Technical Water leak

[sitch76]

Hi there,

I have just purchased a 99 Team S 60 Fiat Punto and it has a water leak, I have chased it to what appears to be a metal pipe, that I can't see how it fits on, so I am wandering if the fitment is missing, I have included a few photos of the pipe and am hoping that somebody can tell me what pipe it is and how it should be fitted.

Thank-you

Below is photos from where the pipe goes to (just above the oil filter sort of), it then goes around the manifold and comes back out and connects into a rubber pipe that goes into the radiator, the water is leaking from just where it connects to above the oil filter, I assume that this is thermostat housing maybe?

Thank-you

 

[fingers99]

That's the water rail. It's held on by a single bolt at the end of the engine opposite the oil filter (that's to say, assuming RHD, the passenger side). The bolt is on a bracket welded on to the underneath od the water rail.

As to the leak, either the water rail has rusted through (they're cheap!) or the O ring has rotted away (water pump end). If you buy a new rail from eurocarcare.net, it'll come with the new style, improved, O ring seal thingy. Or just get a new seal.

You'll probably need a couple of jubilee clips to replace the original ones.

 

[blu73]

as above, here's a link to said item..

http://www.eurocarcare.net/hose-pipes/ecc55217638-coolant-pipe.html

 

[sitch76]

Thanks guys, I had a closer look today and it's not coming from there, it's coming from behind it from what appears to be the engine block itself

I assume this means that the car is best of scraping or can it be saved?

Here is a photo of the leak as it happens:

 

[fingers99]

Ah, it's a core plug. Easy enough, I'd have thought, to do that one with the engine in place. Just remove anything in the way. Coreplugs are very cheap, but they tend to rust through in engines which have not had the anti freeze renewed. Pretty easy DIY job.

If the car/engine is otherwise OKish, well worth doing.

 

[tinytim]

Agree with fingers; once you have access just lever the core plug out with an old screwdriver/chisel and replace; cheap part; drain coolant first and flush out all the rubbish while the core plug is out; when refilling with correct coolant MAKE SURE all air locks are cleared by thorough repeated bleeding or the head gasket will fail; see other posts/guides re methods for bleeding.....

 

[sitch76]

Fantastic! Thanks guys will try to find a core plug today Where would I find one, is it a fiat dealership part?

 

[fingers99]

FIAT or Big Mick at eurocarcare.net will have them.

 

[blu73]

:yeahthat: i'd get the water rail as well, yours looks well past it - not expensive afterall

 

[sitch76]

Managed to grab a core plug from Fiat earlier on so now just need to work out what to do

 

[Noddy]

Easiest way to remove core plugs is to put a self tapping screw into the middle and then use pliers to pull them out. get a socket or drift the same size as the outer lip and GENTLY TAP the new one in place.

 

[sitch76]

Cool, cheers Noddy, got a friend who is an ex mechanic who might be able to pop over today and help, so will give that a go

 

[fingers99]

Don't forget to drain all the coolant and refill with anti freeze (bleed the system with the heater turned on full).

 

[sitch76]

Cheers! So we had a look at it yesterday and it looked like the core plug next to the one leaking was on the way out, so I have just purchased 3 more but Fiat didn't have any in stock so have had to order some off eBay and purchased a new exhaust gasket as well, as we will take the mainfold off to get a bit more room.

We also discovered why the core plug may have possibly gone, the radiator fan switch isn't working, so I've brought another one of them, next Saturday is going to be a busy day

Cheers for all the help!

 

[sitch76]

Right so the replacement core plug has been fitted (Fiat garage last week told me it was a 36mm so was going to replace all 4 and it turned out I need a 30mm so only got to replace the blown one )

Also replaced the fan switch as well and that is now working.

So I am no longer leaking from the core plug and have a working fan, however I think I may have filled the water up too quickly as it started pressuring and leaking out the gap, well I am hoping for an airlock rather then a blown headgasket.

 

[fingers99]

Leaking out the gap? What gap?

 

[blu73]

:yeahthat:

 

[sitch76]

Sorry I meant cap not gap, it has a slight leak from the water bottle cap once the temperature gauge hits the half way point, once the engine has cooled down water drops below the max mark, happened again today, going to rebleed the system tomorrow encase there is an airlock

 

[blu73]

level should not be above max when at operating temp and not below min when cold. So you have either overfilled it or the cap stopped working properly. I'd just replace it for the sake of a few quid for a new cap. Being a pressurized system it will water will just expand and boil over without a cap or if the pressure release valve is stuck open.

 

[sitch76]

I had the block tested today and the head gasket has gone