Fiat Punto head gasket

sparkle_23

I sold a 2001 Fiat Punto 1.2 to a friend of mine about a month ago. Had just passed the NCT, 4 new tyres, it was running grand!

She rang me today to say that it making a weird noise during a lesson and her driving instructor got a mechanic to look at. So apparently the fan is broken and as a result the head gasket has blown(is that the right word?). I didn't notice anything wrong with it I thought it was perfect. How long would the fan not have been working for this to happen?

I feel so bad because I honestly thought the car was in good condition and I feel like it's my fault.

shamwari

Punto's have notoriously weak head gaskets and I would imagine that it failed without fan failure. Those gaskets just do that!

Get the car looked at by a competent mechanic and see what transpires.

If the fan wasn't working one trip in the car could be enough for the car to overheat, if your friend stopped driving when the temp gauge started to rise the HG may well have been fine. Either way not your fault at all.

Delancey

I've had 2 Puntos and both suffered Head Gasket failures , the 1.2 Punto engines are by all accounts prone to this problem.
You sold the car in good faith , you shouldn't feel bad about this.

sparkle_23

So there's a chance the fan was ok when I had it? What makes it worse is that she's only started driving so I doubt she's even put 10 miles on it

*Sparkle*

*Sparkle* wrote: »

So there's a chance the fan was ok when I had it? ...

Most definitely, did the car ever overheat on you recently?

Ardennes1944

Another example of the problems with selling to your friends or relatives. I would never do it it's just not worth it. Something like this could do a surprisingly large amount of damage to a friendship

sparkle_23

RoverJames wrote: »

Most definitely, did the car ever overheat on you recently?

Not that I was aware of. The little thermometer light didn't come up or anything.

rex-x

RoverJames wrote: »

If the fan wasn't working one trip in the car could be enough for the car to overheat, if your friend stopped driving when the temp gauge started to rise the HG may well have been fine. Either way not your fault at all.

Puntos have no gauge in the low spec, only a light

mondeo

Dont let your emotions start to rule this situation and end up putting yourself out of pocket... how do you know who has been behind the wheel of that car the past month? Maybe a family relative of your friend has been driving it a few times and drove it abit too hard. Alot of things can go wrong in the space of a month. Even if it is your friend you cannot take responsability for what is more then likely not your faulth. Sh!t happens and puntos are imo aload of rubbish and known for their tinfoil headgaskets.

dgt

The head gaskets fail due to a number of reasons:
Neglect of coolant maintanance
Wrong coolant
Poor driving style
People with a "these cars are rubbish" attitude and thus neglect the cars basic maintanance

I would first start by asking what coolant you put in? It takes a specific dealer coolant and at roughly 7 a bottle its far cheaper than a new hg and is better for these cars reputation. Crap coolant wont have the same properties as new coolant and definately wouldnt do the same job.

Was the fan working? The fans on these cars do seize with age. Overheated engine means warped head.

What driving style was involved? Full throttle at low revs and jumpiness also kills the hg.

Those engines are 10 a penny, you might be better off suggesting a decent low milage engine instead of a hg change

donglen

Delancey wrote: »

I've had 2 Puntos and both suffered Head Gasket failures , the 1.2 Punto engines are by all accounts prone to this problem.
You sold the car in good faith , you shouldn't feel bad about this.

As above, I've also had a head gasket go in a Punto. This genuinely seems to be a recurring issue with them. You probably did well to get 10 years out of it (mine went at about 7 years).

sparkle_23

Should I offer to pay half towards the repair or something? Although it will prob end up costing more than the car is worth. I can't believe it and I was nervous bout selling it to her :mad:

*Sparkle*

*Sparkle* wrote: »

Should I offer to pay half towards the repair or something? .......

No, she might accept, which is essentially her taking advantage of your good nature.

Ardennes1944

its a car, most of the time you never know before they decide to stop. parts for fiats are cheap and there are a rake of 8v (im presuming its 8v) engines out there. it shouldnt cost them too much either way. if they are gonna let your friendship go into a downward spiral over this then....

sparkle_23

Would she be better off just getting a new car? I sold it to her for €950 sure it will cost more than half of that to get it fixed

Gene Hunt

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

its a car, most of the time you never know before they decide to stop. parts for fiats are cheap and there are a rake of 8v (im presuming its 8v) engines out there. it shouldnt cost them too much either way. if they are gonna let your friendship go into a downward spiral over this then....

Have to agreed with this poster,
I recently sold a mate a wee van I had that i was no longer using, he wanted it saying it's just what he's after, I said van was working fine ,it had a Doe test 2 months ago ,bring a mechanic look and drive the van see what you think, right they're both happy with the van I wanted 1200 euro for it he offered 800 so I said we're mates and I don't use it anymore so 800 ...SOLD, 2 days later gearbox blew to bits on him outa the blue, wants me to go halves to fix the van 250 for gearbox 250 labour so 250 each ...I said no, you bid me for the van, you drove it, you had a mechanic look at it....needless to say we are mates no longer and says I ripped him??? maybe I should have given the 250 as a good will gesture but it wasn't my fault and if he wants to fall out and be childish then by all means.....
Look it's not your fault, head gaskets go all the the time at any time.:)

sparkle_23

I suppose I'm just a bit shocked. At least it didn't happen when I had it It's her car now I suppose nothing to do with me anymore

meoklmrk91

So common with punto's it is unreal, my two sisters had 3 puntos, all of the blew the head gasket. It's not like you could have predicted that the head would go soon after you sold it to her, I wouldn't go offering money as if you had sold the car to a random stranger would you be offering money then?, I think not. Cars are sold as seen, it is up to the buyer to determine whether or not the car is worth it and if there is anything wrong with it.

I would never sell a car or anything like that to a friend or family member for the simple fact you don't know what could happen down the line and you usually a lot of emotions tied up with these people so you feel really bad like you did OP, and therefore take more responsibility than you would if you sold it to someone you didn't know. Sadly if she takes this the wrong way you could be looking at the end of your friendship. Hope all works out for both of you though.

Muckie

Don't beat yourself up OP, as most posters have said the Fiat Punto

was known for head gaskets to go on them. Borrowed one two weeks

ago, the power steering light came on after i gave it back, turns out the

cars have a fault with their "electric power assit steering".

Had to happen after i borrowed it though :pac:

gumpy2

i wouldn't say that every fiat head gasket is prone to going, iv had about 13 fiats with 1.2 engines and never had a head gasket go on me, these cars are bought quite cheaply and the majority of owners dont bother looking after them properly, the timing belts along with water pumps are rarely changed, i no that any mark 2 punto have a stronger gasket fitted the older models, just remember that these cars also need scheduled cooling system flushes etc etc
you could just have the gasket replaced but i would investigate it further apart from the fan there may have been other reasons for the gasket going,
is the car 8v?

Rabbitt

gumpy2 wrote: »

i wouldn't say that every fiat head gasket is prone to going, iv had about 13 fiats with 1.2 engines and never had a head gasket go on me, these cars are bought quite cheaply and the majority of owners dont bother looking after them properly, the timing belts along with water pumps are rarely changed, i no that any mark 2 punto have a stronger gasket fitted the older models, just remember that these cars also need scheduled cooling system flushes etc etc
you could just have the gasket replaced but i would investigate it further apart from the fan there may have been other reasons for the gasket going,
is the car 8v?

Punto related but not gasket related. Would anyone know how I unlock the radio in a 04 Punto. Looked everywhere in the car and can't find it and dont have the log book either . Any help much appreciated

chris85

Muckie wrote: »

Don't beat yourself up OP, as most posters have said the Fiat Punto

was known for head gaskets to go on them. Borrowed one two weeks

ago, the power steering light came on after i gave it back, turns out the

cars have a fault with their "electric power assit steering".

Had to happen after i borrowed it though :pac:

I had one for a year a while back. Power steering is electronically controlled and the power steering motor is again a common issue. Had to get that replace.

Head gasket went within a month of getting the car, also the gearbox needed replacing. Thankfully both were covered under warranty given by dealer.

I sold it a year later and actually at a good price as was problem best kept Punto around with all the major things that go wrong with them replaced in the months before it sold.

Jarren

Try here

http://www.unlockforum.com/showthread.php/6409-Fiat-Punto-Low-Blaupunkt-code-please%21

goz83

If a friend wants to buy a car, they take less risk with a mate, than with anyone else normally. Still, I advise against buying/selling from friends. A few moths back, a mate of mine was selling his mondeo and was "perfect" according to him. I said I would buy it if it all checked out, so I took it to the garage for a check up and it would have cost€650 to repair a few faults, including the egr valve. Needless to say, I didn't buy the car, but he had a mini strop abut it. I did him a favour, because I was buying it for €500 and he said he would pay for anything it needed repaired. So he would have been giving me €150 to take his car.

Regarding puntos....the gaskets ALWAYS go on them. 10 years is good going. If ever I was to buy an old punto, I would want to hear that the gasket had recently been done, or I wouldn't buy it. My wife had one and the gasket went when the car was 8 years old.

TestTransmission

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