Howdy do, I'm Peter McAllister, the fathe... oh wait, that's Home Alone 2. I'm Stuey and, well, it's fair to say that my very first car (a 98 R reg Mark 1 Punto) has been a bit of a nightmare to be honest. I took a mechanic friend with me, got it looked over and got the ok. Well, turns out it's leaking oil from somewhere and I haven't a clue where from bar "The Engine". Since I've bought it it's had to have had a new head fitted as one of the ends of a valve had a rather large piece taken from it and the gasket had gone, so all that's been replaced. As that was done the key (one and only one) was lost so then I had to have the locks and ECU changed and I'm pretty sure the timings are off now somewhat, revving beyond 20MPH in 2nd, 30MPH in 3rd and so on brings a hell of a judder at times. Now it's just the oil leak which I've been told could be the sump gasket, is this something that could be checked by a complete novice like myself, my mechanic friend or am I best to look at getting it checked by a professional garage? I have no money for a few days and each time I park up I'm leaving lovely oil patches, plus there's a definite oil-burning smell about and a superb plume of smoke as I'm pulling off too. I'm just fed up of the thing now, even the drivers' side repeater's falling out of its socket and the rear water jet piddles up about an inch from the hole from whence it came!
Help? Advice? It's a nice car but it's leaving me disillusioned a bit to be honest.
Help? Advice? It's a nice car but it's leaving me disillusioned a bit to be honest.
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