General Problems with Oil leaks and Engine

[djxtreme]

Hey all,

had quick read through the forums and saw a few threads similar to mine.
Recently noticed a occasional oil burning smell, and seemed to be going through a fair bit of oil. had a mate look at it briefly when he was sticking some new oil in it for me. He mentioned that the oil looked bubbely, and that it may be because of a water leak into it?

Checked coolant fluid, looks clean, only other noticable thing is shown in the attached pictures.

Obviously first thought was Head Gasket, however having read the forums seems it may be something called the Rocket Gasket??? Not really car-savvy, so would love someone to look at the pics and see if they can make any suggestions, along with rough prices or an idea of how easy it would be to fix myself!

TIA,

Stephen

 

[djxtreme]

Oh, forgot to mention.

Car is a 03 reg Punto 1.2 8v Active Sport I belive? not sure what MK this relates to, so if you need to know tell me how to find out!

Ta again

 

[samsonite]

haha youve got no problem at all! Nothing to worry about. (10 minutes work and some silicone sealer) just a Rocker cover (cam cover) gasket is leaking. The smell of burnt oil is the oil that comes out of the leaking gasket and touches the hot manifold (exhaust) and is vapourised, so you smell burnt oil! my punto mk2A 1.2 8v does the exact same thing, gonna take care of it this weekend, 10 minute job... just remove the airbox from above the engine, and remove the 4 bolts holding down the cover. when its off (careful not to drop any dirt in the head) scrape off the old gasket / sealer and either fit a new gasket, or just use silicone sealer... bolt it back on and its as good as new

 

[Punto.Power]

Hi, the little oil leak you can see is from your rocker cover gasket, its very common on the 8v punto, but it dosnt look that bad to be maken it loss alot of oil, unless theres other leaks around the back of it or even some where else, have you looked under the car after its been parked up for a while see if theres any noticeable oil patches. To change gasket it is easy you just take air filter off then undo 4 bolts on cover, remove old rubber gasket, clean surfaces well, then spread a thin layer of (recommended) blue hylomar(sp) on the bottom surface and then fit new gasket to the cover and replace cover, dont over tighten bolts, gasket is about £7, i dont know how much the blue hylomar is though probably around £5-10. Yours is either an MK2a but in 03 they brought out the MK2.5b.

MK2a

MK2.5b

 

[djxtreme]

Liking the sound lads.

Just need some tools (or a friend lol)

Mine is the top pic (MK2a was it?) and tbh im not fond of the shape of any of the newer punto's.

As for other leaks, the back of the engine (behind where the oil cap is) looks oily. Tried taking a pic, but dont know how it turned out tbh. If you look just below the dipstick on the pic, thats where it is noticable in RL (lighting bad for cam phone lol)

Then again, this could just be the norm as Im not too savvy.

As for noticable floor leaks, last time I checked I didnt see any but I'll look again.

Thanks for the quick response lads!

 

[djxtreme]

lol forgot to add pics

 

[Punto.Power]

Cant really tell where its coming from, most probably the gasket though and running down the back of the engine, best bet is to replace the gasket and see if theres still fresh oil around the back after its been fixed, you could get a better look see where abouts its coming from while replacing gasket once the air filter ect is off.

 

[samsonite]

just try change the gasket, shouldnt take more than a couple of minutes, and if you dont find a gasket, just use silicone... worked for mine and a friends without any problems....

 

[crabbo_1]

rocker cover gasket will set you back abut £5 from most motor factors....partco should be able to supply one.

 

[60spunto]

Did I read something on here that suggested that it was worth replacing the gasket with an original fiat part- something about them being thicker?(Quite possible that I have imagined it!!)
If so does anyone know how much I would expect to pay for one? Is there a particular grade/ good make of silicone sealant?

Cheers

Matt

 

[Punto.Power]

Did I read something on here that suggested that it was worth replacing the gasket with an original fiat part- something about them being thicker?(Quite possible that I have imagined it!!)
If so does anyone know how much I would expect to pay for one? Is there a particular grade/ good make of silicone sealant?

Cheers

Matt

No your right, fiats rocker gasket is thicker and better quality im sure its only around £10 -12, i would use blue hylomar for sealant.

 

[The Sultan]

fiat gasket is 9 quid last i checked
depends what model realy mk1 puntos are diferent gasket to mk2 puntos except some of the very very first mk2s all to do with the shape of the corners were it goes over thr cam shaft

the mk2s have gaskets with little ears poking out round them to identify them and make sure you have them lockated right the mk1s dont have these

if you ask for silicone sealant from a fiat dealer you will get stuff from fiat or atleast with a fiat part number on it this is recomended by fiat and in my opinion is bludy good stuff

 

[samsonite]

Did mine yesterday guys, removed the airbox (2 x 10mm Bolts), removed the Top Cover (Cam Cover / Rocker Cover) (4 x 10mm Bolts). Inspected the old gasket, wasnt Broken or Damaged in any place so i just cleaned it, cleaned the top cover and when putting back together i added some gasket sealer (red soft rubber stuff). Got the cover back on and the airbox. Took 20 minutes and is a job well done, done 50 miles today and no signs of oil leaking (By the way, while the cover was off i sprayed it, looks much better!!!)