Fiat Punto Problems

danwhite88

Hi, I am currently having some problems with my 2003 Fiat Punto. Today as I was sitting in traffic for a few minutes the car started to over heat, as I was driving the needle came down and when i stopped again it was over heating. When I stopped the car the radiator was still turning after I turned the engine off. I'm not sure if this is normal but I never noticed it happen before. Is the head gasket gone or is it something different? I know very little about cars so if you could keep things simple it would be great thanks. I put coolant in the car about 3 weeks ago (red para-flu mixed with water as recommend) and topped up the oil and only last Thursday the car passed the nct.

dgt

danwhite88 wrote: »

Hi, I am currently having some problems with my 2003 Fiat Punto. Today as I was sitting in traffic for a few minutes the car started to over heat, as I was driving the needle came down and when i stopped again it was over heating. When I stopped the car the radiator was still turning after I turned the engine off. I'm not sure if this is normal but I never noticed it happen before. Is the head gasket gone or is it something different? I know very little about cars so if you could keep things simple it would be great thanks. I put coolant in the car about 3 weeks ago (red para-flu mixed with water as recommend) and topped up the oil and only last Thursday the car passed the nct.

16v or 8v? Do you put in coolant often? Isthere gurgling behind the dash? It may be the coolant temp sensor

danwhite88

dgt wrote: »

16v or 8v? Do you put in coolant often? Isthere gurgling behind the dash? It may be the coolant temp sensor

8v . That was the first time I put coolant in the car since Ive had it. (just over a year). What would be the cost to fix the coolant temp sensor? I have noticed a gurgling sound mainly in the mornings when I start it up.

dgt

danwhite88 wrote: »

8v . That was the first time I put coolant in the car since Ive had it. (just over a year). What would be the cost to fix the coolant temp sensor? I have noticed a gurgling sound mainly in the mornings when I start it up.

Before you set off in the morning, open the cap when the engine is stone cold. If she hisses, you'll need a hg.

I can't quote garage prices as we do all our work in house but the last one we did cost £35 for a full head set (inc stretch bolts), I had a head sitting about. Expect about £40 for a skim. Water pump was £15, Gates t-belt kit was £30. Approx 4 hours to do the job fully.

Be weary as if its been overheated too much the oil rings may have broke. Only way is to whip the pistons out and check.

Temp sensor for a 16v Bravo cost us £25 and cured a very erattic temperature gauge. A quick clean of the sensor itself will almost cure it.

Yes, I get a lot of parts in Northern Ireland

dgt

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I was told by a mate who worked for FIAT who recommended to use the bleeding screw every so often to bleed out any air. I used to do it every month or two. Any truth to that DGT?

Tried that myself with the van when the thermostat pipe blew, sent the temp mad and similar symptoms appeared about a week later. I'd open the screw at the back of the engine bay, for the heater matrix (the return pipe). The hg still went on it!

The heads are aluminium and warp easily enough if overheated

Engine rebuilt on my dads Bravo earlier this year. Opens the cap after a long trip, no hiss, takes no coolant. No air escaping

danwhite88

dgt wrote: »

Before you set off in the morning, open the cap when the engine is stone cold. If she hisses, you'll need a hg.

I can't quote garage prices as we do all our work in house but the last one we did cost £35 for a full head set (inc stretch bolts), I had a head sitting about. Expect about £40 for a skim. Water pump was £15, Gates t-belt kit was £30. Approx 4 hours to do the job fully.

Be weary as if its been overheated too much the oil rings may have broke. Only way is to whip the pistons out and check.

Temp sensor for a 16v Bravo cost us £25 and cured a very erattic temperature gauge. A quick clean of the sensor itself will almost cure it.

Yes, I get a lot of parts in Northern Ireland

When you say open the CAP what are you referring to? The cap on the Coolant or on the Engine?

dgt

danwhite88 wrote: »

When you say open the CAP what are you referring to? The cap on the Coolant or on the Engine?

Coolant. If it hisses the hg is more than likely going

danwhite88

dgt wrote: »

Coolant. If it hisses the hg is more than likely going

Ok i opened that this morning before I left and didnt hear any hissing. I drove for less than 10 minutes and the car was over half way.

dgt

danwhite88 wrote: »

Ok i opened that this morning before I left and didnt hear any hissing. I drove for less than 10 minutes and the car was over half way.

That's a good sign

Having eliminated that part your erratic gauge is more than likely being caused by the coolant temp sensor/sender. It looks similar to this


Relatively easy to put in

danwhite88

Going to bring it to a mechanic to have a look at it at lunch time. Thanks for the help

shamwari

If you don't know anything about cars OP then I suggest getting someone who does to look at it. There could be any number of things awry. Instead of a blown head gasket or coolant temp sensor, it could be thermostat sticking. If it did properly overheat then it aint the sensor BTW.

danwhite88

shamwari wrote: »

If you don't know anything about cars OP then I suggest getting someone who does to look at it. There could be any number of things awry. Instead of a blown head gasket or coolant temp sensor, it could be thermostat sticking. If it did properly overheat then it aint the sensor BTW.

Brought it down to a mechanic and said it could be thermostat so went and got one of them and replaced it and seems ok now. So hopefully that's all it was. Thanks for the help.