Hi , I’ve had a few thousand trouble free miles in the punto , topped up oil other day , it was clean and needed a small bit , took off coolent cap and oh my god!!! There was chocolate milkshake built up under cap and inside bottle funnel, I bled and cleaned that gunk out but noticed when bleeding that possibly not the same pressure as when I changed the coolent end of summer infact maybe it was bleeding due to heat expansion , rest of coolent looks rusty colour brown ! I thought head gasket , but car flying and heater hot ??? Also thinking water pump gone / going and coolent getting too hot !!! Would anybody have ideas ??

Fialfa said:

Hi , I’ve had a few thousand trouble free miles in the punto , topped up oil other day , it was clean and needed a small bit , took off coolent cap and oh my god!!! There was chocolate milkshake built up under cap and inside bottle funnel, I bled and cleaned that gunk out but noticed when bleeding that possibly not the same pressure as when I changed the coolent end of summer infact maybe it was bleeding due to heat expansion , rest of coolent looks rusty colour brown ! I thought head gasket , but car flying and heater hot ??? Also thinking water pump gone / going and coolent getting too hot !!! Would anybody have ideas ??

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All I can think of is head gasket. From my knowledge (which is basic to be fair) that is caused when antifreeze and engine oil mix together. You should check that asap because that can destroy your engine in no time. Visit a shop/mechanic and look for an opinion from a professional.

If the water was a rusty brown colour then I'm guessing it hasn't had any coolant in it all.
I'd recommend flushing it out again, then, when you're happy the water is running clear fill it up with either pre-mixed coolant or by some neat coolant and de-ionised water and fill it up with that. Don't use tap water.

You say the car is running hot? Perhaps it needs bleeding, Puntos are notorious for needing bleeding after any work on cooling system. Do you hear any sloshing sound in the heating system?

Check the guide out for the location of the bleed screws:

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2-2b-guides/347158-coolant-renewal.html

With regards to the head gasket, how has the oil level been? If the oil hasn't reduced dramatically and there isn't any white residue on either the dipstick or the oil cap then I don't think the gasket has gone.

Do you know when the cambelt was last changed as the water pump is usually done at the same time.

nitramtpr said:

If the water was a rusty brown colour then I'm guessing it hasn't had any coolant in it all.
I'd recommend flushing it out again, then, when you're happy the water is running clear fill it up with either pre-mixed coolant or by some neat coolant and de-ionised water and fill it up with that. Don't use tap water.

You say the car is running hot? Perhaps it needs bleeding, Puntos are notorious for needing bleeding after any work on cooling system. Do you hear any sloshing sound in the heating system?

Check the guide out for the location of the bleed screws:

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2-2b-guides/347158-coolant-renewal.html

With regards to the head gasket, how has the oil level been? If the oil hasn't reduced dramatically and there isn't any white residue on either the dipstick or the oil cap then I don't think the gasket has gone.

Do you know when the cambelt was last changed as the water pump is usually done at the same time.

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Hi, I don’t think it’s running any hotter than usual , I meant that when I gave her a quick bleed (running) I think it may have been the heat expansion of the coolent driving the little to no pressure out the bleed caps . The oil needed topping but nothing much maybe half a pint and is very clean with no contaminants , Either oil is v slowly leaking into the coolent or the water pump is knackered explaining the seemingly lack of force of the bleed , I only did the coolent and oil change in August , was nice and clean after a few flushes , just wondering if anybody can confirm frothy / coffee type residue in coolent neck due to over boiling of coolent with crappy pump ? Of course this probably going on a month or more so I can expect a knackered head gasket now also even if it wasn’t the culprit

One thing I would never recommend on old cars like PUNTO is to change the anti freeze. Had a Nova many years ago, all was well, thought I would do a good thing and changed the anti freeze. NEW antifreeze will seek out any slight fault, within a week the cylinder head gasket went and that was the end of the car. Foolishly years later I owned a touring caravan with gas central heating and the system was filled with water /antifreeze. Again thinking that i was doing the right thing I drained it and filled with fresh. Started the boiler and every joint under every part of the system immediately started leaking and weeping fluid into my caravan, had to drain the whole thing and never used the gas heating again. Changing antifreeze on a old car is like using Engine Oil flush when changing the oil, the dirt and crap in the system often is all that is holding the components together and these products strip that all out and you end up with a big bill.

fiatpunt0 said:

One thing I would never recommend on old cars like PUNTO is to change the anti freeze. Had a Nova many years ago, all was well, thought I would do a good thing and changed the anti freeze. NEW antifreeze will seek out any slight fault, within a week the cylinder head gasket went and that was the end of the car. Foolishly years later I owned a touring caravan with gas central heating and the system was filled with water /antifreeze. Again thinking that i was doing the right thing I drained it and filled with fresh. Started the boiler and every joint under every part of the system immediately started leaking and weeping fluid into my caravan, had to drain the whole thing and never used the gas heating again. Changing antifreeze on a old car is like using Engine Oil flush when changing the oil, the dirt and crap in the system often is all that is holding the components together and these products strip that all out and you end up with a big bill.

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Would this advice hold true for a 2007 grande punto as I was thinking of doing a coolant flush with mine but after reading this you have got me scared now...?

fiatpunt0 said:

One thing I would never recommend on old cars like PUNTO is to change the anti freeze. Had a Nova many years ago, all was well, thought I would do a good thing and changed the anti freeze. NEW antifreeze will seek out any slight fault, within a week the cylinder head gasket went and that was the end of the car. Foolishly years later I owned a touring caravan with gas central heating and the system was filled with water /antifreeze. Again thinking that i was doing the right thing I drained it and filled with fresh. Started the boiler and every joint under every part of the system immediately started leaking and weeping fluid into my caravan, had to drain the whole thing and never used the gas heating again. Changing antifreeze on a old car is like using Engine Oil flush when changing the oil, the dirt and crap in the system often is all that is holding the components together and these products strip that all out and you end up with a big bill.

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I actually recall hearing something similar years ago by some old mechanic , and I had this in back of my mind every time I change coolent / it’s a risk , you hear if it’s going to blow it will after a fresh coolent change , in some cases it’s down to a bad bleed which in fairness happens with puntos but I think you’re right , I also did a few flushes and put in pink stuff in august also mindful of cross contamination With old stuff .I’ve parked it up , it hasn’t boiled though last run the coolent was to top of filler neck after short run , I think the pump slowed down to an almost stop and the head gasket cracked very slightly from oil to water but must be very small . While she’s running I’m pretty sure it’s no more than water expansion bleeding the screws , I remember the fairly eager force it comes out by rad screw if the pumps going good . She’s a low miler enough with a good body so il cover her over and do headgasket ( shouldn’t need skimming ) and belt kit and pump in summer . Think for now like you said I killed her with new fluids