General Too many problems with my Punto - heating, brake too hard, heater blows cold air

[Bees]

Hey ppl
I am a newbie and know very little about cars..
I purchased my punto (M reg - about 96,000 miles) 1 and half year back..I dont use the car often But since the past 6 months every time i get it out it keeps giving me problems..sometimes i wonder the mechanic is doggy ..and keeps messing with my car.
Anyway..following are the problems currently..
My car started getting heating problems when our carbonator knob broke suddenly. So i got this knob fixed which didnt cost much..but heating problem started then. Within 5 min driving car gets heated up however I got it fixed in Nov when I serviced my car. After servicing the car the heating arrow somehow still continued to be always on higher end so we asked the mechanic and he said nothing to. worry... But few days back..we drove the car for like 20 min and the car heated up and smoke started coming out. The car did not start then and we got RAC to get it home. However the next day the car started..but we have not driven since as the brake has gone way to hard to drive and when we start the engine there is some wierd noise . To add to our misery our heater blows cold Air now:worship:.:bang:

We are getting 2 mechanic to give us the cost of fixing these problems..however can't really trust them. Could someone please help as so how much would it be to fix all these or is it even worth fixing it....or just scrap the car...

Appreciate any help....

 

[a1ant]

Hi mate, and WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

By the sounds of it, your head gasket has gone, and caused the car to overheat. Did you check your coolant levels regularly? I wouldn't drive the car until this is fixed or more damage may be caused. For a back street garage to fit a new head gasket your looking at about £150-£200.

The brake pedal being hard...is this when the engine is on or off?

As to weather it is worth fixing or not, depends on what condition the rest of the car is in to be honest.

Hope that helps,
Alan

 

[SUCKSQUASHBANGBLOW]

Hey ppl
I am a newbie and know very little about cars..
I purchased my punto (M reg - about 96,000 miles) 1 and half year back..I dont use the car often But since the past 6 months every time i get it out it keeps giving me problems..sometimes i wonder the mechanic is doggy ..and keeps messing with my car.
Anyway..following are the problems currently..
My car started getting heating problems when our carbonator knob broke suddenly. So i got this knob fixed which didnt cost much..but heating problem started then. Within 5 min driving car gets heated up however I got it fixed in Nov when I serviced my car. After servicing the car the heating arrow somehow still continued to be always on higher end so we asked the mechanic and he said nothing to. worry... But few days back..we drove the car for like 20 min and the car heated up and smoke started coming out. The car did not start then and we got RAC to get it home. However the next day the car started..but we have not driven since as the brake has gone way to hard to drive and when we start the engine there is some wierd noise . To add to our misery our heater blows cold Air now:worship:.:bang:

We are getting 2 mechanic to give us the cost of fixing these problems..however can't really trust them. Could someone please help as so how much would it be to fix all these or is it even worth fixing it....or just scrap the car...

Appreciate any help....

sounds like your head gasket for sure your breaks have gone hard because they run on a servo system from the engine (no engine=no brakes)
pull your dip-stick out and if the oils gone milky this will confirm my suspicions hope this helps

 

[Bees]

Thanks appreciate your replies.
I have got it shown to the mechanic and a nice old man..he got it all fixed yesterday in a measly 50 GBP..???? He said the water was not circulating and the fan was not operating as it should in the engine so he changed a few bolts and stuff. Now the heater is worknig gr8, the brake is fine and the heating problem seems to have been solved.....

But..today as i was driving..the heating arrow was on a low sign for a while, but i was on a slope with too much of traffic so waited on the traffic for like 20 min..and kept using the hand brake too often . In that time looks like the car started heating up and the arrow slowly moved to the higher end. But once the traffic was cleared..the arrow went down again and looked completely normal...Do you think there could still be some problem??? Why would it heat up so quickly ...Any ideas
I am worried..i am going to drive for a day or 2 before i take it to the mechanic again .

 

[oktopod]

Did the fan kicked in after half of the gauge?

 

[vtec]

fan switch, fuse or faulty fan motor id say. have seen it a few times.,