Technical Antifreeze/Water Leak

[dblokillo]

Hi everyone!

My car: Punto 188 1.2 8v

I have been having some issues with it leaking antifreeze for a while, but lately it has been worse. When I went to the mechanic a couple of months ago, they said that there was a leakage near the water pump (evidently due to the antifreeze stains) and recommended to check it sometime. I had it in my plans, but I haven't been able to.

Anyways, a couple of days ago I decided to flush and clean the cooling system (flush the atifreeze, put water, rinse, more water, repeat) and noticed that the car lost a lot of water after doing this. On one ocasion, after waiting for the car to cool down, I opened the hose to flush the water and nothing came out, it was totally empty! It emptied itself in less than an hour, by it's own!

Now, after this super leak it didn't happen again, it mostly leaks until a little below the minimum and stays there, but I decided to investigate further on what is going on, bought a UV additive and, voila, I discover that the car is constantly bleeding liquid from the motor itself. Here is a picture (not my motor, just an illustration) on where the leaks seem to be initiating from:

And it is not from the hose, it is from the block itself. It looks as if it is leaking from those 4 indentation/holes, but I can't seem to see anything in there. So, my biggest fear is that this is a (or several) huge crack in the motor itself and I am cooked.

What do you think? What can this be?

As soon as I can I'll take a photo of my car, with the leak in question for clarity, but for now I'd like to have your opinions...

Also, I have been having issues with revs going crazy in my car, and it seems to be mitigated mostly by topping up the water level... can this leak be related to this, or is just a coincidence?

Thanks everyone, I've been scratching my head on this one for a while now.

Cheers!

 

[ZaphodB]

Not familiar with the engine but they look like core plugs to me, if they are just fit some new ones

 

[dblokillo]

Not familiar with the engine but they look like core plugs to me, if they are just fit some new ones

Sorry for the ignorance, but what is a core plug? Never heard of it... are they replaceable? Is there any part number for them?

Edit: I understand now. It might be the issue, but I have no idea what to look for or even where to look for them. But you have given me a heads up with that, thanks!

 

[ZaphodB]

Get your ruler out and measure the precise diameter, take a look here for potential part numbers (I may not have picked the exact engine,but the diameter is all that counts.)

10101/00 - BLOCK AND CYLINDER HEAD

FIAT PUNTO BZ (1999-2003)

eper.fiatforum.com

Destroying them during removal in inevitable (and not a problem), usually drive a spike/tough screwdriver through them and lever out, refitting new ones is just gently tapping them in. (once the hole surface is cleaned up)
Make absolutely sure you've got the exact size before starting because you are disabling the engine once removed.

The holes are just there mostly from the process of making the block, and the core plugs just seal them up.
Finally don't skimp , just change them all.

 

[dblokillo]

Wow, thanks a lot! I'll try this as soon as I can, I'm sure this will solve my issue! I'll keep this post updated for future reference as well
Cheers!

 

[Mike1alike]

The holes are just there mostly from the process of making the block, and the core plugs just seal them up.

Actually, their role is to offer freeze protection. If the coolant freezes (not enough antifreeze) its volume increases. So for the engine block not to crack as a result of that, those plugs sit there and they will pop out when liquid inside freezes, making room and preventing crackin of engine block.
@dblokillo, make sure they are leaking before replacing them, so you wouldn't do the job if it's not necessary. In that area the pipe that shows in the picture can leak. I've seen pictures with it having rust-made holes and I had it leaking at the end connected to water pump due to busted gasket. There is pressure in the system and if the gasket leak is big enough the coolant/water can be spewed to the engine block there.
If the antifreeze plugs need replacement you'll need to take the pipe out anyway so you could work there replacing them.
I have a code for that pipe, it's 55245749.
This is the one I got (well, the product no. in the picture, the pipe is the old one, obviously)

And I must say, I don't know if there are better quality, but this one had 2 problems. One was the paint. It is painted black, inside too. And in about one year of using it the paint inside peeled away. The original one didn't have any traces of paint inside, so if it had by new, that peeled away too. So all those little pieces of paint ended up mostly in the heater. I got them out by disconnecting the hoses and using water hose there, from both sides. I also put the water hose to the rest of the system (engine) and cleaned that too.
The second problem was the seal that came with the pipe was not the best and lasted 3 years than started leaking. I replaced it with a goid one, Elring 685.350 and this is the same quality as the original one. It has 2 layers of rubber (or silicone, whatever that is) with a metallic layer between them.

And by the way, when you get the pipe out, that seal remains stuck there, on the engine block. It comes out very easy if using a screw you pry that metallic layer inside itself, you can see how the one I got out looks like, bottom of the pipe, in picture.

 

[ZaphodB]

Actually, their role is to offer freeze protection. If the coolant freezes (not enough antifreeze) its volume increases. So for the engine block not to crack as a result of that, those plugs sit there and they will pop out when liquid inside freezes, making room and preventing crackin of engine block.

Their use as a freeze/expansion countermeasure is just a useful side effect, they are present from the manufacture of the block.

 

[Mike1alike]

The holes are present, yes. But the plugs are designed to pop out in case of freezing. Otherwise, there could have been made a threded plug design or something.

 

[ZaphodB]

The holes are present, yes. But the plugs are designed to pop out in case of freezing. Otherwise, there could have been made a threded plug design or something.

I totally agree they will pop out if block is frozen, but believe me their main (core purpose) purpose is to block up the holes in the block from manufacture.
And the reason they are simple pressed steel is purely down to cost.

See https://coreplugs.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions

The term freeze or frost plug is slang; the correct name of the press-in plugs is actually 'core plug'. It is mistakenly thought that the purpose of these plugs is to be pushed out and save the block from cracking if the engine has water in it and it happens to freeze. This is nothing more than an urban legend.

The purpose of the plugs is to fill the holes that were made during the casting process, so the foundry could remove the 'core' sand from the coolant passages. Saving the block from cracking in case of a freeze was never the manufacturer's intent for these plugs.

 

[Mike1alike]

Even so, I call them antifrost plugs anyways.
That shows that good things happen by themselves sometimes.