Technical Oil leaks - to sort or not to sort?

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Technical Oil leaks - to sort or not to sort?

Have a search on here, drum brakes are pretty much same as. Easy to work on. Both wheels off, one side at a time referring to the other side when getting stuck. Obviously a wee bit more to it than that but that’s a start.
 
My experience level is low. General servicing is fine, brakes and suspension is also fine. I'm new to anything with the cooling system. But I suppose you have to start somewhere! If it is just a push fit at either end, I'll have a look at the weekend and see if I can give it a go.
I have no record of a coolant change, so probably a good idea to drain it all before I do it and then refill and bleed afterwards.

I'll ignore the gear linkage for now. I'll keep an eye on it and if it worsens, I'll look into it.

Well I definitely wouldn't call that "novice" level Wish i could get my boys up to a level where they could do that! The pipe is held in place by the one small bolt which goes through that bracket. After that a good vigorous pull towards the gearbox should pull it out of the water pump. You've got two hoses one above the oil filter which is a radiator hose and the smaller one at the gearbox end which goes to the heater. Probably best to take them off first which will also empty most of the coolant.

Then it's just a case of trying to see how to wiggle the old pipe out - you need to turn and manipulate it. Try to remember exactly what you did when as this makes getting the new one into place much easier. You really have to push on the new pipe to get the seal to seat.

When you've finished and filled up the radiator The system will need bled out with the engine running. Becky had a bleed screw on the radiator which was easy, First slacken the bleed screws - one on radiator and one on heater top hose - now pour in coolant till the rad and header tank is full. Coolant should now be coming out the rad bleed so you can close it. Now run the engine at a fast idle with the heater hose bleed open until no more air or "fizzy" aerated coolant comes out and close the bleeder (be careful, it's plastic and can be snapped off) Don't put the radiator cap back on yet and continue to run the engine till it's up to normal temperature (Feel the top hose, it will get hot all of a sudden when the thermostat opens) Keep an eye on the water level in the header tank all the time as air is liable to be finding it's way out so you may need to add coolant. When you think it's all ok just briefly open the top heater hose bleed for a few moments in case there is trapped air in it. I've never had any problems bleeding any of the Pandas we've owned or my boy's Punto - all with the FIRE engine - but I have read of people having problems bleeding out here on the forum. If the engine temp gauge shows normal operating temp but the heater stays cold you've almost certainly got air trapped in the matrix and need to bleed some more. In extreme cases where you can't get the water to circulate the heater matrix may be blocked but if it was working ok before you drained it then probably that's not likely. In last resort It's sometimes worth disconnecting the top hose, holding it vertical (or as near vertical as you can get) and pouring coolant down it straight into the heater matrix core. You'll need a helper though because one person will need to put a thumb over the engine pipe when you take the hose off otherwise it'll all just run through and out onto the ground! then put you thumb over the hose end and lower it to the engine pipe. Both thumbs need to then be very quickly removed whilst you ramm the hose back onto the pipe, loosing as little coolant as possible in the process!

Here's a wee bit I did on refilling the cooling system when I changed Becky's timing belt - might be interesting for you:
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/459967-beckys-timing-belt-all-done.html?459967=#post4338985
 
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By the way you are likely to find the level drops slightly over the first few hours of running as the last wee bits of trapped air finds it's way out. Probably a good idea to check every time you start up for the first couple of days. These little engines are tough and reliable if looked after but they really really do not like low coolant levels and getting abnormally hot. Keeping a regular watch on coolant, hoses, rad cap condition (although not particularly problematic), radiator itself, etc is a good habit to get into. Overheating very often will cause head gasket problems.
 
By the way you are likely to find the level drops slightly over the first few hours of running as the last wee bits of trapped air finds it's way out. Probably a good idea to check every time you start up for the first couple of days. These little engines are tough and reliable if looked after but they really really do not like low coolant levels and getting abnormally hot. Keeping a regular watch on coolant, hoses, rad cap condition (although not particularly problematic), radiator itself, etc is a good habit to get into. Overheating very often will cause head gasket problems.
Thanks for that. Luckily it has a fairly recent radiator by the looks of it.

When I get to changing the coolant, ill keep a very close eye on the level and temp gauge for a while afterwards.
 
A recent new radiator means there has probably been a recent cooling problem. People rarely change rads before they spring a leak and a leaking rad means the engine can get heat stressed very quickly which puts head gasket at risk.

I'm not saying yours needs a new head gasket. I am saying that you must be ultra careful to check the areas that fail on age and time. That steel pipe between engine block and exhaust manifold is one of them. Just get under the car with a torch and have a look. If is rusty enough to matter, it will be obvious. If its rusty it needs to be changed. They cost too little to be worth tying to clean and paint.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-500...885747?hash=item3653aa06b3:g:9nsAAOSwW5Bdegkh
 
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