hi all i hav a 1995 punto 1.1 55 model, i hav just changed the cam cover gasket cause oil had poured down the side of the engine and seems to hav stopped now. But inoticed the temp gauge went up rather quickly and once 3 quarters of the way up it went down again real quick and then back up to same point again and stayed there but my fan is not cutting in at all. also the coolant was pouring out of the top of the coolant tank almost blowing the filler cap off. Also smoke appers to be coming from teh exhaust manifold area.

Thanx in advance

These are signs that your head gasket has failed.

It could be your head gasket but let's eliminate other causes first.

Are these symptoms just after you did the cam cover? If so, could it be something that you did rather than a coincidental unrelated failure (such as head gasket)?

To replace the cam cover, did you have to drain any coolant or take any hoses off? If so, you could have air in the system, causing strange coolant temperature readings and coolant boiling off / overflowing.

As for smoke coming from the exhaust manifold, that is not really a symptom of head gasket. It's more likely that some oil has dripped down there and is burning off (quite likely related to having cam cover off).

Red.

No it was doing it before the cam cover change and now its not leaking oil so thts sorted but everything else remains :bang::bang:

p.s previous owner has put a new rad in thts not tht model of punto its from a bigger engined model.

plus my fan aint cutting in at all wot can go wrong with a car where it can overheat and fan dont kick in or fan could be f****d any help ?


the battery discharges almost in 2 to 3 hours any ideas?:worship::worship:

are top and bottom rad hose both hot?

It sounds like there's airlock in the cooling system, so the thermostat is not opening, no coolant is going to the radiator so no need for fan to kick in.

And coolant coming out of the bottle is most likely because exhaust gases are forced into the cooling system that happens when head gasket fails. And leaking cam cover gasket could have also been a result of the overheating.

As of battery, did you charge the old one or got a new one?

charged the old battery and all cell are full

but still discharges completely ova night

Some improperly wired car stereos are known to drain battery. Try to remove corresponding fuse to see if it helps. Or it could be a bad battery. I would strongly suggest you to get a new one just to be sure.

theres no stero in the car m8 ill try a new bttery

Yes. If the radiator has no air in it, then the system should not be overflowing at the header tank.

Check for an air-lock in the rad' but if you let a heap of air out, don't assume that's the problem solved.. check it again the next day (cold engine). If the head gasket has gone, the beast will still push gas into the coolant and some ends up trapped in the radiator.

Battery sounds knacked. To "prove" it's not being drained, charge it up and don't connect it to the car overnight. If the volts fall below about 13v then it's deaded.


Ralf S.

the car has the wrong radiator in it (from a different and larger engined model of punto dont kno which one as previous owner changed). It's to big and i cant get to the bleed screws do i just pull the bottom hose off so i can drain the system and then keep running water through it to release any blockages or air locks:idea::idea::idea:

you can get at the bleed screw, just watch them blue pipes on the charcoal canister they snap easy. rad maybe bigger but all the bits in the way are the same

kk my head gasket has gone is there a guide on here on how to change it if not can anyone plz tell me how to do it as i want a couple of different opinons on how to do it.

thanx in advance

follow the instruction in haynes manual but get head skimmed and use new head bolts its a must on a fire engine

can u skim the head yourself ? how do u do it

You should take it to a specialist.

Basically they put the head on a big grinder and machine the surface perfectly flat by skimming off as little metal as possible. A head can (but doesn't always) warp when the head gasket fails. The skimming is designed to make sure the mating surface is flat again.

I doubt you could do it yourself!

Ralf S.

Thanx for everyones help

fiat brava jtd elx 105 said:

can u skim the head yourself ? how do u do it

Click to expand...

No,... unless u have a fully equipped engineering company and the knowledge. Just take it and get it done by a company that knows what needs to be done. Cant skimp here unfortunately.

You can't skim the head yourself (well, not unless you have a milling machine and appropriate tooling and skill). Any firm that does engine overhauls should be able to do it for you and probably also supply you with a new head gasket and the other seals and gaskets associated with this job if you want (i.e. a head gasket set).

You'll need to remove the cam shaft to ensure all valves are in their seats before skimming. If you are going to clean the valve faces or recut the seats, it's best to do that before skimming - you don't want to risk marking the nice shiny skimmed face!

If you take valves out, do make sure each one goes back in the holes it came out of.

red.