Hi all, greetings from Sardinia!
Subject is a Seicento from 1999 (VIN ZFA18700000153879), a suite edition which I bought for the missus as first car so she can learn, experience, and if God save us but it breaks, there is not major loss. Nevertheless I must admit it grew to our hearts, this little, boxy tarmac runner with its lively 1.1 engine. I've done the obligatory oil/filters/sparkplugs/leads/brakes/tires/coolant job after the buy and it ran great ever since.
Lately though it developed a coolant leak. First I feared the head gasket went bust, but no signs of that, instead it was a literal leak under the car. Tracing it back I found the leak coming from under the heating matrix box. Of course everything under the sound proofing was full of leaves, spiders and mud, the drain fully clogged but thats usual with 20+ years cars. The coolant puddle is under the heater box, I can't name a specific point where from. Further complexity is that the car, being a suite edition comes with air conditioning (it does work!) and all the pipes are in the middle of the engine bay, adding complexity and bruised knuckles to any repair jobs.
Now I would like to ask the experienced forum members what they would recommend.
1. is there a known weak spot that is prone to leak and there is a known fix
2. is it a pain in the back to remove the heating compartment
3. should I just disconnect the in/out hoses form the heating box close them short with a piece of pipe (I'm very much inclined to do this) In that case no more heating but that's life.
4. are radiator leak stop liquids any good, should I go for this route
Thank you in advance for your positive input, enjoy your summer!
Subject is a Seicento from 1999 (VIN ZFA18700000153879), a suite edition which I bought for the missus as first car so she can learn, experience, and if God save us but it breaks, there is not major loss. Nevertheless I must admit it grew to our hearts, this little, boxy tarmac runner with its lively 1.1 engine. I've done the obligatory oil/filters/sparkplugs/leads/brakes/tires/coolant job after the buy and it ran great ever since.
Lately though it developed a coolant leak. First I feared the head gasket went bust, but no signs of that, instead it was a literal leak under the car. Tracing it back I found the leak coming from under the heating matrix box. Of course everything under the sound proofing was full of leaves, spiders and mud, the drain fully clogged but thats usual with 20+ years cars. The coolant puddle is under the heater box, I can't name a specific point where from. Further complexity is that the car, being a suite edition comes with air conditioning (it does work!) and all the pipes are in the middle of the engine bay, adding complexity and bruised knuckles to any repair jobs.
Now I would like to ask the experienced forum members what they would recommend.
1. is there a known weak spot that is prone to leak and there is a known fix
2. is it a pain in the back to remove the heating compartment
3. should I just disconnect the in/out hoses form the heating box close them short with a piece of pipe (I'm very much inclined to do this) In that case no more heating but that's life.
4. are radiator leak stop liquids any good, should I go for this route
Thank you in advance for your positive input, enjoy your summer!
- Model
- Seicento 1.1 suite
- Year
- 1999
- Mileage
- 89000
