Hi

Please excuse my ignorance, I know nothing about cars and I have only just passed my driving test.

I got a 97 P reg Punto recently from my dad, it was his car for a few years and he had no problems with it.

I put it in for a service a few months ago and £160 worth of work was done on it.

At the start of the month I put it in for its MOT and alot more work was done on it to get it to pass the MOT (this was at the same garage as the service).

I was driving it last week and I started to notice a clicking noise coming from the front drivers side wheel.

I didnt really know what this was, I asked a few people about then left if for a while.

A couple of days later I was driving down the motorway and I started hearing a weird clicking sound everytime I push the gas pedal, it started to get worse as I drove so I pulled over at the next service station.

I got into the service station and as I slowed down and changed gears the car died on me, smoke started coming out from the front, back and sides of the car so I turned it off and stood away from it.

It got really bad, there was lots of smoke and it looked like it was on fire, it stunk of a rubbery/oily smell. after 30 minutes when most of the smoke had stopped coming out I opened the bonnet and the engine was very very hot.

The next day I got it towed home and we had a look at it, the oil light was on inside so we put some oil in it but it didn't go out, in total now we have put in a bottle and a half of oil, how much oil does this car need?

I tried starting the car, sometimes its splutterd and coughed and then nothing, sometimes it started and I drove it round the block a few times. When I parked it up and looked under the bonnet again there was more smoke coming out from the engine and other places.

The car wont start anymore, the oil light is still on, ill get some more oil soon.

Im not sure whats happened, I cant get anyone to look at it untill the end of the week, but Im hoping someone will know what might of happend, is this my fault? Im pretty sure the engine heat gauge wasn't high when I was driving it but I dont remember checking.

Have I killed my car?

Thanks

Matthew

check oil level on the dipstick, the light isnt for what you said.

Oh right, whats the oil light for then?

mkeen said:

Oh right, whats the oil light for then?

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low presure, it dont go out unless the engine has started. light also stays on if the wire to the sensor is broken

sounds like cam belt had died, that would smell of burning rubber, if you have the 8 valve engine its not a big job

Well my mate blew his engine up on his fiesta due to having next to no oil in it, in fact running out on the motorway the symptoms described by yourself are similar to what happened to him, and he ended up with a new engine.

However it could also be something like a camblet snapping or something

If it is the worst case scenario dont despair engines are cheap and plentiful

dave said:

sounds like cam belt had died, that would smell of burning rubber, if you have the 8 valve engine its not a big job

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If the cam belt died would the car still be able to move about? I did get it going at once point and it drove around for about 10 minutes perfectly fine.

Untill I stopped that is, then smoke started pouring out again.

could be the cam tensioner bearing seized, belt would then be rubbing its self away on it, if it was my car i would whip the cambelt cover (black plastic cover drivers side of engine) off and have a look,

dave said:

could be the cam tensioner bearing seized, belt would then be rubbing its self away on it, if it was my car i would whip the cambelt cover (black plastic cover drivers side of engine) off and have a look,

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Ok I had no idea what a cam belt was before today, one thing I noticed was that this cover, which I now know is the cam belt cover had come away after the problem, it wont go back on.

It doesnt look like there is any damage inside, its possible the cover just melted off as it did get very hot around that area.

The smoke that was pouring out of the car was a greyish colour and it really did smell bad (burning oil smell) what could this mean?

does car still turn over?

dave said:

does car still turn over?

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Sorry I dont know what that means

dave said:

does car still turn over?

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When I turn the key it sounds like it wants to start, it splutters a bit somtimes.

Hello mkeen,

no disrespect mate, but i think you need a little expert help locally at the car to see what is going on with it. Are you a member of the AA, RAC, Greenflag breakdown services ? it might be part of your insurance deal , take a look.
If you have an 'at home' or 'home start' service get them out and tell them your car won't start. An experienced AA man or garage mechanic should be able to spot your problem staright away. Failing that you might need to ring the garge who last fixed your car, as they should have a record of what they've done to it and will have an ida of what is wrong.

Lots of thick black smoke that smells rubbery doesn't sound tooo healthy at all,although it might be something simple to fix. as has already been mentioned a rubbing belt , or pipe. An oil leak, or you said the car was ticking when driving along, maybe the wheeel is rubbing on something , or something has got caught up on a drive shaft. the list is almost endless,you need some expert 'on site' help.


I know that we all had to start somewhere , but it sounds like you need your wheels fixing and doing it via a internet discussion forum might not be the best option in this instance given your current level of car mainteance knowledge.

Good luck and i hope it is a quick , cheap and easy fix.

KwikPhix328 said:

Hello mkeen,

no disrespect mate, but i think you need a little expert help locally at the car to see what is going on with it. Are you a member of the AA, RAC, Greenflag breakdown services ? it might be part of your insurance deal , take a look.
If you have an 'at home' or 'home start' service get them out and tell them your car won't start. An experienced AA man or garage mechanic should be able to spot your problem staright away. Failing that you might need to ring the garge who last fixed your car, as they should have a record of what they've done to it and will have an ida of what is wrong.

Lots of thick black smoke that smells rubbery doesn't sound tooo healthy at all,although it might be something simple to fix. as has already been mentioned a rubbing belt , or pipe. An oil leak, or you said the car was ticking when driving along, maybe the wheeel is rubbing on something , or something has got caught up on a drive shaft. the list is almost endless,you need some expert 'on site' help.


I know that we all had to start somewhere , but it sounds like you need your wheels fixing and doing it via a internet discussion forum might not be the best option in this instance given your current level of car mainteance knowledge.

Good luck and i hope it is a quick , cheap and easy fix.

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Yeah I know what you mean, Im still picking little bits up, the aa did actually come out the guy had no idea, he basicly said he wasn't a mechanic.

It is getting looked at soon, Im just trying to get myhead around it and checking if this sounds like something that people recognise.

I think after reading up on this it could be 1 of many things.

Thanks for all the help.

Matt