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General Am i buying trouble??

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General Am i buying trouble??

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punto-paul

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Parked in the garage
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Feb 16, 2008
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Aldridge
Ive been offered by a local garage, a Broom yellow (aren't they all!!) mk2 Punto 1.2 16v sporting 2000 x reg for £500 notes, problem is head gasket has gone. And on top of that the car doesn't run...oh dear! They said the owner gave them the car as she couldn't afford for them to spend anymore time on it, by the sound of it the owner was more intrested in the pretty bits of the car. Rather than maintaining it too!
The head gasket would be easy to sort, skim head, new head set, coolent, thermostat, water pump. fan switch etc..
Im woundering if the cambelt has snapped, hence why it doesnt run (bad times). Or something easy like a coil pack, key fault etc etc.. (good times) Should i just avoid like the plague, or has anyone got any good ideas or what i could look for to identify the non running issue.
:confused:
 
Ask them to remove the cam belt cover for you so you can see if is intact You didn't mention the miles on it, so it may be time for a major service and that may have been a large part of the expense the previous owner was trying to avoid
 
punto-paul said:
Ive been offered by a local garage, a Broom yellow (aren't they all!!) mk2 Punto 1.2 16v sporting 2000 x reg for £500 notes, problem is head gasket has gone. And on top of that the car doesn't run...oh dear! They said the owner gave them the car as she couldn't afford for them to spend anymore time on it, by the sound of it the owner was more intrested in the pretty bits of the car. Rather than maintaining it too!
Click to expand...


Sounds a great buy (as the others said).
The Haynes manual has good detail on these engines for doing the head gasket change. You may as well do that first before concerning yourself with why it doesn't run. It might be something like water in the cylinders!

I wish mine was 500 pounds rather than 5000 dollars...

Is it a manual or Speedgear?

-Alex
 
Cheers for all the advice lads, im definately gona ask about the cambelt.
If all is well there, i'l have a poke under the bonnet and see whats what. The engines done about 73,000 miles so we'l see!
If the belts snapped i can always time it up and put a new belt on, keep everything crossed and pray!!
Like you say could be water in the bores, in which case i can always get another engine as you say or break it for spares and least i wouldn't loose out worst comes to the worst!
Then sell the wheels, panels, interior, radio, etc...
So il have a look at the car, an hopefully i can get some money togther to make an offer on it.
Just so u know Alex its a 6-speed manual gearbox which is good, and if i do get it i'l buy a Haynes manual as you said and have a bash myself. It can't hurt trying now would it!
Its got potetial, so will only be kicking myself if i dont look into it further.
I know a place locally that would skim the head for me, so that helps and then i'l take it from there.
I'l keep in touch on the forum ,and let u all know if and when i get it! :)
 
hehe... if you get it running there is the small possibility that it could be a money pit... some of them just are.

but at £500, i dont think you can go wrong, as long as you know basic mechanicing and maintenence.

just if it gets to the point where you may spend over the value of the car in potential repairs...the parts off the car will be worth a bit. the 6-speed box, for example....
 
Last edited:
Ive had a look at the car yesterday, and spoke to the garage. They say they think the car needs a new set of rings, and bores re-ground etc as the car has over heated pretty bad. They replaced the ignition leads as they'd melted ouch.. fitted new spark plugs and timing belt. And have actually fixed the head gasket, using genuine Fiat parts from what there mechanic has told me.
He reckons id be better off replacing the engine, so i priced up an engine from Salvo in Heanor, Derbyshire.
* Engine is £350 + £50 delivery and that includes a three month Warrenty as well.
I also noticed the air box was cracked, only £15 from Salvo.
Obviously if i shop about i might get the engine a bit cheaper, but not by much i think. Plus id either have to get a garage to fit the engine, or hire an engine hoist and have a go myself.
Bearing in mind my car skills are pretty basic to say the least!
The body, interior and wheels were good, apart from a nasty dent round the passenger side door handle. A minor scrape to the the passenger side front area of the bumper, which had been touched in rather badly i thought!
Oh and no radio, nothing i couldnt live with for now.
Common its £500, i can't expect perfection!!
With my funds sadly looking increasingly tight at present im 50/50 at the mo.
But if any of you guys are intrested yourselves, i can give you the details if you like. Mayb as a project or for spares. :confused:
 
omg i wanted it

so if you strip the engine can you please tell us /show us what was up with the compression bent valves damaged bores

it's just i have seen these fire engined fiats seize completely and come to a stop and still run fine afters
 
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