General 02 Stilo loosing coolant [radiator?]

[Ben B]

My girlfriend just bought an 02 Stilo 1.6. It's coolant water keeps dropping, and the car overheating. So I top it up, and a few days later it's dropped again.
I've checked the oil for any gooey deposit and it seems OK. Is there anything else to check?
Should I be worried?

Could it just need some Radweld or similar?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Deckchair5]

Extremely likely to be head gasket I'm afraid, gooey deposits or not. The fact it's overheating, or even has overheated just once, is enough to suspect the head gasket is gone

There could be a leak but that on its own wouldn't cause the engine to overheat unless the level dropped too far.

HEAD GASKET CLUES
Is coolant gushing out of the coolant reservoir if you leave it to idle?
Are there loud gurgling noises in the heater system?
Does the heater go cold on occasions?
Does the eng temp gauge go sky high suddenly?
Do you get a poor start-firing on 2 or 3 cylinders when cold?

 

[Ben B]

aaagh, scarey!
Thank god the guy sold it to us with a warrantee! He's not gonna be happy! There was a snapped pipe in the aircon system, that he's having it back to repair for us, and he's even gone out of his way to find us a parcel shelf, even though we already bought the car- he really has gone out of his way for us.

Is the headgasget on a stilo a particularly big job?

 

[Deckchair5]

Pretty big. Drain system- manifolds off- exhaust- head off-cambelts-skim head-new gaskets- new head bolts. Not one for a Sunday afternoon

 

[Argonought]

....plus the fact you just know somethings not going to work after they've done the job

 

[Morty Mort]

Pretty big. Drain system- manifolds off- exhaust- head off-cambelts-skim head-new gaskets- new head bolts. Not one for a Sunday afternoon

It was easier with the Uno. Same procedure, but not very time consuming. Remember to check the alloy head for warp (now I see skimming is mentioned) , as aluminium tweaks easily when the engine overheats.

 

[Billwhyte1]

I had the same problem with my 1.8 dynamic always had a puddle after it sat after it had been run,had it back to the garage a few times,the garage told me it was a common thing because of the pipe clips or joints(think that was what he said??) garage kept the car for a day and went over all the pipes braking them and putting back together,had no more problems still keep an eye on the level to be safe side.

 

[Ben B]

well, could it be related to the fact that one of the pipes in the aircon system is broken? He's having it back to replace that for us soon.

 

[Deckchair5]

Very different and separate sytems. Their paths do cross quite closely (both have types of radiators out front and cooling fan is the same for both but otherwise very separate.

If you are losing coolant through a leak and you are vigilantly topping it up then it can go on for ever without problems. If the coolant went low and it started to overheat and you got to it and retopped it up in time then you may have got away with it

But if you are losing coolant AND it's overheating then it's almost definitely head gasket

 

[smudge5705]

I have a 04 Stilo 1.6 16v MW which I have owned now for 12mths. The car has been back to Fiat dealer 5 times now for problems with loosing coolant. I have had the gasket replaced 3 times and the head skimmed twice all under warranty I may add, I have been with out the car for approx 40 days while work has been carried out. Today I am still seeing the coolant dropping and have to keep an eye on the level all the time. They even had a fiat specialist in to check the car and his advice was that every so often a fiat car is born that just likes to use oil and coolant and this is one of them cars.
The car has had its emissions tested and also been pressure tested all the results return fine with no issue, so I guess I have to take his word for it.

So I guess what im trying to say is it may just be sepcial like mine

Make sure you have all the tests done first before you give in though.

 

[Ben B]

On mine the guy simply replaced the radiator. Problem solved!

Maybe for the simple answer try some Radweld, that you put in your coolant and it fills any small holes?

It's quite hard to see any leaks I'm told, because of all the plastic bits covering everything in the engine bay

 

[Ffoxy]

Its gotta be worth checking all the hose clips for those poxy OE things FIAT use and replacing them with pukka Jubilee clips IMO.