Head gasket gone?

tonyheaney

Ok so symptoms of car

At 5pm yesterday my Engine Maintenance Light cam on and stayed on and didn't go off for an hour. Car became sluggish and rocked a bit as I drove. I was in correct gear. Went to friend he said to me "head gasket not gone head gasket work. You no need car fix car ok"


8.30pm last night engine managemen light flashing for 25 seconds. No shaking nothing car driving fine.

9am today car started up ok no problems.

1pm lunchtime today. Start car. Engine management light flashing. Car shaking, driving feels sluggish. After 5 minutes car resumes normal driving conditions.

So for the past few weeks ive had gurgling sound from passenger side. Engine Management Light flash. (First time it ever stayed on last night) And people suggest many things includinge thermostat to sensor malfunction to head gasket gone.


So people i go to to understand what's happening...

Advance Pitstop: Quoted €900 labor and parts.

Fiat Dealer: €600 inc new timing beld if needed.

My work colleague: I TOLD YOU NOT TO BUY FIAT.

The guy down the road who apparently buys, fixes and sells on cars: "head gasket not gone head gasket work. You no need car fix car ok"

My car is a Fiat Panda. Its 2004. Bought on done deal in may. Bought and Driven in Ireland.

Ive been driving this car since may first car and I have two very young kids so I rely on the car and have very little income. ANY help would be so very appcated.

Carlow.

Also have a full driving test due in few weeks.

Chimaera

At the very least you need proper diagnostics done on the car by someone who knows what they're doing.

Fiat dealer should know how to do this and do the repair correctly. They'll probably be on the expensive side. Advance Pitstop are probably best avoided. The guy down the road sounds like a bit of a chancer. Do you know any good independent mechanics?

biko

How is coolant level? Any gunk inside oil cap? Any smoking at all from exhaust?
If the EML has come on there will probably be some fault codes stored in the car computer.

Sounds more like a sensor issue.

tonyheaney

Chimaera wrote: »

At the very least you need proper diagnostics done on the car by someone who knows what they're doing.

Fiat dealer should know how to do this and do the repair correctly. They'll probably be on the expensive side. Advance Pitstop are probably best avoided. The guy down the road sounds like a bit of a chancer. Do you know any good independent mechanics?

Sadly no I don't :-( so im hopefully hoping the Fiat will take my €30 check it over and I can then decide

Alanstrainor

Check the coolant level, is there a temperature gauge on the dash for the engine? Gurgling noise sounds suspicious to me (leaking/low coolant level and air in the system).

But you need a proper diagnostic, driving on a flashing EML is not great...

tonyheaney

biko wrote: »

How is coolant level? Any gunk inside oil cap? Any smoking at all from exhaust?
If the EML has come on there will probably be some fault codes stored in the car computer.

Sounds more like a sensor issue.

Checked the oil cap and its ok
when I rev the car I see no smoke unless it's cold but exhaust is ok right?

biko

For future ref:

Blown Head Gasket Symptoms:
Coolant leaking externally from below the exhaust manifold.
White smoke from the exhaust pipe.
Overheating engine.
Bubbles in the radiator or coolant overflow tank.
White milky oil.
Significant loss of coolant with no visible leaks.

tonyheaney

biko wrote: »

For future ref:

Blown Head Gasket Symptoms:
Coolant leaking externally from below the exhaust manifold.
White smoke from the exhaust pipe.
Overheating engine.
Bubbles in the radiator or coolant overflow tank.
White milky oil.
Significant loss of coolant with no visible leaks.

Hi thanks for the reply. Im not an expert but from what I see there is noting above visable with possible exception to loss of coolant

Avns1s

tonyheaney wrote: »

Hi thanks for the reply. Im not an expert but from what I see there is noting above visable with possible exception to loss of coolant

How much coolant has been lost?

I am not familiar with the Fiat Panda but going by the symptoms, I'd be looking at coil pack / ignition / sensor problems.

biko

Fill coolant to correct level with water today (when car is cold) and check again tomorrow evening (when car is cold).

tonyheaney

Official report from Fiat, Head Gasket is gone, dead as a door nail, timing belt needs to maybe be replaced and i need a new fan belt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! €650 - €700. I was told that the car will take €700 to fix and i honestly haven't got that cash, what would be my next step? sell? scrap? dump by road and walk away?

Toyotafanboi

take it to an independent (non fiat) garage. you could probably get that price near halved.

tonyheaney

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

take it to an independent (non fiat) garage. you could probably get that price near halved.

would you know of any in carlow

Toyotafanboi

im not from the area sorry.

it's a basic enough engine, 6-700 is very extreme imo.

dgt

Work colleague sounds like a right asshat. I love making people like that feel very small

That seems expensive for a 1.1, you could rebuild the engine for that.

Ask around and get a better price

Fat Nav

tonyheaney wrote: »

would you know of any in carlow

Ill PM you my mechanics number in Carlow, he always has a loaner car as well if your stuck for transport