Causes of HG failure on a FIRE engine
#1 low coolant..generating hotspots
#2 age.. they can fail with no obvious cause
#3 patched.up - poor repairs
My punto and cinq had no other work..so blamed age
Panda had a leaky HeaterMatrix
Low coolant took out 2 x gaskets in 6 weeks
1st repair : @£10 for gasket
2nd repair.. I doubted 1st repair so measured head..still flat
New Bolts and another gasket : @£45
And a Matrix..
Car did another 40k and 6 years..
Still mot'd now 5 years on