General Head gasket blown

[Mrgreen1955]

Hi
Wife driving 2010 panda. Car lost power no warning lights.Temp gauge ok.
Gone into garage said it was head gasket gone and cracked the head.
Ok fair enough but they now say pistons have been damaged and it would
Be more economical to just get replacement engine.

Any thoughts ?

 

[koalar]

Hi
Wife driving 2010 panda. Car lost power no warning lights.Temp gauge ok.
Gone into garage said it was head gasket gone and cracked the head.
Ok fair enough but they now say pistons have been damaged and it would
Be more economical to just get replacement engine.

Any thoughts ?

It's possible

But sounds like tosh to me

minor damage to the head is common but rarely a deal breaker. The block if you carry on driving it

Takes a lot of of preignition to damage the pistons

90% of the time gaskets and bolts are all that's needed. Along with fixing the coolant leak

 

[DaveMcT]

Get the head off and go from there. Do check the inlet manifold. Excessive over heating melts the plastic.

Sources of coolant leaks -
Engine and water pump core plugs.
Coolant pipe that runs between exhaust catalyst and engine block
Radiator core. If gone, replace with a full width rad (1.4 or diesel) and a remote expansion tank. Costs a little more but its so much easier to check the level.

 

[porta]

Sounds drastic, normally the heads fine, then warps, then cracks but doesn’t usually do it ‘overnight’ unless it’s been run with no coolant. I’d be tempted to get a second opinion or, at the very least, ask to see the head, but then you need to know what you’re looking at, ie is it your head? And, as the comments above, takes a bit to do the pistons in at the same time

 

[varesecrazy]

Sounds drastic, normally the heads fine, then warps, then cracks but doesn’t usually do it ‘overnight’ unless it’s been run with no coolant. I’d be tempted to get a second opinion or, at the very least, ask to see the head, but then you need to know what you’re looking at, ie is it your head? And, as the comments above, takes a bit to do the pistons in at the same time

IF you have temp gauge.. (rather than a RED Light)

AND the temp gauge has been behaving normally for months

WITH no need to top.up coolant in the last 6 months


I would be VERY suspicious of so much work being required

The HG jobs in the Panda GUIDES are mine..

2nd failure in 6 weeks involved the Temp gauge over to MAX.. and a Dr.Who like steam cloud enveloping the car

Head was still flat.. a £10 gasket and £40 bolts saw it running great.. I sold it @6 years later..and its still MOT'd another 5 years on

Ive yet to have one warp badly enough to need skimming..

 

[Mrgreen1955]

Thank you for all replies.
All your posts have only supported my doubts that the garage may not be up to the task of repairing this car.
Originally they quoted about 800 to 900 euros to repair car (car in Spain btw ). That's for head skim, gasket, timming belt, water pump etc.
But when they examined the car they said,
The car overheated and some components of the engine are damaged
The engine pistons are damaged
The camshaft does not turn because it's damaged
You can try to repair the engine but they won't guarantee it knowing it won't last.
Btw the car was serviced 2 week prior to this as itv was due (mot)
I did receive a photo of the camshaft still attached but it doesn't really show anything
In Spain you can't tow a car as it has to be lifted by tow truck so taking it to another garage for second opinion is a little awkward as you can imagine.
I'm reluctant to scrap the car as that was one of their suggestions if I couldn't find a replacement engine as
Used 2010 pandas in Spain still fetch between 3000 and 4000 euros
Just a thought
Car did overheat about a year ago and they renewed the fan

 

[varesecrazy]

Thank you for all replies.
All your posts have only supported my doubts that the garage may not be up to the task of repairing this car.
Originally they quoted about 800 to 900 euros to repair car (car in Spain btw ). That's for head skim, gasket, timming belt, water pump etc.
But when they examined the car they said,
The car overheated and some components of the engine are damaged
The engine pistons are damaged
The camshaft does not turn

Car did overheat about a year ago and they renewed the fan

If its held coolant for a year.. thats unlikely to be your issue

 

[porta]

In Spain, that’s awkward…I had a breakdown in France and Switzerland no towing there either…the police insisted on recovery truck and they have a penchant for only dealing with dealers. I insisted, after a google search, on an independent and the reluctantly agreed

 

[koalar]

£10 gasket and £40 bolts

Ordered some on Sunday

£10 gasket
£12 bolts

The bolts were even cheaper on Friday £7 at GSF but the 50% sale got knock off so ordered elsewhere

 

[varesecrazy]

One thought..

UK MOT testers like running the car on the ramps for the full 40 minutes

Had the car covered many miles SINCE its ITV .?
Possibly got hot and spat out coolant then..but obviously under zero load at that point

Is it the primitive 'sight tube' alongside the radiator on this car?

 

[varesecrazy]

Ordered some on Sunday

£10 gasket
£12 bolts

The bolts were even cheaper on Friday £7 at GSF but the 50% sale got knock off so ordered elsewhere

Thats inflation for you

 

[DaveMcT]

I detest the side mounted expansion tanks used on 1.1 and 1.2 Pandas. I've been waiting for wife's radiator to fail so I can fit a full width type with expansion vessel. I'm scrapping the 100HP so might swap it's rad and vessel to the 1.2.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi
Wife driving 2010 panda. Car lost power no warning lights.Temp gauge ok.
Gone into garage said it was head gasket gone and cracked the head.
Ok fair enough but they now say pistons have been damaged and it would
Be more economical to just get replacement engine.

Any thoughts ?

Have you made any progress?

 

[Mrgreen1955]

Have you made any progress?

None at all .Car still in garage with them saying it needs a replacement engine.
Will be in Spain in a few weeks and will go to garage and see exactly why they are saying it needs
A replacement engine

 

[kmor panda]

Hi
Wife driving 2010 panda. Car lost power no warning lights.Temp gauge ok.
Gone into garage said it was head gasket gone and cracked the head.
Ok fair enough but they now say pistons have been damaged and it would
Be more economical to just get replacement engine.

Any thoughts ?

Logically, that list seems implausible.

Head Gasket leaking = loss of power & temp increase. Pistons etc would be perfect as they run in the cylinders of the alu block, and not past the joint where the head gasket is.
Timing belt slipped 1-2 teeth = pistons hit valves / went off centre, cracked head and damaged pistons.

Both don't occur at the same time, and if the car was 'serviced' a few weeks ago, did they adjust the timing belt? Simple question, was the engine running 'rough' prior to this? Engines don't just 'fail' like what you have stated.

The 169 engine is almost bullet proof and Fiat (and other makers) have been using variations of same since 1985/90 cause it is reliable. What is its milage, cause that type of engine has a life of 500,000 miles plus. When I got mine, it had zero oil and 200,000 miles on the clock - yet still running perfectly.

 

[koalar]

I did receive a photo of the camshaft still attached but it doesn't really show anything
In Spain you can't tow a car as it has to be lifted

Post the photos

Maybe someone can see something

Take it's a petrol