General 1.6 8V ELX 90 head Gasket Woes!

[77jm]

My 1995 1.6 ELX 90 Cabrio is in the garage following a head gasket failure

I was quoted £250 but after the guy looked further I was told that as well as a head skim, the tappets needed regrinding as they are non-hydraulic and had to be reduced in line with the skim (pushing the price up to £400!!!!!)

Was told that the engine is unlike any other Punto engine he has seen before.

Anyone else come across this?

 

[StevenRB45]

Was told that the engine is unlike any other Punto engine he has seen before.

Anyone else come across this?

The vast majority of puntos on the road are (FIRE) 1.1s and 1.2s comparitively few 1.6s (Lampredi) were sold as the engine was replaced very quickly in the cars model life when a lighter, more reliable and faster 1.2 was built. Couple that with the fact that the 1.6 was only available in the oldest puntos and most of these have been scrapped then you have lots of reasons he won't have seen one in a punto especially if he's pretty new to the business. Can't offer any tech advice tho sorry not an engine i'm familiar with

 

[beau]

not entirely sure but seems logical... tappits need adjusting when the head is skimmed.

£400 doesnt seem too bad tbh, but is that plus vat too?

 

[77jm]

The £400 is including VAT.
If it wasnt for the fact that its a Cabrio then it would have gone to Fiat heaven.
Upsetting as well is the fact that I have just had the cambelt done only to find out that it gets done as part of the gasket change!!!!!

 

[dave]

tappets don't get reground in line with a skim, only if valves are needed to be re ground and even then a skim at the top price place here is only 49+vat and shim grinding is normally a packet of biscuits money, all shims rarely need doing most can just be swapped around, brand new ones are only 3 quid

 

[77jm]

Got the car back today!
However the injector warning light is constantly on and is running rough / misfiring at low revs and struggles to pick up.
When it is started it seems that it is about to stall / cut out but suddenly picks up by revving itself to about 1200 rpm before settling down to about 900 rpm.
Any clues on what could be wrong. I will be phoning the garage tomorrow but it would be nice to have some idea what is wrong. None of these faults were present before the head gasket failed :bang:

 

[mrcinquecento]

i have a 1.6 cabrio too. but its a non runner and im away to rip the old engine out for a 1.4 16v from a stilo

all part of my next project getting that back on the road

 

[77jm]

Spoke to the garage today - waiting for a fault code reader to diagnose the problem. Recons its under fuelling?

How can this be linked to the gasket failure?

 

[Elxpunto90]

Fault code readers don't work on them for some apparent reason having same problems myself

 

[SeanW]

The mandatory OBD requirements weren't introduced to the UK until 2001, so it can be a little hit-and-miss with diagnostics

 

[fingers99]

Got the car back today!
However the injector warning light is constantly on and is running rough / misfiring at low revs and struggles to pick up.
When it is started it seems that it is about to stall / cut out but suddenly picks up by revving itself to about 1200 rpm before settling down to about 900 rpm.
Any clues on what could be wrong. I will be phoning the garage tomorrow but it would be nice to have some idea what is wrong. None of these faults were present before the head gasket failed :bang:

You were overcharged for the job by quite a margin. With the right equipment, the codes can be read, but finding that equipment.............

Let them sort it!