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Technical replacing knackered head - head gasket gone

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Technical replacing knackered head - head gasket gone

stuartp

stuartp

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Apr 15, 2004
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Location
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with my head gasket almost gone and after the engine overheated a few times the head on my 1.1 cinq sporting is knackered.

this was discovered when the garage started to fix the head gasket problem.

luckily? he has a 1200 head from a punto lying around and has checked and it looks like it'll fit.

i have heard of putting smaller cc heads on larger blocks for some performance gain but not the other way round

will this make any difference negative or positive to performance, fuel consumption etc?
 
I don't really know, he said it was warped or something. He also said that someone had bodged the head gasket fix in the past and there was mastic? in there.

If he tells me something needs replacing then I don't really question him. Been going there for years. He's only adding another £40 for putting the other head on and that sounds alright to me

If I end up spending nearer £400 but it keeps the car going another couple of years then i'm happy
 
If the head is warped, it can be skimmed (thin layer of metal taken off). The mastic shouldn't be a problem, he can take a scraper to that, whether it's on the head or block. I'd imagine that was someone's idea of stopping a leak after replacing the Head and head gasket.

If the head is warped so badly it can't be skimmed, that's some massive overheating! I would have thought the block may need attention too. (to get it flat again)
 
well it was running really badly for weeks and it did overheat and boil all the water away on more than one occasion recently

he also said the thermostat had been removed

if he phones me and tells me something else is buggered then i'll have to tell him to leave it i guess - i can't really afford what it's costing at the moment (about £350)
 
I had a look at the original head that got replaced, it was quite badly corroded in several places.

I have got the 1242 head on there and it drives fine.

The only issue now is on idle the engine seems to be "throbbing" -
it's a regular slight rise and fall in revs (i'd say just below 10k to just over 10k) occasionally a bit more.

I was sat in traffic for ages yesterday and not only was it quite annoying it also sounds like something is definitely wrong which is a worry. It did stall once but for the most part it just sat there "throbbing" to itself.

I was telling myself it's maybe just the ECU getting used to the slightly different head and it'll sort itself out but is that just wishful thinking?
Is there a way to reset the ECU so it goes back to factory settings then works itself out again?

Or could this be something else - maybe nothing to do with the head replacement?

Any ideas?
 
It's to do with the head replacement. Take it back. Mind you, you always ignore my advice so:

throttle cable too tight
nipple on throttle cable interfering with throttle cable operation
air leak somewhere on inlet side
dirt in idle control valve
malfitted hoses on TB

You can re-set the ECU simply by disconnecting the battery -ive for a few minutes.
 
fingers99 said:
It's to do with the head replacement. Take it back. Mind you, you always ignore my advice so:

throttle cable too tight
nipple on throttle cable interfering with throttle cable operation
air leak somewhere on inlet side
dirt in idle control valve
malfitted hoses on TB

You can re-set the ECU simply by disconnecting the battery -ive for a few minutes.
Click to expand...

it's not i ignore your advice it's just that i'm rubbish with engine stuff so my only real option is to pay someone - i just love this place for giving me a good idea of what is actually wrong

very occasionally i can sort it myself

certainly all very much appreciated

i'll be taking it back tomorrow so he can sort it out

ta
 
rallycinq said:
At least you tried.

Cheers

SPD
Click to expand...

oh i'm very trying ;-)

he had a look yesterday and it's still doing it's throbbing thing

he said it might be the oil breather pipe (as that split and i bodged it together with a straw and some electrical tape)
i'm sceptical as it has been like that for a year or so now but ordered a new one just in case (can't hurt to fix it properly i guess)

any chance that could be causing it?
 
fingers99 said:
Quite possibly. If you start one up with the the pipe (which goes to the air filter and splits to go to the TB) off they'll do that. Run the engine ith the pipe off and cover the hole in the TB with your finger -- any difference?
Click to expand...

i'll give that a try - thanks

my car has an induction kit fitted and i remember chopping that pipe to fit a little sponge filter that came with it
It comes out of the rocker cover (a larger pipe), goes up to the little filter (a smaller pipe) and is attached (with what looks like 3 or 4 others) at the base of the carb

anyway i'll have a fiddle and bung the new pipe on when the fiat place gets it delivered

at least it's possible that it might have something to do with it
 
ycming said:
I ran mine spilt for a while and it never caused me any problems~~~

hmm.... Did the garage spot anything else that could be wrong? may be throttle body leak ?

Ming
Click to expand...

well, mine has been split for ages (held together with a straw between the little pipes and some electrical tape) and was running ok before.

i'm going to replace the pipe anyway and if that does nothing it's back to the garage
 
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