of the deal too. My previous experience has been limited to 1/10 scale 2 stroke nitro engines.

I'll post back with any problems I had so as to hopefully help out anyone else in my position.

Cheers,

Fin

Job got done, not as cleanly as I had hoped. Here's the problems I encountered. Disconnection of the bolts underside was reasonably easy for the exhaust and manifold except for the rusting.

Top half, Metric hex sockets are essential as are a breaker bar for getting the head bolts off. You'll need a torque wrench with a reasonably low setting for getting them back on. I would thourily recommend replacing the head bolts as we buggered one getting them off and they were substantially over-tightened. I assume to cover for a gasket leak in the past as there was no breach in the cylinder linings.

One thing to really appreciate is how hard the head bolts can be to get off. You'll need a 13mm Hex socket which has at least 1cm/ 3/8 inch drive. We sheared off three 1/4 inch drive ones of various qualities and killed a box wrench. It also has to be very narrow for the first 1.25 inches or so. The one we used was just over 17mm wide. The 18mm wide one would not fit for one of the bolts as the head housing is too tight round it.

Other warning is that if you are doing this get the Haynes manual as it was invaluable. Also get a professional in to do the timing belt adjustment as we cocked it up. Thankfully the 1.2 8valve doesn't have enough power to turn over when the belt is too tight so we didn't do any damage. You apparantly need a special tool to get it just right. A local mechanic tightened ours for only £30.

The other advice is to replace your oil and coolant, timing belt and tensioner while you are at it. They cost next to nothing and you may as well be putting back on new parts than old. If your car is second hand you can also be sure when you need to replace them next.

Hope this helps some othe sucker. Three days it took me! Garr!

Regards,

Fin

CakeBoy said:

I'll post back with any problems I had so as to hopefully help out anyone else in my position.

Cheers,

Fin

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im bit worried with these posts, my punto has done 45k and i sometimes wonder is the head going, there is no mayo where the oil cap is, sometimes smell fumes through the heater, not often tho. im worried, would a garage be able to tell me if it is on its way out SORRY for hijacking thread

fumes are probably a loose seal on the inlet side.not really a HG sign.

@cakeboy,great post and glad you got it done.one note new head bolts MUST be used anyway as they are stretch bolts and cant really be re used.
]the tools you bought are best looked as an investment.i love my breaker bar

If you go to pretty much any garage I think i'm right in saying they can do a test which costs a couple of quid, think they check to see if the engine is using coolent

AA did mine free of charge to confirm it was the Head Gasket

It might be a stupid question but what causes the head gasket to burst open?

Age, to much heat, to much pressure, ill fitment and many many others.

LanciaMad said:

Age, to much heat, to much pressure, ill fitment and many many others.

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alright then. So long as I drive sensibly and do a checkup on the car every single week it will be alright then?

mavericke said:

alright then. So long as I drive sensibly and do a checkup on the car every single week it will be alright then?

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Sometimes they just go for the sake of it, just one of those things im afraid.

wot sort of problems do you get when your hg goes, just to be sure?!
ste

plasterman said:

wot sort of problems do you get when your hg goes, just to be sure?!
ste

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Off the top of my head some typical symptoms that i got when mine went last year, and in no particualr order.

Loss of coolant but with no obvious external leaks
The large coolant pipes will become highly pressurised if you feel them shortly after starting up, this is because the cylinder pressure leaks into the water jacket. Once the engine is stopped, this pressurised coolant goes the other way and seeps into the leaky cylinder, usually over night. Starting may become difficult at first, with one cylinder missing, then as the coolant is dissipated through the exhaust and the cylinder 'dries out' it will start firing again. Due to the loss of coolant and pressurised gasses getting into the coolant you will suffer from weird temperature fluctuations, sometimes the temp will look normal then it will shoot up into the red.
Once my car started overheating badly ( the wife was driving when it happened) the car ran roughly then just cut out all together, luckily she managed to re-satrt it and coas it into a side street, where i topped up the water and nursed it home to fix it.
If you pop your spark plugs out, especally first thing in the morning before you start the car, you will probably find one spark plug ( more likely # 1 or # 4) wet with coolant.
Your coolant may have traces of oil floating on top of it.
Your oil filler cap , or more likely the oil breather pipes that go into the air filter housing will have traces of creamy coloured 'Mayonaise' in them. I had nothing under the filler cap , but the pipes where chocked full when i stripped the head down.

HTH

stripping the head down - not a job for the idiotic or feinthearted I hear?!

It is quite an easy job if you do it in a sensible , methodical manner and don't rush it. I also helps if you have a good place to do the work, i.e. On a nice big clean work bench under cover, ideally in a garage, The kitchen table works just as well though ( I took mine into work , an Aircraft Hanger workshop...)

I think it is best to find a good garage and stick with the garage. They will most probably be able to help you out cheaper than those garages who does not know you.