Hey guys.

I have a 1998 Punto SX60 (1.2l), and it's always been pretty faithful. While it's had it's share of mechanical problems they've never occured mid-drive and usually been caught at the garage before they failed -- once again it at least got me home!

Drove 200 miles up the country yesterday, and once I'd slowed down a bit in the city I thought I could hear a slightly different noise which worried me, but it was running fine so I thought nothing of it.

I sat in traffic for 10 minutes before finally pulling into my drive, and as soon as I stopped, steam started pouring from under the bonnet. On closer inspection there was a trail of water leading a ways along the road.

I didn't notice the temperature gauge or anything like that, but that could be me just not looking. I haven't tried to start it again, just ran away from it sharpish in case it was fixing to explode haha.

I haven't looked under the hood yet because I frankly don't know what I'm looking at. Guessing I should fill the radiator up and see if it leaks? Can anyone give me a tip where it is/what it looks like (I don't do much maintenance!) and I can go try that.

Obviously I'd also like to know what it might be. I did some vague Googling and heard stories of head gaskets and many other things, but I really don't know how I'd tell.

Anyone got any advice?

Your looky it lasted untill you were back. My guess would be one of your core plugs has popped out. You radiator will be empty. Fill with plain water just to see where the leak is.

Once found, fix and fill with 50/50 red anti-freeze and de-ionised water (or just cool boiled water) Make sure system is bled properly.

If you are lucky no engine damage will have occured due to overheating.

I wouldn't go worrying about head gaskets just yet. Head gaskets leak steam into the exhaust system, so steam under the bonnet won't be caused by that. The fact that you immediately stopped and have not been so foolish as to try to start the car again may have saved the gasket. It sounds like something has burst/popped-off pretty spectacularly, so at least it should be easy to spot.

So I went and had a look at the car today. The radiator was near enough empty, so I poured some water in. I filled it most of the way and nothing seems to be coming out. Ironically I then decided to fill my washer bottle and that started leaking (which I've been suspecting in a paranoid-mumbling-to-myself way for about two years, but my mechanic never found any proof of it, he even pulled out the whole washer assembly once and left it over a weekend!)

So I'm hoping it's not quite so dire.

Wondering how I get this water back out? At the bottom of the filler-bottle for the radiator there's a pipe with a metal cable-tie-thing fixing it to the bottle, that goes to the engine, can I just loosen that and let the water run out? Or is it more involved than that?

One question: bredsticz you mentioned bleeding the system -- how do I do that?

EDIT: Just found this: https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-guides/43906-how-bleed-punto-cooling-system.html

Does that apply to my model too?

Yes, loosening the hose is the way to drain the cooling system. Don't forget to loosen the bleed screws on the radiator and where the hoses go into the heater matrix at the back of the engine.

Can I re-use the same clip that's on the hose right now? In that help thread everyone seems to be saying you need a new one? You can just unscrew it can't you?!

At this age, at least one of the clips should now be a reusable jubilee clip, be it at the radiator end or pump end. If not, the car must be running on 12 year old coolant, which is out of date by a factor of 6 by now.

Yeh they all looked quite new and shiny. My car has had a lot of maintenance since I got it. It was basically a wreck when I bought it 3 years ago (almost to the day), previous owners appeared to have done nothing to it while they had it, the handbrake cable was nearly gone, only one of the rear brakes was working anyway, the engine had an enormous oil leak (which the guy had tried to solder up himself, and made worse) and the whole thing was generally falling apart.

Speaking of old parts though, I did discover during the cars MOT in March 09 that the fan belt (I believe) was still the original from 1998, after 60k miles. Obviously it has been changed.

Was told at MOT this year that the rusting underneath is getting really bad and I'm looking at a big welding-fest for my next MOT, and probably an unpassable car the following year Gonna miss my Punto!

If it is due to be a big weld-fest, have you not considered getting your own welding equipment? You don't have to need a lot of welding work doing before this becomes the more economical options, and many colleges offer courses for little more than a nominal registration fee. Get the work done at a garage, you leave with a fixed car, do it yourself and you are left with the car, the skills, the equipment and a few extra quid too.

Back to the radiator leak. Fill and empty the system a couple of times with with clean water to flush out muck & dirt. You should be able to see the leak. When the leak is fixed fill the system with the correct anti freeze.

If the water disappears, with no visible leak then you may have a blown head gasket. But as Mike says dont worry about that just yet.

If the car is going to need lots of welding you might want to consider scrapping it. Get the corrosion checked out before spending too much on the engine etc, You have lots of experience so could replace your old Punto with a good one and many parts from your old car may be handy as spares.

MikeSalt: I did nearly go on a night-school type affair a couple of years back for car maintenance type stuff, and I have done some welding way back in my school days. But I'm a computer/electronics guy, never really had a mechanical bone in my body. Plus I'm just starting my final year of Uni so I don't really have the time (or money!) to get a welder and learn to use it!

Again, WhiteSei, I'd love to just be able to scrap it and get a newer car but I really can't afford it. When it comes to my MOT and assessing the damage I might have to rethink it and try to get something a bit newer. It does have an amazing sound system in it (one thing the previous owners did right!) so that's definitely being salvaged for my next ride!

One more question, because I'm stupid and curious, why -red- antifreeze? Is there a particular difference?

I'm not usually one to suggest an otherwise good car is scrapped, but once rust starts eating into it the costs and end results can be not worth the trouble.

If the head gasket has gone (& it may be ok) get the car carefully checked for rust before you shell out too much. If its a radiator they are new for about £60 and easy to fit. Core plugs are also cheap but if in an awkward area can be a garage job.

Red anti freeze (looks pink when mixed) is better quality & longer life. It should not be mixed with blue (cheaper stuff) as they can turn into a sludge.

Be 100% sure to bleed the air ourt of the system before you run the engine. Then only run it for a minute or two before stopping it and rebleeding. I also take one of the small hoses off the thermosts housing that feed to the throttle body. This also helps to get the air out as you fill the system.

Rar there's one super stubborn clip on the hose at the bottom of the rad. bottle. I don't know what it is, but it's annoying -- me and my friend spent half an hour attacking it with every tool we could find and it hasn't budged .

There's no screw bit, and opposite where the clip tucks under itself (if you know what I mean), there's a weird mess of stuff with some holes + dimples, a "U"-shaped loop sticking up, and two finger-like extrusions that come off at right angles on either side. We jacked the car up so we could get under and have a look at where the clip tucks under itself (it's annoyingly pointing straight at the ground) and it didn't really look like much.

Anyone know what I'm rambling about?

Yeah, they're the standard FIAT clips. Cant be re-used and need to be broken off. Pliers and these:
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:38&biw=1280&bih=619

wow that's one long URL

Dig a suitable flat blade screwdriver under the crimped wrapped-over part of the clip and lever it open. Replace with a worm drive clip. I recently got some rather nice stainless ones.

Hi all, sorry been a busy week and I have only just got a chance to go see the car again.

Managed to pry the clip off (completely destroying it in the process, but there was a second clip next to it (which I assume was relieving it, because if that is an original Fiat clip, it's obviously quite old) which is a normal jubilee and looks alright, so I'll re-attach the hose with that) and flushed it through with tap water a couple of times.

Hopefully gonna go get some antifreeze later today or tomorrow, fill it up and see what happens!

Hopefully my final question then, is about the bleeding screws for the radiator. I've taken a couple of photos of what I think is them, but obviously you guys'll know better than me!

Thanks for the help so far

Yes, that is the bleeding screw.

So I filled it up, bled it, drained some excess and started it up, and it seems fine!

Haven't actually moved it yet, but let it run for five minutes and then revved it some and nothing seemed to go awry. No sign of any leaking!

So I'm gonna take it for a little drive and hopefully nothing happens!

Am I reading you right? There were two clips on the bottom hose - the original and a worm drive Jubilee type? Someone may have tried to seal a leak by putting a second clip on which probably wouldn't work and the coolant has probably never been changed. Any cracks or splits in the end of the hose ?

No the hoses all looked in good shape.

I've never changed it, having owned the car three years. The previous owners did appear to have just botched/not bothered with a lot of the maintenance/repairs. Whether my mechanic has changed it I don't know, as I said, it spent a lot of time after I bought it in the garage with some fairly substantial work, and always needs a few more bits every MOT.

It definitely isn't leaking with the single clip on there though, I went round after I'd run it and felt all the hose-ends and none were wet. As I say, I haven't driven it yet though (I let my insurance lapse as it was due like a week ago and I wasn't sure if the car was gonna recover haha, so I'll be driving it a little tomorrow).