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View Full Version : OT: Hot Fiat - Garage chimps again?


whiskychaser
08-03-2008, 11:39 AM
Son's car was overheating and losing coolant for fun. Fingers crossed behind my back, I say it could be a bit of condensation. Whip the valve cover and baffle off from inside to reveal this:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll280/whiskychaser/hot%20punto/suzcar001.jpg
OK, think we can say the HG is gone (at least) but what caused it? The stat and water pump seem OK. Get down to taking off the head and find
a. I can undo the bolts with a 3/8 drive and 6" bar. They are supposed to have the same torque as the M50!
b. The head gasket comes off in one piece. But the block still has a load of the previous gasket stuck to it.
None of this is good. I'm fishing bits of gasket out of the block when I hook this little worm:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll280/whiskychaser/hot%20punto/suzcar010.jpg
Or maybe not so little worm:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll280/whiskychaser/hot%20punto/suzcar011.jpg
I was just wondering how many things you can do wrong and the engine will still run - for a bit
Sam-Son
08-03-2008, 01:32 PM
What kind of FIAT?
whiskychaser
08-03-2008, 01:49 PM
What kind of FIAT?

Its a Punto. Compressions werent bad: 225/225/225/200 psi. Seems they have the same rep as the E34 for HG failure. But I reckon this one didnt have a even a fighting chance of lasting
bubba966
08-03-2008, 02:07 PM
Seems they have the same rep as the E34 for HG failure.

The M60 doesn't seem to eat HG's like the M50 does. But I guess the majority of E34's have an M50 in them, so you just hear about HG failure a lot with them.
bubba966
08-03-2008, 02:10 PM
b. The head gasket comes off in one piece. But the block still has a load of the previous gasket stuck to it.
None of this is good. I'm fishing bits of gasket out of the block when I hook this little worm:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll280/whiskychaser/hot%20punto/suzcar010.jpg
Or maybe not so little worm:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll280/whiskychaser/hot%20punto/suzcar011.jpg
I was just wondering how many things you can do wrong and the engine will still run - for a bit

I can't imagine who would possibly not bother to clean off an old gasket before putting a new one on?

I can possibly see why the bolts weren't tight. But not scraping off the old gasket is beyond imagination...
DaveVoorhis
08-03-2008, 02:23 PM
I can possibly see why the bolts weren't tight. But not scraping off the old gasket is beyond imagination...
Probably a rushed bodge-job to get the car sold at some point. It only had to hold together long enough for a test drive.
whiskychaser
08-03-2008, 03:51 PM
Probably a rushed bodge-job to get the car sold at some point. It only had to hold together long enough for a test drive.

Think you hit the nail on the head Dave. He's not had it long.
Ferret
08-03-2008, 04:21 PM
Think you hit the nail on the head Dave. He's not had it long.

Which particular engine was it? The 1.2 Fiat 'fire' engine was supposed to be pretty rock solid... the smaller 1.0 and 89x engines though were a total different kettle of fish...
whiskychaser
08-04-2008, 11:00 AM
Which particular engine was it? The 1.2 Fiat 'fire' engine was supposed to be pretty rock solid... the smaller 1.0 and 89x engines though were a total different kettle of fish...

Its the 1242cc Model 60 (whatever that is :D) on a 'T' plate. Speaking of fish, thats what a thought I was pulling out. Turned out to be silicon. Great aid to cooling having that stuck in there
e34.535i.sport
08-04-2008, 12:12 PM
****ing muppets... I don't know why anyone would go to the trouble of changing the HG and not doing it properly... Makes you wonder what else they could have bodged...

If you need a hand with anything Whisky you know where I am just holla!
whiskychaser
08-04-2008, 01:16 PM
****ing muppets...Makes you wonder what else they could have bodged...



Thanks for that cheerful thought:D
Barney Paull-Edwards
08-04-2008, 02:52 PM
With that fish in the works, reckon you need to flush the lot through,Andy`s right about the `fire` engine, bullet proof,sent a friends` son off to Ulan Bator in one last year and ran like clockwork, disconnected the rev counter to stop frightening him!
whiskychaser
08-04-2008, 03:58 PM
With that fish in the works, reckon you need to flush the lot through,Andy`s right about the `fire` engine, bullet proof,sent a friends` son off to Ulan Bator in one last year and ran like clockwork, disconnected the rev counter to stop frightening him!

Dont you just love Haynes instructions:
It says the stat is one piece with the housing so you cant take it out and replace it. Then it says remove the stat and replace the housing to flush the system :D Think I might just manage
Ferret
08-04-2008, 04:20 PM
Dont you just love Haynes instructions:
"Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly."

Fixed.

:D