Hey Y'all,

First time poster here on the forum, and quite frankly I'm gutted my first post is here in the techincal side of the forum!

Basically, A few days ago the car started overheating terribly, with the gauge on the dash pushed right up past the red. The engine also started making some pretty horrific and painful noises and since I've kept to driving it at a minimum. I also noticed on the run up to this catastrophic failure that the heater had stopped working inside the car.

Now, I've been advised that this is most likely the head gasket, and I've gone and bought myself a replacement gasket from ebay for a whopping 15 quid new. A friend of mine has offered to replace it for 50£ which I believe is a fair bit cheaper than a local mechanic, but I'm wondering just how difficult it would be to replace the gasket myself? Or am I barking up the wrong tree even thinking about this?

Its a P reg, 1994 Punto. If there is any more information you require, just let me know and I'll post it here! A great car which I really dont want to scrap! I hope to hear from some of you soon!

its not hard to do the HG but if your friend fitting it includes new coolant then its good.
however you have to start somwhere and heres a good place!

doing the hg is fairly straight forward as it just a case of unbolting parts ,removing the head and refitting with a new gasket.

however you need to look as to why it went.
so i would recommend fitting a new thermostat or at least testing the old one.
flushing the cooling system and checking the radiator condition.

also its recommended to get the head skimed once its removed.this is done in a machine shop for around £20-£30.
this ensures the head is perfectly flat giving you a good mating surface for the new gasket.

get a haynes manual and you will see what you are doing.
you will need tools inc a torque wrench though so it will cost more than £50 with the skim,coolant,haynes and if you have to buy tools

oh yeah does the headset include new bolts?

It doesnt, infact, the reason I didnt buy the bolts (as there was an alternative with bolts for 6 quid more) as my pal the mechanic said that it wasnt really necessary.

Truth be told I just want this car to run! I'm quite interested in getting my hands dirty too. hehe.

The fact there is no heat getting into the car made me assume there was somethign wrong with the radiator or something, but apparently I'm wrong. I've also been told to check the fan and the thermostat (how do I do this?)

Ta.

well im telling you now get the bolts! for the small cost its going to be a pain for the HG to go again over the sake of new bolts

TBH i would just fit a new stat but basically you remove it and put it in a pan of water and heat it to see if it opens.
for all they cost i tend to just replace.

radiator check for leaks and corrosion
cooling fan well just check it comes on as a 1st check.

no hot air from the heater is a classic HG sign

work out the costs for yourself

oil change inc filter(oil will be contaminated)
coolant
stat
head bolts
haynes manual
tools
head skim
probably a few sundries

has your spanner monkey mate checked the oil/coolant for signs of HG failure?

Im having similar problems.... I had an issue with my heater matrix, so the AA man said. I bought some k solution stuff and that brought in some heat to the car and stopped the windows steaming up. I now also have a noisy engine, no steamy windows... but also the heat comes on and off.. and the needle for the temp gets high... Am I still in heater matrix problem land, or am I now thinking that there is another problem?

Hope that makes sense.. Sorry to jump on your thread droodroo... Hopw you dont mind.

Mike

as my pal the mechanic said that it wasnt really necessary

Click to expand...

Well your pal isnt a very good mechanic, if he is saying the new bolts isnt necessary, next he will be saying the head skimed isnt necessary, trust custard he knows what hes on about, the old bolts have probably expanded with the heat of the headgasket blowing witch the bolts wont do as good as job as they once did, same gos for getting the head skimed thats a MUST and if it isnt done right couple miles and it will blow again thats for sure..

but also the heat comes on and off

Click to expand...

What do you mean by that Mike m8? that the blow heater is warm then going cold?

Mike St Helens said:

Im having similar problems.... I had an issue with my heater matrix, so the AA man said. I bought some k solution stuff and that brought in some heat to the car and stopped the windows steaming up. I now also have a noisy engine, no steamy windows... but also the heat comes on and off.. and the needle for the temp gets high... Am I still in heater matrix problem land, or am I now thinking that there is another problem?

Hope that makes sense.. Sorry to jump on your thread droodroo... Hopw you dont mind.

Mike

Click to expand...

right break it down

you had no heat from the heaters?
the inside of the car was all steamed up(heavily) so you couldnt clear the windows?
wet carpets?

so thats says leaky matrix for sure

you added a sealant which cured it for a bit?

The bolts do not expand with head gasket failure?? They stretch when you torque them up and can break if re-used. Might as well fit new ones while the head is off. Also some people say check the head with a stright edge and feeler gauges and dont skim it if it looks ok. I personally think that if the head comes off its crazy to scrape the old stuff off and bolt it back on-just get it skimmed especially if the gasket has gone.

The bolts do not expand with head gasket failure??

Click to expand...

Oh well Dave the Punto Moderator must be wrong then, and your right, as i remember seeing it in one of his posts a while back...

Yo all...

Ok, last week I had a problem where the temp was going to the sun !! steamy windows, wet carpet and cold air inside.. AA man said twas heater matrix.

I put K stuff in and the temp calmped down, windows dont steam up and I get hot air. NOW I get a warmish temp gauge (3/4), hot air.. on and off.... and a sound that resembles a big sack of wasps...

My bro says its still the HM, we have one on order.. but also tomorrow he is gonna take the top off the engine and look to see if the HG has gone, clear the oil and coolants and replace and replace the thermostat...

Is that the right thing... It stresses me all this.. Im useless !

well it could have verheated due to low coolant with the matrix leak.
however if the HG has gone then remember to treat the cause.
eg a new matrix

custard said:

well it could have verheated due to low coolant with the matrix leak.
however if the HG has gone then remember to treat the cause.
eg a new matrix

Click to expand...

How do I know if the HG has gone ? Is it safe for my bro to take the top off the engine to check?

well 1st checks are oil in the coolant/mayo in the oil.
overheating,poor runnig are signs

if you mean remove the head then yes

Mike St Helens said:

I put K stuff in and the temp calmped down, windows dont steam up and I get hot air.

Click to expand...

The stuff you put in the radiator? is that what your on about, i aint to keen on that anymore after one of the members had a leaky HM putted radwel to stop the leak, they putted it into the radiator and the pressure must have build up so much the HM exploded and left her with very bad burns to the legs, also it cloggs up your coolant system so yes may have damaged your thermostat just get that checked in boiling water in a hot sauce pan and see if it opens correctly and if all works ok there is no need to replace it, but as you have a leaky HM the warm air could be caused by that or air in the system and you need to bleed the radiator or thermostat is the most 3 common ones to cause that kinda problem, with the engine noise you could be just stressed out and thinking and getting paranoied as cars do get noiser as they get older.

Well i'll cross my fingers for you m8 and hopefully it isnt your HG that has blown while having HM problems..

Ok,

So here's the biz. Filled her up with water today and the temperature gague has leveled out. It seems that its burning up loads of water and the fan in the grill isnt working!

I've checked the water and the oil, the oil doesnt seem milky and the water doesnt seem dark. So I dont think it is a cracked HG any more (uinless I may be mistaken). When the water is filled up, the heater starts working again, and when hot air ceases inside the car itself then the temp gague flies off the scale, I stop and see that all the water has evaporated!

Does this explain anything to anyone here?

Is it a radiator/fan problem, or a HG problem?

Anyone?

Have you had a look around the top of the radiator and all the hoses that you can see without taking the radiator out to spot anything that would suggest a leak, but im sure you would notice a leak if its leaking at that rate, im gonna still have to say its a head gasket problem and thats where you are loosing the coolant..