I'm all geared up to replace the headgasket on my 53reg Fiat Punto tomorrow, its the 1.2 8v, so a comparatively simple job (though still complex compared to a service) which is good as I've never done any major engine surgery before 🙂 Engine has done 60k and I don't have any service history.

Symptoms are:

Mayo in the oil cap, wiped it out and there was a small amount back in there after just two short journeys, about 6 miles in total.

Re-occurring air lock in the heater matrix. Not actually an air lock, but you can hear the water gurgling through it on start up, and at the bleed point by bulkhead there is air in the coolant. Heater still works. I have drained and refilled coolant and bled, matrix still gurgles on startup unless its bled after the previous run.

Coolant loss. It was below minimum at the last check, and has lost a bit in the last week since topping up, though not enough to reach minimum again. Temp gauge has never indicated anything out of the ordinary, but then if its short on water the engine may have overheated locally? Or it might not have overheated at all and I caught the low coolant before any damage was done – fingers crossed.

The only thing that is stopping me from ploughing in and getting on with it, is the car is running fine with no issues.

Oh dear don't want to be the bearer of bad tidings but Punto's have ally heads on them and if you have all of the above sysmptoms then you will have a cracked head this is not a maybe you will.
You can get these welded and skimmed but it is fu*king expensive and doesn't always work so then you need a new head and head bolts and gasket kit and this all adds up.

p.s i know this to be FACT as my wife did to our Punto and boy was it a pain in the arse and iam a mech engineer good luck

edit :- no longer have this car as it was a right peice of sh*t(friday afternoon job)

You can get a little device that sits over the opened rad cap, its kinda 2-stage with a special liquid. By running the engine it reacts if there is any oil in the water.

My mechanic used it on mine when we thought it had blown too, luckily (actually thank **** as I've a V8!) it was a defect thermostat.

Fatsimon – I had the same symptoms as Spooky, me and my mechanic mate did the job along with a couple of other little bits one afternoon/evening, the head was NOT cracked! Drove fine afterwards.

Definately Bu99erd, but not definately cracked, generally only crack if you have cooked them!!!

Take it off and get a local engineering co to pressure test it!!

Thanks. To be honest, what I'm most worried about is that the water channels may have corroded up to the edge of the pistons…I've been doing some digging on a Punto forum and there doesn't seem to be a particular trend with cracked heads. It seems that the head gaskets are prone to blowing, but a couple of peeps (to the disgust of others) say they don't even bother getting the head skimmed, just the gasket that has gone.

When I drained the coolant it was nice and clean, although thats not to say there could be traces of oil in there. Its been filled with rad flush for the last few days.

I am planning to get the head skimmed. Any recommendations for Brighton-Eastbourne area?

Yeah what you describe might be other things. If its a petrol car get the chemical rad water test done to see if its is head gasket – it detects the presence of petrol or burnt petrol I think. Should only cost 20 quid or so.

I have a 1998 punto 1.2 8v which I have done the HG on as it went in october.

Fairly easy job, little bit fussy, and worth getting the head skimmed/at least checked by a local engineering company. Cost me £25 to get that done. Whilst you're there its worth changing the water pump (£20) and timing belt (£7) and thermostat (£25 inc gasket) unless any have been done recently. Obviously its a judgement call as to mileage, but belt is worth it for the price of the part at any mileage.

Pretty certain of HG with symptoms you describe, be warned, when you put everything back together check for leaks in the coolant system, they are a pig to bleed, and if you have a leak it wont be bled for long. Park facing uphill, and pressurise the system by blowing on the filler cap and wait for a constant stream of coolant to come out of the bleed holes (1 on left hand side of rad, 1 on tubes going to heater matrix, do them in that order!) before doing the bleed valves back up.

Enjoy and if you need any help (I'm sure you wont) then feel free to pm me.

Mrs coolhandluke had a Punto and we had same issues W reg it was and we owned it from new

60,000 miles later and we had to have the head gasket fixed and it went ok for just over a year when the clutch suddenly went. Got it towed in and clutch repaired, drove it home and it went pop with loads of smoke everywhere. Drove it back to the garage and their diagnosis was a head gasket (again)

We sold it for scrap.

I'd advise you do the same to avoid unnecessary cost of a clutch when the head goes again.

5h1t cars!

oh well what do i know(apprently) only spend all day working on engine's,transmissions,forklift mast's etc you can lead a horse to water and all that!!!! 🙄

If the head is cracked then surely you could source a block etc for peanuts? Thats what salvage yards are for and I bet there are a fair few Puntos on salvage yards.

Spooky, pop in to see the guys at Allbore, not far from you – pretty sure they can help

No offence Simon, but it is not FACT that every Punto with a head gasket problem will have a cracked head! I'm not even convinced that its overheated. I appreciate the warning and will check carefully or get it pressure tested though.

Cyclistm, thanks, will do a Google on them as the other place hasn't got back to me.

Edit: Its had a new clutch when we bought it a few months ago, buggered seal in the gearbox contaminated it within days so drove it back (just – no steep hills thankfully!) and the guy re-did the clutch and replaced oil seal in gearbox.

After owning a Mondeo I'm amazed at how much cheaper all the parts are!

Get a sniff test done in the header tank – this will detect Carbon Monoxide from the combustion chambers and will tell you for certain if the gasket has failed or not.
Mayo on the oil filler cap is common at this time of year,especially if you only do short trips.

Is it possible to do one of these water tests myself or do I need to pop down to a garage?

spooky…before you start the car tomorrow morning, take the cap off the expansion bottle, if poss get someone to start the engine while you watch the expansion bottle for air bubbles, if you get some on start-up, chances are the HG has gone.

Used to work in a Fiat garage, used to take about 4 a week to be skimmed.

Thanks Five

Just a word of caution on the mayo in the filter cap after a short journey: – a cause of this can indeed be doing short journeys! (Can't remember the mechanism for this – do a search on google I suppose)

Try taking it out for a longer jaunt until properly warm for some time and then have another look.

when you have the head off check carefully for cracks in the ports, it does sound like a crack. Head gaskets generally deteriorate rapidly when they go, causing poor running due to water vapour entering the cylinder.This usually causes the plug in the cylinder affected to have a slightly different colour/deposit. If one is slightly different to the other 3 focus you examination around that cylinder. Check the gasket also – there is nothing more satisfying than finding a pin hole in one and saying 'there you go thats me problem'
More than likely the gasket but worth checking the above

let us know how you get on. Much more satisfying doing it yourself

keep it topped up with water and drive it till it blows such great clouds of steam that you know its buggered.
by then the temp gauge, if it works, will tell you what you are expecting to hear.

but apparently the clutch will be gone by then?

If you do decide to replace the gasket, then you'd be mad not to get the head skimmed. Refitting a potentially warped head will cause the replacement gasket to die prematurely…

fivespot is giving you a good tip. Fact of the physics is that if the HG has failed badly between the cylinder bore and a coolant gallery, pressurisation of the cooling system occurs on the compression stroke of the affected bore. So cranking the engine with the coolant cap off can prove HG failure 100% if the surging is there. Watch you don't get scalded though.

Unfortunately a lack of surging doesn't disprove HG failure e.g. the HG might be porous rather than completely failed.

Myself, I'd run it a while longer and make sure you call the breakdown cover before the engine ever gets totally cooked. You do have breakdown cover?!

The mechanism for mayo after short journeys is simple. All engines have some water in with the oil from air moisture etc. On short journeys the oil can get hot enough to drive some off, but the extremities of the engine – think dip stick tube or rocker cover – don't heat up as much as the rest of the block. Hence condensation/mayo occurs here.

More useful info, thanks 🙂

Checked header tank for bubbles whilst starting the car this morning, nothing happening. Coolant has turned milky but that probably doesn't mean much as its had Radflush in since Monday.

If I watch the coolant levels like a hawk, I'm guessing I won't be doing any serious damage if its driven for a bit longer?

I've bought a head gasket kit and new headbolts and have four days off from today, but its drizzling and I have no garage (or drive but its a quiet street) so I'd rather have a definite diagnosis before getting stuck in.

Think I will dump the coolant, remove thermostat and flush any bits out the engine then refill with proper stuff that isn't going to freeze, and run it for a week before getting a water test done.

Have breakdown cover and the car doesn't normally go more than 5 miles from home so we ain't going to get stranded miles away.

And there is you reason for the mayo!!

The mechanism for mayo after short journeys is simple. All engines have some water in with the oil from air moisture etc. On short journeys the oil can get hot enough to drive some off, but the extremities of the engine – think dip stick tube or rocker cover – don't heat up as much as the rest of the block. Hence condensation/mayo occurs here

What waderider says ^^^^

Short journeys are prime cause of 'mayo' as the engine simply does not get hot enough to evaporate any of the moisture, this then mixes with the oil creating your 'mayo'

So, the car might not have a problem at all? If I can fix the gurgling air filter and the coolant stays constant, no need to do anything then?

Get the coolant chemical test done, then you will know.