General Dead Mia

[daz215]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] Hey all,

I have a 2002 fiat punto (mia), ive had it for about 11 months and its been nothing but trouble, Things have been goin wrong left right and center.

Firstly the heater keeps playing up (some times it doesnt work, sometimes it does). It also doesnt start some days and sometimes it shuts off randomly (stalls, but without being in gear).

And just today I was driving home from work when i noticed it stalling quite frequently, then after a short time I could hear a constant "rattle" (like a stone in a tin can) coming from the engine bay, but i thought id be able to get it home and check it out, but whenever it stalled it really really didnt want to start - I had to make sure the fan in the engine bay was off (It likes to stay on for ages and ages - which is actually only a recent thing) and that all lights and electronics where off - (otherwise it would turn over really slow as if there is a flat battery and not fire up). and then to top it all off, as i was driving home it just died! The speedo was capped at 30 (I had my foot down in 3rd) and after a couple of mins the speedo went down and then the engine shut off and the engine management light, oil light, and battery light came on! and there was lots of smoke comin out of the engine bay!

The car did start later on but it wasnt firing in 1 cylinder. It sounded exactly like an old petrol lawnmower.

The oil was topped up, the water was topped up, it is a brand new battery, new HT leads.

I'm a novice with cars (This is my first) but if you guys could tell me any info on how to fix it I can pass it on to my brother whos good with motors.

ANY help appreciated thanks[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[a1ant]

Hi mate, and WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

First of all....heaters not working and fan staying on for ages and often -- classic signs that the car is over heating and/or has run out of coolant. This can also be caused by a stuck thermostat, broken water pump etc.

Do you often have to top up the water or oil or both?

By the sounds of it, (from the info provided) it sounds like its overheated and taken the Head gasket and possibly the cylinder head with it.

What colour was the "smoke" coming out of the engine bay? Could it possibly have been steam?

Hope that helps,
Alan

 

[daz215]

It wasnt smoke it was definately steam <- must have wrote the wrong word sorry. My bro's been round today and had the engine to bits and replaced the head gasget, noticed there was a small bur on the inside of one of the cylinders which had in turn chipped a small bit out of the piston (only a small bit not really major). The car still sounds horrible and doesnt have seemed to done anything for us.

One thing thats concerned us is that there is no water coming out of the radiator when I disconnected the pipe. Replaced the water pump and there is still no water pumping round. Filled the water almost to the brink of the cap and it just spat it out all over the floor. Still not going round the engine.

Water and oil havent been changed at all since ive had it and dont look like they need to be.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[a1ant]

Hi mate,
Have you tried flushing the radiator? It may well be blocked.Try flushing the rest of the cooling system while your there too. When you had the head off, what did the coolant channels look like?

Your oil, coolent etc should be changed according to the manufacturers recomendations even if they look ok, as they loose their vital properties over time.

Did you also check to see if the head had warped or cracked at all?

Alan

 

[daz215]

The cooling channels looked fine, Im not sure what you mean by "Flushing" the radiator.

I will have another look tommow and will get back to you after that thanks for the replies.

 

[daz215]

Here is a sound of the engine. The radiator has no problems and its been flushed. Pressure gauage reported no problems in the cylinders.

ANY help needed thanks

View attachment Recording.zip

 

[a1ant]

Hi mate,

Put the sound on youtube or something rather than a ZIp file.

With regaurds to no coolent flow, if you have checked the radiator and its ok, and have replaced the pump, Have you also changed the thermostat? as this could be stuck closed. If its not that, then it could be a blockage in the coolent channels in the engine (however you did say they all looked ok).
Did all the holes on the new HG line up ok?

Alan

 

[daz215]

The thermostat is a new 1. All holes lined up on head gasget and theres no blocks in the coolant channels.

 

[a1ant]

Have you bled all of the air out of the system?? Its sounding like when it initially overheated, its done more than just the head gasket.

Alan

 

[daz215]

How can i bleed it out? What else might have gone?

 

[D4nny8oy]

Judging by what you've said in the first post it seems that your engine has repeatedly overheated to the point where it has seized solid- hence why you have to wait 'til it's cooled down before it will even attempt to restart.

It's probably warped the head and destroyed the piston rings and the bores (you mentioned that a chunk was missing from one piston- that doesn't happen on an engine that's overheated a little).

I'm sorry to say this, but it really sounds like that engine is scrap.

 

[daz215]

I dont think there is such a major problem as that, the car still starts fine now. It was just that day when it had been run for a while (I'd been traveling down the M1)

The cooling now works after bleeding, but the ticking noise still exists :bang:

Ive just spoke to the mechanic across the road who thinks it could be the camshaft whats bust or/and the oil pump/filter may be blocked.